-Kyle-

"Arcanine, finish it off!" He hollers, clutching the railing of the boat.

The pokemon lets loose a stream of fire, and UB-04 screams in response. Instead of firing back at the cruiser, the Ultra Beast screams again and jets off.

"Not again!" The driver cries. "It's getting away!"

The boat speeds up, hitting a wave harshly. He bites back a cry as the railing hits him in the side. Arcanine lets out a displeased rumble; the pokemon is struggling to remain balanced on the bow of the boat.

"Just give it up already! We can't catch up to that thing!" He screams over the noise of the motor.

The driver—a UB Taskforce patroller—makes no reply, keeping the breakneck pace after the fleeing alien. Cursing, he hooks an arm over the railing and tries to recall Arcanine to the pokeball. His chest hits the metal bar just right, and he's seeing stars.

Fear, overwhelming fear. Need to flee. Need to go home. Scared, need power. Power to kill everything—

A loud roar snaps him out of the flashback. Grunting, he raises the pokeball and recalls Arcanine. He mouths a thank you to the pokemon before the beam of light takes Arcanine away.

"No, keep it out! We can catch up!" The driver shouts desperately.

He doesn't bother deigning that with a response, choosing to get a better hold on the boat's railing instead. The bar whacks him in the mouth, and he swears vengeance.

The moment this boat gets back to land, he's punching that guy straight in the mouth.

Despite the driver's best effort, UB-04 disappears beyond the horizon just as he knew it would, and they're forced to turn around. The boat stops at the closest port, Akala Island.

He heads for the nearest store that sells pain pills, trying not to limp the whole way. Getting beat up by the sea and a piece of metal is not fun. Not to mention that he hasn't fully recovered from—not strong enough, pain—well, he hasn't fully recovered.

A straw hat, flying on the wind, smacks into his chest. It flops down onto the ground, and he stares at it. Even headwear is trying to take him down today.

"Ah, my hat!"

He lets out a sigh. Body shrieking in protest, he reaches down and picks the hat up. He regrets it immediately as it becomes a struggle to get air to his lungs.

He hasn't told Jace that he stopped taking the medicine for his ribs. He's got to cut costs where he can, and temporary pain is something he can deal with.

"Here," he shoves the hat towards the girl in front of him.

The girl takes it, thanking him, and he steps to the side with the single-minded focus of getting to the store. He almost crashes into a boy wearing a red bucket hat.

With a start, he recognizes these two as Selene and Helios' counterparts. The desire to see how they stack up to his kids wars against the thought of making the comparison. The choice gets taken out of his hands.

"I'm Artemis," the girl says, calmly waving her arms in the standard Alolan greeting, "and this is my brother, Apollo."

The boy makes a much more enthusiastic gesture, and he thinks, that'll do. These two are definitely their own persons. He introduces himself with a grin.

"I see you guys are trial-goers," he says. "Any chance you up for a battle?"

Artemis and Apollo meet him with grins of their own. The pain that seems to engulf his entire body these days gets drowned out by the excitement he can feel building.

"We're always up for a battle," Apollo tells him cheerfully. "So who do you want to fight?"

He rubs a thumb over Noctowl's pokeball. The pokemon would never forgive him if he took the easy way out.

"I'll take you both on," he declares. "Two on two."

Both kids' eyes light up and he knows it'll be worth the hassle of commanding an extra pokemon. Artemis and Apollo take a few steps back, each reaching for a pokeball.

"We've already beat Kiawe's trial," Apollo warns him. "This won't be easy!"

"Oh, and just so you know, you've got blood on your cheek here," Artemis says, tapping to a spot on her face.

"Really? Huh, that's not mine," he says, wiping where he thinks the girl's pointing to. "Must be my boat driver's. Never get on a boat with a crazy person, kids."

He releases Noctowl and Snorlax into the street, and the kids counter him with a Mantyke and a Grubbin. He chortles; they're going to have to do better than that.

"Grubbin, use Spark on Noctowl!" Apollo shouts.

"Mantyke, Headbutt that Snorlax!" Artemis commands.

"Noctowl, dodge it, and Fly as high as you can! Snorlax, take a Rest, buddy," he calls out.

People stop to watch, and he decides to drag the fight out as long as possible. Entertaining the crowd while battling is probably a leftover from his contest days, but he can't deny the thrill the audience's reaction gives him.

It's a bit nostalgic that Tapu Lele interrupts their fight. Instead of demanding a one-on-one duel, it gleefully scatters a handful of shiny scales over the entire street. When it disappears, it takes most of his pain with it.

He throws back his head and laughs upon realizing that all the pokemon are also at full health. He can't exactly defeat them in one punch after his earlier display. It's what he gets for being a vain Vulpix.

He wonders what Jace's face would look like if he brought these two back for a visit. He'd have to come up with a reason for not being at work though. Jace doesn't know about his deal with the UB Task Force, and he intends to keep it that way for a little while longer.

Well, he's always been good at inventing believable lies; he'll think of something. There's no way he can't show off his new set of protégés.