Chapter 2

Monday, July 17th

Giselle was jerked forward and if not for her seatbelt, her forehead would've met with the dashboard in front of her. The sudden movement earned a groan from Giselle as she was awakened. She rubbed at her eyes and blinked rapidly to clear her vision so that she could take in her surroundings.

They were parked outside of a cozy house and Giselle saw an immediate charm about it. It was well taken care of with a variety of plant life in the front yard and several palm trees that sprawled out in the back.

"This is my home," Anela announced as she gave carefully released the restraints that held Oricorio and Cubone. Once they were free, she gave each of them a gentle nudge and they stirred. "We're here."

Cubone's gaze quickly came into focus and he was eager to get out of the car to see more for himself. Giselle slid out of her seat and allowed Cubone to exit. He marveled at the height of the palm trees and flock of Trumbeak that flew overhead.

"Here, let's get your luggage," Anela called out as she opened lowered the hatch of her trunk to pull out Giselle's suitcases. Giselle was quick to take over the task while Anela went to the front door of her home. The door was unlocked and she invited Giselle and Cubone inside.

The appeal of Anela's home wasn't exclusive to its exterior. The inside was spacious, vibrant, and colorful. Perhaps it was brighter than Giselle cared for, but she wouldn't make any comments if she was expected to live here for some time.

"Welcome home," Anela said warmly and Giselle froze for a moment. She then straightened her posture and gave Anela a nod.

"Thank you for having us," Giselle said politely.

Anela tilted her head before she looked to Oricorio, and her partner returned the gaze.

"Your room is upstairs," Anela stated with a motion to the staircase. Giselle brought up one suitcase to her room on this trip and Anela waited at the entrance for her. "Feel free to decorate or rearrange things as you see fit."

They entered together and just as Giselle hoped, only the necessities were present. She set down her suitcase and approached the window. The curtains were plain white and almost transparent. She could see outside clearly, but only when she pushed the curtains aside could she truly appreciate the view. Anela's house was perched on a hill that overlooked the heart of Hau'oli City. The seaside town glistened like the water as it reflected the sun. It was like an image straight out of those travel magazines, but she was looking at it herself.

"Dear, would you care for something to eat?" Anela asked her and Giselle turned back to the homeowner.

"Yeah," She said with a grateful nod. She was famished considering that Oliwa couldn't serve anything during the plane ride outside of some cheap snacks.

"Great, Dori will give you a call when it is ready," Anela said and Oricorio gave a cheer before the two of them went on their way. Giselle followed them downstairs to collect her suitcase and she returned to her new room.

Now that it was just her and Cubone, Giselle pursed her lips as she drew comparisons to the studio apartment that she lived in back in Vermilion City. Giselle didn't do much to decorate it then but…Alola was a fresh start. Maybe she would find something to make this room feel like her own.

By the time Giselle was halfway through unpacking her first suitcase, Oricorio came to her doorway to call them for dinner. Cubone darted down to the kitchen for dinner and while Giselle wouldn't openly admit that she rushed there as well, she arrived almost as quickly as Cubone did. There was a small table that could seat two people in the corner of the kitchen, and Anela already set down their plates and settings there. On the floor beside the table was a plate of berries and vegetables for Oricorio and Cubone.

Giselle took a seat across from Anela and studied the contents of her plate. It was some beautifully colored rice served chopped lettuce and carrots. At the center of the table was a pot of vegetable stew that smelled wonderful.

"Have a bite," Anela suggested as she waited for Giselle's first sampling of Alolan cooking.

Giselle took in a spoonful of the rice and found her licking her lips. The rice was sweet but also seasoned well enough to make sure the sweetness wasn't overpowering. Giselle's exclamation earned a broad smile from Anela, but then told Giselle to watch as she added another layer to the dish.

She took her empty bowl, filled it partially with some rice, and carefully spooned some of her vegetable stew on top of it, allowing the rice to absorb the stew. Anela then encouraged Giselle to do the same and with one taste, Giselle found herself falling in love with Alola's culinary delights already!

