Chapter 3

The sun arose again the next day. As I sat up in bed, I stretched and yawned. Today would be the day of the festival, meaning it'd also be the day of the tournament. I wondered what kinds of battles I'd end up in during the tournament and how strong the other trainers would be.

As I got out of bed, I heard a knock on the bedroom door. Mom didn't usually knock, so I wondered who was knocking. I walked to the door and opened it a crack and looked out. "Lillie?" I asked as I pulled the door open enough to let her see my face. I wasn't going to open the door further, though. I was naked, after all.

"Professor Kukui wanted me to make sure you were coming to the festival," Lillie responded.

"I-I was planning to. Is that soon?"

"Not for a few hours. It starts at 3 this afternoon."

"Why are you here so early then?"

Lillie looked away. "Professor Kukui said he didn't need me to help today so... I just thought... maybe I'd just hang out with you..."

"I-if you want. Let me just get dressed."

"You don't have to." Lillie turned back towards me and I could see her face was a little red.

"I don't want you to be uncomfortable with me being naked..."

"I won't be." Lillie attempted to smile. "It's your house, you should be comfortable. Besides, you'll have to get dressed later. I'd rather you were comfortable for as long as you can be." Nebby suddenly leapt out of Lillie's bag and rushed into my room. "N-Nebby!" Lillie nearly knocked me over as she pushed the door open and ran through it. She grabbed Nebby and picked it up. "You need to stop running-" Her sentence stopped suddenly when she turned around and saw me. Her face turned beat red. She quickly turned around. I swear I could see steam coming out her ears from embarrassment.

"You alright?" I asked.

"F-fine." Lillie pushed Nebby back into the bag.

"I think I should put something on." I turned to walk towards my dresser.

"N-no!" Lillie turned back around and I froze. "I-I mean..." She looked away a little. "Y-you're so comfortable with being naked... I-I really don't... want you to have to..."

I blushed as I looked away from her. "That's kind of you... but to be honest... being naked in front of someone... is kind of embarrassing..."

Lillie's face changed to have a look of determination on it. "Th-then... I-I'll do it, too."

"Eh?!" I shouted.

"It'll be less embarrassing, right?" Lillie grabbed the bottom of her dress.

I quickly grabbed her arms. "Y-you don't have to."

We stared at each other for a long moment. Lillie was such a beautiful girl, I just couldn't imagine why she didn't think so of herself. I wanted to just pull her close, to kiss her soft, gentle lips.

I quickly pulled away from her and turned around, my face was burning hot. Suddenly, I felt Lillie's arms wrap around my waist and she pulled me close to her. "L-Lillie?"

"I... I just... want a hug..."

I slowly turned myself around and wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close. Lillie was shorter than me, and so I took her head and let her rest it on my shoulder. I was surprised when, after a short moment, she began to shake and sniffle. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"I... I miss hugging..."

I didn't quite understand, but I just continued to hold onto her. She began to cry and I just held her tighter. I thought back on what Professor Kukui had said about finding Lillie naked on the beach and I began to wonder... what happened to her? What had caused her to become like this? I swore I'd find out, but I wasn't going to pressure Lillie to tell me.

-

Mom and Lillie giggled as they looked over pictures of me when I was young. Like any teen, I had protested, but Lillie had insisted on seeing them. "So, you couldn't keep clothes on her even when she was a kid?" Lillie asked.

"Not at all," Mom responded. "As a baby, she'd cry if I dressed her up. As a kid, she'd take her clothes off after a few minutes of wearing them." Mom flipped through a couple pages. "When she turned about thirteen, she started being adamant about not wearing clothes at home."

"So, you just kind of gave up, then?"

Mom shrugged. "Kind of. I mean, I didn't say no at first cause she was a kid, you know? It was cute. But once she got older and started developing, I tried to be strict."

"I refused," I responded. "Sure, I'd put on clothes when my friends were around. I was too shy to walk around naked in front of them... But if it was just me and my parents, I just didn't want to. Clothes are... uncomfortable..."

"I remember you saying that," Lillie responded with a nod. "That's why I told you, you don't have to get dressed."

I wasn't exactly dressed, but I wasn't naked. I was dressed in a black skirt, but I didn't have a shirt on. When I had tried to dress, Lillie insisted that if I was getting dressed, I should still be comfortable. So, I told her I'd just put on a skirt to hide my girly bits. To be honest, I wasn't that uncomfortable with people seeing my chest, so it was a decent compromise.

"I know."

Lillie turned back to my mom. "Well, Mizuki was definitely a cute kid. If I can ask, though... what happened to Mizuki's father?"

Mom went silent for a moment before speaking. "We divorced. It's not that there was anything wrong with him. We just... stopped being in love... I don't know how else to describe it."

"So... Mizuki still has her father..." Lillie sighed.

"Is something wrong dear?"

"Ah!" Lillie quickly put up her arms and began waving them frantically. "N-no, nothing's wrong. I just... I guess I'm just jealous... Mizuki has a mom like you who loves her so much, and she still has a father in another region that loves her, too."

