Chapter 4
It was already past seven by the time Justine woke up. Her laptop had finished rendering and uploading the first Alola vlog so she quickly packed her laptop into her backpack, alongside the cameras. After a quick shower and a change of clothes, she set off with the backpack. While she did bring her main camera, it was too heavy to be used while on the move; as such, she usually kept her GoPro with her, slung around her neck, ready to shoot at a moment's notice. Alongside the cameras, she had brought with her a couple of water bottles, some snacks and a first aid kit.
First stop: Professor Kukui's Lab!
The Maps app in her phone brought her to… the port of the island? After asking around, she found out that the school was also the professor's research area. Though why they called it a research area instead of a lab was something Justine had no idea about. Well, she could always ask the professor.
The school, as it turned out, was on another island—Melemele Island. She was on Akala Island. But there didn't seem to be any ships or boats around either…?
After some more enquiries, she found out about Poké Ride. A few pokémon species were trained as Rides to get around the region and between islands. A rider also needed to wear special ride suits if they didn't own the pokémon. Justine thought it to be a ridiculous concept altogether—wouldn't ships or boats be far better for these travels? Far quicker and automatable maintenance plus the added advantage of not having to wear a special suit of all things for what would essentially be a few minutes.
But—judging from what little she had seen of the surrounding waters when her plane had landed on the first day—it seemed like the goal for this was environmental preservation. It wasn't like they were abusing the ride pokémon. And there was the added advantage of kids being able to have fun talking with the pokémon on the ride. Also, the pokémon would be far more versatile in case of cyclones or whirlpools or any such calamity… Yes, Justine could see the preference for Poké Rides over mechanical ships.
Well, her opinion didn't really come into the picture anyway. She set off to search for a ride.
An hour or so later, she was on Melemele Island. The trip was quite short, with most time being wasted in finding a quality but cheap enough ride, followed by finding a right-sized suit, wearing it comfortably enough and then getting it off again at her destination after her travel. She had rented a Charizard 'Glide' to get an open, aerial view of the region.
To say that the views were spectacular was understating it. She had been practically mesmerized with them. Clear blue waters, lush green islands with sandy yellow beaches, a light breeze that offset the heat of the late morning sun, Wingulls joining her on her trip, surrounding her with their cacophony of joy…
The fact that the Charizard had a gentle temperament and assented to her requests was just a cherry on top. She had been able to experience something that some people could only dream about. By the time she had landed, she already had a significant number of clips, showing what she had experienced.
She thanked the Charizard and its owner and left the port, finally entering the Melemele Island. It seemed like she was in Hau'oli City—which was where the school was. But Justine figured that—like most schools—the school here was also bound to be in session in the morning. It would be best to visit in the late afternoon, probably after three.
For now, she could just spend her time exploring the city. Especially the Ruins of Conflicts which were at the top of the hill in the centre of the island.
The marina where she was seemed to be one of the tourist hotspots of the city. Understandably so, as it was the largest port of the island that connected with all other islands of the region as well as the artificial centre island, Aether Paradise.
A quick search told her that the other major tourist spots on the island were the shopping district in the centre of the city and the beachfront. Why a beachfront would be categorized as a hotspot was something she did not know. She would probably find out more when she got there.
For now, the next target was the shopping district.
After ensuring she had enough charge in her camera, she set it rolling. "Morning, everyone. It's sunny here in Alola; the weather is bright and cheery, and absolutely perfect for exploring. Right now, I'm in Hau'oli City on Melemele Island. It's the largest city in the region and there are quite a few spots worth exploring other than the popular ones. Let's check the popular ones first before actually exploring the city."
As she spoke, she noticed the curious glances she was attracting. Despite being a tourist spot, Alola was a region surprisingly devoid of travel vloggers. As such, someone like her that did it for a living was bound to attract attention.
She smiled at them. "Alola!"
She got some nods and smiles back along with the greeting. While curious, most people maintained their distance, presumably to not ruin her recording. She was glad for it but it wasn't exactly an accurate recording of the culture either. So, she simply decided to take the first step. She went to a family and greeted them, asking them a bit about the city as well as how often they met pokétubers out there.
The family seemed pleased to be included and actively responded with the kids being the loudest. It was a nice interaction to say the least. In fact, Justine felt reenergised after that conversation. Travelling solo had its downsides. Not having someone to discuss observations with was one of them. That said, since she vlogged, she often said her observations and opinions out loud anyway for her viewers so it wasn't all that bad for her.
After greeting the family, she left the marina and walked through the city at a leisurely pace, observing the people, their attires, their interactions, the architecture of the buildings, the wild pokémon, the caught pokémon, and so on and so forth. She narrated her observations, and opined and speculated about various things based on her experiences so far, as she continued her exploration.
"The floral-printed shirts seem to be staple," she said, as she smiled and waved at yet another local. "I used to think it was an exaggerated stereotype but they really do seem to prefer that sort of shirts. Or they might be tourists who bought them and are wearing them while staying. It seems to be a healthy mix of both."