"The rice is fried in pinap juice to give it that wonderful fragrance and richness," Anela explained as Giselle took in another mouthful. This put her cooking to shame, but that wouldn't stop Giselle from enjoying it.

"So, can you tell me more about the lifestyle here in Alola?" Giselle asked to break the silence that set in. "I know you were telling me about it during the drive, but I fell asleep."

"Not to worry dear," Anela said as she waved off Giselle's confession with a laugh. "I think you'll find Alola to be very different from what you are accustomed to on the mainland."

"How so?"

"Mainlanders tend to think that battling and training is the only way to improve their bond with their Pokemon," Anela began as she leaned back in her seat. Her voice was so soothing that Giselle set down her food to listen closely. "However, that's hardly the case. Daily practice and battling have their place, but you can learn to understand your Pokemon in so many different ways."

Giselle tilted her as she thought back to her interview with Oliwa.

"Have you ever thought to ask Cubone why he hasn't evolved?"

Giselle stole a glance at her partner who sat on the floor and devoured the berries Anela prepared for him. Was that the reason Cubone didn't evolve? Was it because she didn't understand him still?

Anela was quick to notice Giselle that Giselle shifted her gaze to Cubone. She did her best to suppress a smile before Giselle looked back at her.

"What can I do to understand my Pokemon better?" Giselle asked and Anela raised her brow.

"It's quite simple really…don't get so caught up in one thing," Anela gave her a broad smile. "Just experience the world together."

After dinner, Giselle and Cubone returned to their room to finish unpacking. While Giselle piled her clothes onto the bed, Cubone practiced his bone thrusts quietly. She would take a glance at him occasionally, watching as he pierced through the air with his weapon in hand. Cubone was always so diligent when it came to practice. There was no way that a lack of practice could be the reason he wasn't evolving. It had to be something else.

Maybe Anela and Oliwa were right. Maybe they were too focused on evolution and that was stopping something that should be natural. Giselle nodded. That sounded right…they were forcing the issue. Perhaps if they took some time off, just relax and experience Alola, hopefully, that would do the trick.

Wednesday, August 2nd

From the gorgeous white sand of the beaches and the almost emerald-colored waters to the palm trees that loomed overhead, Alola was unlike any place Giselle visited before. She struggled to find fault with anything. Her only complaint was the humidity at times. The breeze from the sea all but canceled it, but occasionally there would be doldrums in the wind and the air would become heavy. But otherwise, Alola was indeed a paradise!

Hau'oli City was tiny when compared to Vermilion City, but the heart of it bustled in the same manner as the metropolis that Giselle left in Kanto. However, it was filled with people and Pokemon.

Anela ran a small fruit stand near the central plaza of Hau'oli City and Giselle helped her set up a few times over the last two weeks. A pair of farmers would come to the stand early in the day with a wagon that was pulled by a pair Mudsdale. The wagon was overloaded with fruits, berries, roots, vegetables, and any other form of produce that Giselle could think of it. They provided supplies for a number of the stands in the city, and they didn't even charge for their delivery.

Anela explained that there were deals in place to make sure everyone was taken care of. During the harvest season, the farmers delivered their produce to the city where it could be sold in stands and shops. Then during the off-season, while they prepped their fields for the next harvest, the citizens of Hau'oli City would regularly provide meals for them. Everyone took care of each other.

Giselle got a chance to visit one of the farms and it was incredible to watch all the Pokemon at work. Tauros was used to plow the fields while Pikipek spread seats across the soil. Miltank, Mudbray, and Mareep grazed out on the grasslands with Herdier actively watching over them. She was accustomed to seeing Pokemon in the wild, but she'd never seen them with so much order and structure with hardly any supervision.

Despite helping Anela and visiting different areas in and around Hau'oli City, their first two weeks in Alola passed slowly. For the time being, Giselle and Cubone kept their practice to the bare minimum to ensure that Cubone didn't get rusty. And they had yet to participate in a battle.

Most of the Pokemon battles took place exclusively on the beaches. Giselle and Cubone would visit every other day to observe, but Giselle turned down any invitations to a battle. She was more focused on simply trying to experience different things with Cubone. But that proved to be more difficult than she thought.