"If you ever need someone to talk to about your parents, we'll listen," I responded with a smile. I wrapped an arm around Lillie and pulled her close. "But don't feel like you have to."

Lillie nodded. "Okay."

In the end, she didn't tell us anything about her parents. I could tell it was a troubling topic for her, though, so I didn't push. I wondered if it might have to do with why she didn't feel loved or believe she was beautiful. Had she been abused? I couldn't even imagine what something like that would be like. I'd just have to wait, I suppose.

-

Lillie and I left the house that afternoon. I had pulled on a simple white tank top and grabbed my bag off my coat rack in my room. As we arrived in Iki Town, I held Shiru's ball in my hand. "I wonder what the tournament is going to be like," I spoke up.

"Oh, you'll love it," Lillie responded. "It'll give you a real feel for how we in Alola do Pokemon Battles."

"Alola!" Kukui shouted as Lillie and I got into the town.

"A-alola," I responded. I still wasn't used to that.

"So, you're here after all." Kukui walked up to us with a big grin on his face. "I told Burnet you'd be here, but she was skeptical."

"W-well, I can understand why." I looked away.

"Well, welcome to our festival. This festival is held across all of Alola at this time of year. It's to honor the four guardian dieties that watch over our four islands."

"Guardian dieties... you mean like Tapu Koko?"

Kukui nodded. "Yeap. Tapu Koko is the guardian of Melemele Island. Beyond that is Tapu Lele if Akala Island, Tapu Bulu of Ula'ula Island, and Tapu Fini of Poni Island. Here on Melemele, we honor Tapu Koko with the Full-Force Tournament because of how much Tapu Koko loves to battle." Kukui began to walk away. "Follow me."

Lillie and I followed close behind until he lead us to a small tent. "You can prepare for the tournament here. You'll be contestant number 4."

"How many people are in the tournament?" I asked.

"Just four. There's not a lot of us here on Melemele, so the tournament isn't usually very big." Kukui pulled out a sheet of paper. "Let's see, your first opponent is going to be... Rapp. Never heard that name before, actually."

"D-do I have to fight everyone? Or is this an elimination style tournament?"

"Elimination style. But remember, everyone's going to be going all out, so don't hold back in battle." Kukui pulled out a small white bracelet. "Oh, Kahuna Hala wanted me to give you this. It's a Z-ring he made from that stone Tapu Koko gave you."

"Z-ring?" I took the bracelet and looked at it. It had a fancy Z shape on the top of it but was otherwise white. I slipped it onto my wrist.

"Z-rings let you unleash powerful Z-moves!" Kukui rose one of his arms and I now noticed the same bracelet on his arm. "But, you can't use them without Z-crystals." Kukui handed me a small blue crystal. "This is Waterium-Z. You and Shiru should be able to use it."

"How do I do that?" I took hold of the crystal.

Kukui grinned as he held his arms up to form an X shape. He brought his hands to the left side and moved them up and down like a wave. He then brought his hands around and waved his arms up so that his hands pointed upward to his right side. "Like that!"

My face went hot. "I-I have to do something like that?"

"Yeah, each Z-move has its own little movements."

I looked down. "P-people are going to make fun of me, though."

"Nonsense, everyone does these kinds of things." There was a pause. "Well..." Kukui rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Okay... only trainers do it... and even then it's very few of them... You can only get a Z-ring from a Kahuna so... not many people have them..."

I curled up against the edge of the tent. "People are definitely going to make fun of me... I'll probably goof it up and look like a complete loser."

"H-hey now... that won't happen..." Kukui said those words, but I could tell there was no confidence in his voice.

I waved my arms around in a similar fashion to Kukui. "This feels ridiculous, though... and what if it doesn't work? I'll be laughed at... and then Shiru will probably get beat up because I'll be too embarrassed to continue fighting..." I buried my face in my hands. Just thinking about it embarrassed me.

Lillie took my hands and I looked up at her. She smiled. "If you don't feel confident about doing it, then don't. I doubt anyone else will have a Z-ring anyway. Just battle how you want to, okay?"

I nodded slowly. "Alright..." She was so close to me. I wanted to just reach out and put my arms around her neck. I wanted to pull her close and kiss her. I don't know if Lillie sensed how I felt or if she felt similar, but she suddenly moved close to me and put her arms around me, pulling me into an embrace. My face got even hotter as I put my arms around her and hugged her in return. "Wh-why the sudden hug?" I asked after a moment of silence.

"You just seemed like you needed one." Lillie pulled away only a little and we stared into each other's eyes. My heart was pounding so heavily I was certain Lillie could hear it. I slowly moved closer without thinking. I just wanted to kiss her. It was as if my ears were suddenly deafened to everything except the beating of my own heart. It pounded so loudly, so heavily, how couldn't Lillie hear it? Was her heart pounding just as strong?

Lillie suddenly pulled away from me and I noticed her face was beat red. "G-good luck, Mizuki," she spoke then gave a bow. She went to turn away.

"W-wait, Lillie!" I called out and she stopped. I stood to my feet and stepped up behind her. I put my arms around her waist and pulled her close. "If you ever want a hug... o-or anything... just ask... o-okay?"

