"I've found my protégés!" Kyle announces, stomping through the center's doors.
He looks up from his desk and blanches.
"Tell me you did not just kidnap a ten year old girl," he pleads.
"I won't tell you because you'd be wrong!" Kyle exclaims gleefully. "She's eleven, and I nabbed her twin brother too!"
Kyle, with a hand on the young girl's shoulder, motions to someone outside the doorway. A young boy shuffles in and gives him a wave that somewhat resembles the local's.
If said locals were shell-shocked and traumatized, he thinks.
"Why, when, and what did you do?" He asks, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Chansey makes an inquisitive noise next to him, and Kyle pats the coral-shaped hat the girl wears. She practically beams up at the Ace trainer.
The girl has been nothing but smiles this whole time which clues him in that this is about to get weird.
"Well," Kyle drags out, "I was just on my way to the beach when I noticed these two challenging the bone punks—"
Bone punks being Team Skull, who tend to run the other way whenever they see the Ace trainer.
"—and they were amazing!" Kyle gushes.
"And you just decided to kidnap them," he deadpans.
"Well, no," Kyle scratches the back of his head, "it wasn't until Tapu Koko swooped in—"
"Tapu Koko?" He interrupts, mystified.
"It's the island's protector," Kyle informs him.
"I know who that is!" He hisses. "What are you doing with the local deity?"
"Getting challenged to a duel apparently," Kyle pouts, "one that ended in a draw."
"You were amazing Mr. Kyle," the girl assuages. "I can't wait to start training!"
"Right, so! Jace, Chansey, these two are Selene and Helios. Selene, Helios, this is Jace and Chansey," the Ace trainer flaps a hand back and forth.
Chansey waves its arms and gives a coo at the thought of making new friends. He lets out a sigh and pats the pokemon roughly on the head.
"So what in the world made you agree to his insanity?" He questions.
"He promised to help me find a Mimikyu," Helios admits.
"And you?" He looks at the still smiling girl.
"He's going to help me train Popplio and Growlithe, and then we're going looking for the biggest, meanest Grimer on the island!" Selene chirps, pumping both fists.
He almost tells them to get away while they still have a chance; that they have no idea what they're in for, but Kyle is giving him that bright grin that always seems to break his resolve.
"I can you give a few tips on treating your pokemon," he eventually says. "If you care for them right, give them the right vitamins, you can have a professional team in half the time."
Kyle throws him a thumbs up, and he rolls his eyes so hard they hurt afterwards. He gets one of his co-workers to watch his desk and follows them out of the center.
He's only slipping out for an hour, but maybe that'll be enough to mitigate some of the damage.
It's not enough, he finds out later.
He's eating lunch with Myna at the salon when the door is dramatically flung open. Kyle stands there looking close to panicking with Selene held under his arm like a sack of vegetables.
"You've got to help her!" Kyle cries.
He stands up immediately.
"What happened? Did she get hurt? Where's she injured at—no, wait, why aren't you at the center?" He reaches for his emergency kit.
"Alola," Helios deadpans, hidden behind the Ace trainer's jacket, "the only thing hurt is her hair."
He stops and looks at Kyle in disbelief.
"Her hair?"
The girl is shoved in front of his face, and he stares. He remembers the girl having short, black hair hidden underneath a ridiculous hat.
Apparently she decided she needed a change. Her hair has been cut haphazardly and halfway spiked with splotches of purple and white running through it. What's in front of him can only be called a monstrosity.
"Oh, girly," Myna says in shock, "that is beyond hurt."
Selene slumps in Kyle's hold, legs dangling helplessly. He tries to look away to save her some embarrassment, but it's impossible.
"Her hair looks like Rowlet decided to make a nest and decorate it with a paintbrush," Helios points out, twisting the knife. "I had to shove her under a bush to keep Hau from seeing it."
He blinks,
"Why couldn't you hide it under a hat?"
The boy gives a him a look.
"The dye's still wet. She gave her hat to Lillie for her to embroider, and I'm not giving her mine," Helios says flatly.
He tries to place the names and fails. He just nods to the boy. Long experience has shown him that there's no sense in arguing with stubborn children.
Case in point—
"I don't know what you did, Kyle, but you're paying for Selene. I'm going back to work. You can cause all the chaos you want, but leave me out of it," he tells the Ace trainer.
Kyle just runs a hand through his hair in reply.
"It'll be fine," he tells Selene. "Myna's really good at what she does."
He leaves them to it and retreats back to the relative safety of the Pokemon Center. At least there he doesn't have to deal with a bored Kyle; something that is far more dangerous than any legendary pokemon.
Munchlax has a stomach ache? Completely normal. Somehow got infected with Cute Charm? He's got the antidote. Got turned into a Yamask and can't leave the mortal plane? That's what Chansey's Fire Blast is for.
His co-workers don't understand how nothing ever seems to faze him.
His peaceful shift is interrupted not even an hour later. Kyle bounces into the center and gestures towards him before bouncing back out.
He prays for strength and leaves Chansey to guard his desk.
"Jace, Jace, look!" Kyle grins.
Kyle's gently pushing a happy Selene by the shoulders, and Helios is standing next to them with a disgruntled expression.
He blinks and then blinks again.
"Kyle," he struggles to find the words, "why does she have your hairdo?"
Selene grins that horribly familiar grin from beneath short spiky, blue hair.
"She's going to be awesome, just like me!" Kyle beams. "Except better!"
He covers his face and lets out a helpless laugh.