Giselle flopped down onto the bed in her room and groaned with her face in the sheets. She didn't know what to do.

Two weeks went by with little to no practice and it ultimately felt like wasted time. She and Cubone could have spent that time refining his Iron Head attack, or they could have practiced their new Focus Energy some more. Or they could've…

Giselle groaned again. She wanted to pull her hair out. Alola didn't make any sense!

She had ample opportunity to watch some of the trainer's battle on the beach, and there weren't any standout trainers as far as she was concerned. The majority of them were young children to teenagers, so it wasn't much of a surprise that they weren't great trainers. But because these people could train freely with their Pokemon here, there had to be some decent trainers around! There just had to be!

"Cu-bone!"

Giselle lifted her head at his call and looked to the doorway. Oricorio stood beside Cubone and she gave her cheerful trill. It was dinner time.

The pair of Pokemon went on their way downstairs and Giselle lagged with her mind adrift.

What was she doing wrong?

No matter what she did, the people she admired and respected were always ahead of her. Not just one step…way out in front of her. Volkner and Flint were both outstanding trainers who were simply better than her when she first met them and no matter how much she trained with Cubone, she couldn't make up the difference. It felt as if the gap between them widened significantly despite her best efforts to improve.

Giselle could stomach that, albeit, barely. Then Ash came along and he was unremarkable during their first encounter. But his rate of improvement was unbelievable. He went from unremarkable to a diamond in the rough in a matter of weeks. He went from a wannabe trainer to a professional circuit trainer…and he rose from the depths of the underground circuit and conquered some of the best trainers the circuit had to offer.

She didn't want to admit it, but in a short period, Ash and Pikachu outclassed her and Cubone. At first, she thought of him as nothing more than a nuisance and Ash made her regret that opinion quickly. For only a little while could Giselle consider herself and equal to Ash. Then he too took a step forward and never looked back.

"Not hungry dear?"

Anela's voice snapped Giselle out of her thoughts. She looked around and found herself at the kitchen table with her dinner untouched.

"Ugh, I'm sorry," Giselle apologized as she shook her head. "I'm distracted."

"What's the matter?" Anela asked her.

Giselle sighed. She knew there was no use keeping this to herself.

"The first day I was here, you told me that mainlanders rely on battles to get understand their Pokemon better," Giselle explained. "I thought it would be easy to get to know Cubone better if we did things together, but it's not. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. It feels like we're…not connecting."

Anela smiled at her. "No one said it would be easy."

"I didn't expect it to. But I don't understand what I should be doing," Giselle went on. "Is the someone on the island that can explain this better for me," Giselle blushed as she caught her own words. "Not that you haven't been explaining things properly."

This earned a laugh from Anela.

"It's quite alright. Truth be told, I was never a Pokemon trainer. I performed with Dori when I younger," Anela said with a gesture to Oricorio who cheered at the mention of their career. "And I didn't take part in battles much at all. But there is someone on the island who might be better suited to explain all of this to you. The Island Kahuna. His name is Hala, an old friend of mine. He's been a trainer since he was young, so I'm sure he might find the words that I can't."

"Where can I find him?"

"He lives in Iki Town, on the other side of the island."

Giselle nodded, the focus in her eyes renewed. Hopefully, Hala would know the answer to her questions.

Thursday, August 3rd

Following Anela's advice, Giselle took her backpack, tucked away three changes of clothes and Anela was kind enough to prepare a light lunch for their trip. Once they were set, Giselle and Cubone bid Anela a farewell with a promise that they would be back in a day or two. Their destination was Iki Town and a meeting with Hala.

They traveled out of the Hau'oli City together on foot and through the outskirts of the city where they had a clear view of the ocean. Their travels took them into Melemele Island's Route 1 which Cubone accepted as a welcome sight. It was more tropical, but it still felt familiar to him, as if he was back on Route 6 in Kanto. He took a moment to marvel at their surroundings.

The black-furred Alolan Rattata scurried across the dirt pathway, and a combination of Pikipek and Ledyba sang from the treetops. But while he looked around, Giselle had her nose buried in the map, and that remained a constant for most of their travels.