Lillie leaned into me. "I like hugs." I'm not sure how long the two of us stood like that. It felt like ages. I could hear my heart pounding a mile a minute as I held her. I slowly moved my head close to hers and gently kissed her on the cheek without thinking. Still, she didn't pull away. I could see her face turned a deep crimson.

"Lillie... I..." I started to say, but I couldn't say the rest. Could I even say I liked her? We barely even knew each other, yet I felt this close to her. I wanted nothing more than to cuddle with her, to kiss her, to do anything she would let me do. "You're so beautiful..." Those words were the only words that came out, but not for what felt like a long time.

I felt Lillie tense up. Her body began to shake. "I... I'm not..." Her head moved down. "I'm not beautiful."

"Yes, you are."

Lillie turned to me and I could see tears in her eyes. "I'm not!" she shouted. "I'm not beautiful at all! I'm a bad girl! Bad girls like me aren't beautiful! Bad girls are ugly things!" Lillie suddenly pulled away from me and rushed off.

Why did Lillie think she wasn't beautiful? Why did she think she was a bad girl? I pondered these thoughts. Her parents had to be abusive, that's all I could guess. I wanted to follow after her, but what good would it have done? I didn't know what to do, I didn't know how to act.

-

I didn't see Lillie again until the tournament. As I stepped up to the arena, I looked ahead at my opponent. The girl in front of me had a tight black tank top, and I wondered if it was just very tight or if she was well endowed. Upon the tank top were two white lines that crossed at her stomach. A heavy silver chain was around her neck with a large skull-like pendant at the end. She wore a white hat that had two dark shapes on the front. She also wore a black bandanna around her face that covered her nose and mouth.

The girl had shoulder-length pink hair that had curled a bit on the edges. She also wore a pair of extremely short white shorts. White shoes with black socks and a black band around her thigh finished up her ensemble.

"Yo, yo, what's this?" the girl asked as she put her hands on her hips and looked me over. "Come on, man, I thought I was supposed ta be fightin' in a Full-Force Tournament. Why are they sendin' some little girl out to face me, huh? Yo, that's straight up wack!" She took her right hand and waved it downwards when she said those last words.

I stared at the girl in confusion. What the heck kind of speech was that? "W-well, I am a new trainer, but I did register for the tournament. I'm Mizuki, contestant 4."

"Yo, this sucks, dawg." The girl turned and folded her arms under her chest. "Like, seriously, I'm too good of a trainer ta be fightin' some little girl."

I pulled out Shiru's pokeball. "How about proving that."

"Yo, yo, what?" The girl looked at me in shock. "You really wanna fight me? I'm Rapp!"

"And?"

"I'm one of the big girls of Team Skull, yo!" Rapp brought her hands around in front of her. "This shiz ain't gonna fly. If you fight me, you're gonna get nailed, girl!"

I growled. What the hell kind of speech pattern was this? It was annoying as fuck. "Just fucking fight me!" I tossed out the pokeball, releasing Shiru.

"If that's what you want, yo, but I'm no push over!" Rapp pulled one arm back and put it on her hip, then thrust the other hand out at me. "You're gonna get creamed, girl!" She brought her other hand around and tossed a pokeball. Out of the pokeball came a zubat.

"Zubat, huh? Could be a little tricky." I made a fist with my hand. "Shiru, use Water Gun!"

Shiru unleashed a blast of water from her mouth. The zubat flailed as it was hit.

"Yo, that's uncool, I wasn't ready!" Rapp shouted. "Zubat, use Absorb!"

The zubat rushed at Shiru and its fangs bit her for a moment. Shiru winced as some of her energy was drained.

"Pound it while it's right there!" I shouted.

Shiru whirled around and slapped the zubat hard with its tail. It fluttered away before collapsing to the ground.

"Yo, what?!" Rapp shouted. "That popplio is crazy strong!" Rapp held out her pokeball and returned the zubat to it. She growled as she looked at me. "You think you've beaten the great Team Skull?!"

"I... no?" I stared in confusion. "Wait, is that the only Pokemon you had?"

"I haven't needed no other Pokemon! My zubat has been strong enough to handle anything that came our way." Rapp turned around and stuck her butt out at me. "I'll get payback on you one day! You haven't seen the last of Team Skull!" With those words, she rushed off.

It seemed like most people were dumbstruck by the spectacle as there was a long, drawn out moment of silence. Finally, Hala announced my victory in the match.

As I stepped down from the arena, Lillie stepped over and smiled at me. "You did great."

"Are you okay?" I asked, completely ignoring what she had said.

"I..." Lillie looked away. "Yeah, I'm okay."

I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her close. "I'm glad." Lillie put her hands around my back and we cuddled for a moment.

When we finally pulled apart, I took her hand. We made our way back to the tent so I could prepare for the next fight. For now, I would avoid saying anything about how I felt about her, but I knew I wouldn't be able to keep it hidden for long. We conversed happily until the time for my next fight would come. Little did I know, my opponent was going to be someone special.