"But I guess the most surprising part is that despite being the largest city, it looks somewhat empty," she said aloud as she moved the camera all around. "The official population census states that the population of Alola is just over a thousand. And considering the number of cities I saw from the air when arriving, I'd say all cities have a population under hundred on average. No wonder everything feels so open and empty. That sounds perfect for the pokémon though—no wonder they seem so friendly even if they are wild. Anyway, let's continue on to the shopping centre…"
At that point, she stopped recording. Her arms were starting to ache from holding the camera up for so long. She was still a bit far from the shopping centre so she decided to take the time to rest her arms. It wouldn't do if she had to take too long a break later because she didn't care for herself.
That reminded her that she had forgotten to bring her sunscreen along. It didn't usually happen but there were definitely times when her excitement caused her to be absentminded. That day was one of those days. She would have to buy it somewhere if she found a good shop.
It was well past eleven in the morning at that point. She considered where to have lunch. The shopping centre was bound to have a food court—nowadays, all of them seemed to—but there should be a local restaurant that the locals preferred, right? She would have to ask around about that.
She soon reached the shopping centre and set her camera rolling. "And now, we are here close to the shopping centre," she said as she focused her camera on the approaching building. "Let's see what's inside."
And the first thing to greet inside her was…
"Alola Tourist Bureau," she read. She paused in front of it for a moment. "I didn't know this existed. If I knew, I'd have had an easier time getting more information about Alola. Curious. Let's go ask inside."
As she was about to enter, she was stopped by the guard at the gate. "I am sorry but photography and videography is not allowed in the tourist bureau."
The reason left her baffled. Blocking a tourist from photographing and video recording in the tourist bureau? That was counterintuitive. But she didn't press; she accepted the request and tucked her camera away in her backpack. As soon as she did, the guard let her in.
"Alola, how may I help you?"
There were two receptionists, one of whom spoke as they both greeted her with a smile.
"Alola! I am touring Alola for a few months so figured I should look around," Justin replied with a smile. "I didn't know there was a tourist bureau here."
"Yes, we recently established it so it's understandable if you haven't heard of it."
That explains why I didn't find any information online. Justine thought to herself. She glanced around, noting the various local products on display. "So then, is this going to be a souvenir shop or something?"
"At the moment, we do provide local goods and souvenirs, and the Poké Finder on your Rotomdex. By the end of next year, we will have a website up and running from where we will be providing travel passes for the tourists as well as more details on the tourism spots this region offers."
"That's great to hear!" Justine exclaimed with a smile. "I wish you well for your future."
"Thank you very much. Have a safe and nice journey of Alola!"
"Thank you. But I am curious about what happened just now." Justine pointed at the guard. "I was told photography and videography wasn't allowed in here. Which sounds counterintuitive to me really."
"That's our company policy right now. We apologize if-"
"Oh no, no need to apologize. I'm just curious as to why."
"Since we are still setting things up, there might be confidential things that may get inadvertently caught in cameras. This is a temporary measure till we make sure to have fixed that."
Makes sense too. Justine nodded to herself. "Well, thanks for answering my questions. I hope it's fine to record outside in the shopping centre?"
"Yes, that's fine. Please go ahead. Have a nice day."
"You too!"
And just like that, her questions answered, Justine left. She took a moment to thank the guard as well, before heading outside the bureau. Outside, she brought out her camera again and set it rolling. "So, apparently, the bureau has been set here recently and there's still a lot of work going on so they said no to recording," she said to the camera as she showed the bureau from afar. "It should be fine by next year, they say. And that's when everyone will be able to book travel passes to here. It should get interesting once it opens up."
She held the camera steady for a moment, before turning the focus towards herself. With a smile, she resumed her exploration. "So, now, let's check some other stuff out here." She turned the camera around. "There are only two storeys in this mall. Not so surprising considering the population is fairly low here. You can see a photo booth there at the far end; there"—she pointed— "and beside that is the salon. And there is even a police station in here…"
She observed aloud everything in the shopping centre all around her, pointing it out to her audience. It was part of her job as the vlogger here. Often, there were times when she missed something obvious which she would only realize after some comments would point it out for her. It was interesting then to explore that thing. It could be something as simple as a apparel shop to as significant as an interesting cave in the cliff, visible from… wherever she was at the time.
She soon finished and realized it was already well past noon. She had been planning to check out the apparel shop before lunch but decided to do that later. Food was always the priority. She never knew when she could end up stuck somewhere for too long; in case she did so, being stuck with a full stomach was better than being stuck on an empty stomach.
Well, she had time to explore. Right now, the priority was getting lunch somewhere.
She swiftly made her way back to the tourist bureau and asked them for recommendations. They gave her some but in their personal opinions, the one called "Aina's Kitchen" was the best. They were locals so their opinion definitely held merit. Justine decided to check it out.
"Well, guys," she said into her camera as she left the bureau, "Before we continue on, I'm quite hungry now so I'm going to the local favourite restaurant called 'Aina's Kitchen'. It seems to be really popular here. So, let's go check it out."