While Cubone stopped to address most of the Pokemon that they passed on the pathway, Giselle forged ahead. If Cubone fell too far behind, she would call out to him to end his conversation so that they didn't get separated. After about two hours, Cubone sighed and matched Giselle's pace, only nodding or waving to the Pokemon he saw. The result? They reached Iki Town early in the afternoon.

The town was small, roughly the same size as the suburban neighborhood Giselle lived in back in Lavender Town. It sat among the woodlands of Route 1 with a spacious plot of land for each household. As Giselle and Cubone followed the main road that led to the town square, two young boys were playing in the front yard of a house when they spotted her.

"Alola!" They exclaimed and rushed to meet Giselle and Cubone. Their attention was primarily on Cubone whom they bombarded with questions and a thorough inspection of his physique.

"Neat-o, a Cubone!"

"How old are you, Cubone?"

"Why do you wear a mask?"

"Can I borrow your bone?"

Cubone bashfully allowed them to examine him from head to toe, however, partway through, Giselle cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry boys," She said to them. "We're kind of in a hurry. We're looking for Hala."

"The Kahuna?"

"Are you going to battle him?"

"I'd like to," Giselle answered.

"We can take you to his house!" They announced together and Giselle raised her brow. She didn't hesitate to accept. Anything to battle Hala faster.

One of the boys darted to the front porch of the house they were playing in front of. He went to the open window and shouted that he would be back later. Giselle could hear an equally loud voice warning him not to get into any trouble.

He returned with a broad grin.

"This way!"

The boys took the lead as they began to guide Giselle through Iki Town. They introduced themselves as Kahali and Kimo. Giselle quickly learned that they were quite popular around Iki Town.

As they traveled through the streets, the locals who sat out on their porch would call to the boys as their group passed. They stopped to speak with almost everyone, and Cubone could tell that it was testing Giselle's patience. The way her eyes twitched whenever someone called out to the boys and how she tapped her feet as they spoke with their neighbors. Cubone stifled his laughter for fear of facing Giselle's wrath later on.

At long last, Kahali and Kimo announced that they reached their destination. Considering Hala had the title of Kahuna, Giselle was expecting his home to be a little more distinguished. But his house was no different from his neighbors and, of course, he had Pokemon lounging on his property like everyone else. But perhaps that was the detail she was looking for.

There was a Mankey perched in the treetop and he was observing them closely with his sharp gaze as they stood at the edge of Hala's property. Resting against the trunk of the same tree was a Makuhita who snoozed peacefully under the shade. Both fighting type Pokemon, which Giselle hardly saw since her arrival on Melemele Island, so the only logical conclusion was that Hala specialized in fighting type Pokemon.

"Hi, Mankey!" The boys shouted with a wave to the Pokemon in the treetops. Their shouts failed to interrupt Makuhita's nap as he scratched at his stomach, still sound asleep. Mankey gave a nod, but he continued to watch as the group approached the front door of Hala's home.

They rang the doorbell, and a stout man with a large mustache answered the door. He beamed at the sight of Kahali and Kimo whom he kneeled to address.

"Alola!" He bellowed and they returned the greet. "How is summer vacation for you boys?"

Hala and the boys shared some pleasantries and Giselle sucked in her lips as she waited. It didn't take long for the topic of the conversation to become Giselle and she introduced herself with the customary 'Alola!'

"We were helping her find your house," Kimo explained.

"She wants to battle you," Kahali added. There was a glint in Hala's eyes as he looked to Giselle.

"Oh really," He noted. "Where are you from Giselle?"

"I'm from the Kanto region," She answered.

"A trainer from the mainland," Hala said softly as he stroked his chin. Then he looked to the boys. "Would the of you like to watch?"

"Yeah!"

The group went to the back of Hala's house and Giselle's jaw almost dropped when she saw a near regulation-sized battlefield in his backyard. It was well taken care of, to the same standard as the only battlefield she knew of in Vermilion City at the Hidden Cove stadium.

"You have a battlefield in your backyard?" Giselle asked.

"Yes, this is my personal field. I receive enough challenges that it can be a hassle to use the battlefield in the town square," Hala explained as he removed his jacket to hand it on the banister of his back porch. "Plus, my partners need somewhere to practice, otherwise their skills would get dull."

Giselle respected his reasoning and felt a measure of jealousy. She would've killed to have a battlefield in her backyard in Kanto.

While Hala went back into his home, Giselle and Cubone took their place on the battlefield and used the time to warm up briefly. Some quick stretches to make sure Cubone was limber. Then Hala returned with a crab Pokemon that Giselle did not recognize. Based on how his pincers resembled boxing gloves, Giselle felt it was safe to assume that this Pokemon was a fighting type.

"This is Crabrawler," Hala announced as the two of them stood on the opposite side of the field.

"Cra-Cra!" Crabrawler proclaimed as he struck the air with his pincers. Gusts of wind traveled across the field and Giselle smirked. That little demonstration was proof that Crabrawler wasn't meant to be taken lightly.

"Cubone, are you ready?" Giselle asked. Cubone raised his bone proudly with a shout.

"Hold on, one moment," Hala requested. He took a turn to stretch as well, lumbering around for at least four minutes. "You're actually the first person to challenge me today, I need to loosen up."

As Hala stretched, Giselle noticed that Mankey was still watching them from the treetop in the front yard. He had a perfect view of the battlefield since Hala's house was only one floor. With a grunt, Hala bent over to touch his toes and he held that stance for twenty seconds. Then he stood upright with a content sigh and he flashed a smile at Giselle.

"Alright, let's begin!" He announced. "We'll let you and Cubone have the first move."

"With all due respect, I'd prefer if you went first," Giselle replied.

Hala pursed his lips but accepted her request.

"Let's test them out first, use Power-Up Punch!" Hala commanded with an outstretched arm.

"Cubone, just play it safe for now," Giselle said in return.

They engaged at the center of the battlefield and Crabrawler's large pincers began to glow before he lashed out at Cubone. Through careful placement of his bone, Cubone warded off Crabrawler's powerful offense.

Giselle bit down on her lower lip as she studied Crabrawler closely. His attacks were heavy as they forced Cubone to take a step back after he deflected each blow. She was certain the difference in size played a part, but by the looks of it, each hit was getting stronger! Crabrawler tucked in his arm and Cubone's eyes widened as the air shifted around his opponent.

The glow around his pincer turned red and the fuse was lit. He extended his arm and his pincer rushed forward like a cannonball exiting the barrel. Cubone barely lifted his bone in time to meet the attack, but that was far from enough as his bone was knocked out of his hand. Crabrawler withdrew his hand and followed through with the other which sent Cubone skidding away on his back, now separated from his trusty tool.

"Cubone, are you okay?" Giselle asked. Cubone groaned before he jumped back to his feet. He shook off the damage and stamped his feet proudly, ready to continue. "Great, go get your bone back!"

Cubone quickly scanned the field and spotted his bone resting several feet from him, but Crabrawler already stood between Cubone and his bone.

"Cra-brawler!" Crabrawler declared as he raised his pincers and beckoned for Cubone to attack. Hala raised his brow at Crabrawler's shout but smiled nonetheless.

"Come now, let's see how you handle battling without your weapon," Hala said as he invited them to attack.

Giselle glanced from Crabrawler to Hala and pursed her lips. Without his bone, Cubone's offense was restricted to one move, but hopefully, it would be enough to reclaim his bone.

"Use Iron Head!" Giselle shouted.

Cubone lowered his stance and his skull gained a white glow before he charged forward with a shout. Crabrawler tucked in his arm again and timed Cubone's approach carefully. Then as he got within striking distance, Crabrawler lunged forward to meet his Iron Head with another Power-Up Punch. Their two attacks met with a deafening clang that produced a powerful gust of wind that was felt by all of the on-lookers. The two Pokemon fought for dominance briefly, but Crabrawler quickly overpowered Cubone and send him sliding away once again.

Hala laughed as he saw Crabrawler wince, shaking the pincer that he used to confront Cubone's Ion Head. "Old friend, I thought you knew better than to meet an attack like that head-on."

Crabrawler sent a leer at Hala before he focused on Cubone was getting back onto his feet, though he wobbled, clearly shaken from their exchange of attacks.

"Ah, there's no use trying that again," Giselle muttered as she studied the situation. Crabrawler wasn't going to let Cubone get his bone back, but there had to be something that they could work with right now.

Maybe they could do something to bait Crabrawler into taking a new position on the battlefield. Or they could do something to distract him momentarily. Or…

"Crabrawler, use Crabhammer!" Hala barked. Crabrawler dropped his pincer against the field and water surged around it. Then he rushed forward to meet Cubone with the attack.

"Cubone, look out!" Giselle shouted, but when Cubone looked up, he was still experiencing double vision. He stumbled backward before Crabrawler drove his pincer into Cubone's belly and the water around his pincer burst which tossed Cubone across the field. This time, he didn't get back up from that attack. He remained motionless with a pair of black swirls replacing his eyes.

Giselle frowned at the outcome of the battle. She had little to no control over how everything unfolded.

"Not bad," Hala announced as he approached Cubone's unconscious form. He kneeled over to inspect Cubone's skull, impressed that there wasn't a scratch on it despite a direct Power-Up Punch from Crabrawler. His defense was strong!

Kahali and Kimo joined him around Cubone, each with some words of encouragement for the defeated Pokemon.

"Nice try Cubone! Crabrawler is really strong!"

"Yeah, really really strong! That's why Hala is the Kahuna!"

"Thank you, boys," Hala said to them kindly. "How about the two you come by later for a snack? I'd like to speak with Giselle for a moment."

They cheered and before they said farewell to Giselle. Their comments were kind, but Giselle's only concern was the battle. Once the boys departed, Giselle joined Hala and Crabrawler beside Cubone where she sat down. She placed a hand on Cubone's back and rubbed it gently, but he remained unconscious. Crabrawler didn't hold back in the slightest.

Her head was lowered and she sighed. Hala noticed her change demeanor from the moment that the battle ended. He didn't know her well enough to understand what was at stake for her, but there was only one way to find out. With a grunt, he also sat down and Giselle looked to him.

"Alright, young one," Hala began as he got settled. "What were you hoping to gain from this battle?"

There was a moment of silence from Giselle. "I don't even know."

Hala creased his brow and frowned.

"I don't want to say that I did this on a whim," Giselle continued. "I came to Alola to try and restart as a trainer and learn how to connect with Cubone. But I have no idea what I'm doing," She confessed as she shook her head. "A few people have tried to explain the whole, experience the world with your Pokemon thing to me but I…I don't understand what they're trying to tell me."

"Well, it's obvious to me that you're an impressive trainer, your Cubone is well trained," Hala noted, but he paused to look down at Cubone and then back to Giselle. "But you battle like all the mainlanders I've met."

"What do you mean?"

"You rely on yourself more than your Pokemon," He pointed out, but Giselle's expression remained blank. "And by that, I mean that you focus too much on practice and repetition. You train your Pokemon to do what you want them to do, rather than developing trust and intuition."

Giselle looked down.

"Crabrawler noticed it almost immediately during our battle," Hala went on. "Cubone waited for your instructions and followed them perfectly. That style of battle may help you get wins, but you'll eventually become stagnant. The trainer and Pokemon are two equal parties, both of which can influence the outcome of the battle. It's not up to you alone to win the battle."

His criticism was…true. All this time that she spent chasing Volkner, Flint, even Ash…she was trying to catch up by herself. But what was she doing wrong? Cubone was part of the pursuit, but she was excluding him. How could she fix this?

"What am I doing wrong though?" Giselle asked in return. "Cubone and I have worked together every day. How can you say that I'm doing this alone?"

Hala returned to the same point he made before. "During the battle, Cubone followed her instructions and trusted you to determine a plan to win. But you didn't show any trust in Cubone's ability to act on his own."

Giselle's eyes widened. Crabrawler acted on his own during the battle. The plan to deny Cubone his bone was carried out by Crabrawler's own volition. Hala merely followed along and it resulted in a very one-sided victory.

"I need to trust, Cubone," She repeated softly as she looked down at her partner.

Friday, August 4th

The skies were tinged orange as the sun began to rise over the horizon to light the Alolan skies. Giselle sat alone on a bench in the town square of Iki Town, her Cubone tucked away in his Pokeball.

At the conclusion of her conversation with Hala yesterday, he recommended that she spend the night in Iki Town instead of traveling through Route 1 after the sun had set. He also informed her that of some households that she could speak to for lodging if she needed a bed for the night. She followed his instructions and met a kind family that had a spare bedroom that they were more than happy to loan out to her for the night, especially after she mentioned that she came under Kahuna Hala's recommendation.

They offered her a meal and there was some brief conversation, but Giselle didn't care for most of it. She was lost in her thoughts about what Hala shared with her. It was a restless night of sleep as this topic dominated her thoughts then too. Before the sun rose today, she collected her belongings and left without a word since the family was still asleep.

She ventured around Iki Town under the dimly lit skies until she found a bench in the town square. Once she was seated, she sighed and pulled out Cubone's Pokeball from the side pocket of her backpack. Giselle stared at the device in her hand before she lowered her head.

"You rely on yourself more than your Pokemon,"

"It's not up to you alone to win the battle."

She wasn't trying to win on her own. She and Cubone were a team!

So why wasn't this enough…?

She was weaker than all her peers. Volkner, Flint, and Ash were all exceptional trainers that improved to the point where she could no longer compete with them. What did they have that she lacked?

Was it really trust?

"I trust Cubone…" She muttered.

Did she really trust him?

Giselle raised her head as she heard some footsteps nearby. A Mankey came rushing out of one of the cross streets on all fours. At the sight of her, he came skidding to a halt, turned, and rushed off down the street he came from. Giselle furrowed her brow at his behavior, but she quickly understood when the same Mankey returned with Hala trailing behind.

He dropped down beside her on the bench and huffed for a few moments. Then he suggested that Mankey go tell Crabrawler and Makuhita that they found Giselle. Once they were alone and Hala was settled, he looked to her.

"I'm glad we managed to catch you," He began. "I wanted to speak with you one more time."

"About?" Giselle questioned.

"Yesterday…I realized that I should've said more," Hala admitted. "I told you that you lack trust in your Cubone, but I suppose that wasn't the best way to say it. To my understanding, the two of you are working toward a mutual goal, but a working relationship will only take you so far as a trainer. The relationship you have with your Pokemon should be deeper than something that you would have with a co-worker, for example."

Giselle looked down at Cubone's Pokeball again.

"Sharing a goal is fine, but it shouldn't be the basis of your relationship," Hala stated. "The building blocks should be love and trust. Without those, you will lack the bond needed for both of you to achieve your full potential."

"So then, what have I been doing up until now?" She asked him.

"Developing skills. From a technical standpoint, your Cubone is very polished in some aspects of battle," Hala commented. "But a battle won't always be decided by your ability to execute. It may come down to a matter of will. Mind over matter. You will need a strong bond in order to do this."

"I came to Alola to start over, but I guess I don't even know where square one is," Giselle noted with a scorn-filled laugh.

"That wasn't quite the impression I got from you," Hala interjected. "But there is something I can suggest that might give you the fresh start you're looking for."

Giselle lowered her lips in a frown as she returned her gaze to the gentleman beside her.

"Oh really, what would that be?"

A/N

There goes chapter two. My apologies to anyone expecting a Fallout chapter this week. The next chapter is a little daring so I'm polishing it a little more before I take the leap of faith.

As for this story, I wanted to use the acronym when referring to it, but I realized it spells GAS lol. I'm amazed I never realized that until now and I imagine Giselle would be furious if I referred to her story as GAS all the time. All that aside, Giselle is one of my favorite supporting characters from Caged Wings, and I love the outline for this story so I can't wait to get the whole thing uploaded over the next few weeks.

Thank you all for reading, see you at either the next Fallout/G-A-S update, whichever comes first!