"So just four big ol' stacks of our classic pancakes, huh? We'll get right on it then!"

"Thanks for that!" Hau called out as the waiter left the able we were all sitting at.

"So, Echo," he addressed. "How'd you sleep last night? First time sleepin' in an actual bed...Cool, right?"

The room we stayed in at the Tide Song Hotel the previous night only had two beds available, as all the three-bed rooms were immensely popular this time of year with families, and had all been booked already. Hau and Lillie had agreed to bunk in one, leaving the other for me.

And despite it being completely normal for the humans, I found sleeping in a bed to be a somewhat strange experience.

{To be completely honest,} I admitted, trying to keep my tired eyes open. {I think I'll stick to using the ground for my bed. It's a lot firmer, which is better for me, and I don't get tangled up in grass quite so much when I toss and turn. Not to mention having to risk putting holes in anything with my feet...Besides, I had a REALLY weird dream last night, and I think my lack of rest might have had something to do with it.}

"Oh...Sorry to hear that, cousin. Hey, at least we know that now, right?"

I nodded in agreement.

"So, what was your dream about, Echo?" Lillie asked.

"Bzzt? Did it have anymore to do with your old home?" Rotom chimed in, equally curious.

{I...don't think so, really. The dream seemed like a completely foreign place to me.}

"What was it like?" Hau inquired, taking a sip of his Pinap Juice. "Spill the beans, bud!"

{Well, I was wandering around this...sort of a dark marshland. It was damp and cool, and there were glittering stones along the dirt walls.}

"Ooh...Soundzzz kinda pretty, actually."

{So I found this bridge of flowers growing along the water.}

"Uh-huh, yeah..."

{And I followed it over to a smaller part of the marsh.}

"Did you find anything interesting?" Lillie asked.

{There was a bench sitting there. And I look underneath the bench...}

"Yeah, yeah?" Hau urged, dying to know what happened next.

{And there's just...A quiche sitting there.}

"A...quiche?" Lillie repeated.

{Yep. A cold quiche just sitting under the bench like someone left it there.}

"...So didja eat it?" Hau asked.

{I picked it up, but Rotom's alarm started beeping before I got the chance to put it in my mouth.}

"Oh. Heh heh...Sorry, boss. If I'd known, I'd have kept quiet."

{Eh...No worries, Rotom. Besides, if I want a quiche, I can always just fly back to the Thrifty Megamart and buy another.}

"Oh, a bit more keen on the Charizard Glide, are ya?"

{Hey, if I've done it three times already and know what to expect, then it should be fine, right?}

"Heck, yeah!" Hau exclaimed. "You conquer that fear o' heights like you conquer Team Skull!"

{I plan to,} I nodded. {So, after we're done here, we're all gonna go back to Memorial Hill to watch you take on Kahuna Olivia, and then once you're done with that, we'll all head back here to Heahea City, Lillie is gonna go find the Professor, and you and I are going to head over to Hano Grand Resort to see what the Aether Foundation wants, is that right?}

"That's the plan!" Hau nodded. "Uh, hey, Lillie. You sure you wanna stay here? I mean, we don't wanna leave you in the dust or anything, do we?"

I shook no, still wondering why Lillie seemed so tense whenever the Aether Foundation was merely mentioned, as she was now.

"No, no, it's fine. I don't mind doing things with the Professor for a while," she insisted. "Besides, we'll all meet back up on Ula'ula Island later today anyways, won't we?"

"Yeah, we will, but...I dunno. Guess I just feel kinda guilty about it."

"Hey, Hau, it's okay. There's nothing you need to feel guilty about. Hey, you've set my day off to a great start by inviting us to breakfast, so you get a pass! Hee hee...!"

"Ha! Heh...Okay, I'll take your word for it."

"Alrighty! Four stacks o' classic pancakes!"

Before we even realized it, the waiter had put out three steaming, sweet-smelling stacks of the griddle-cooked goodness before us. And soon they would all be topped with a coat of melted butter and drenched in syrup on top of that.

One thing was for certain: I was NEVER going to get tired of human cuisine.

"So, the forth one, here," the waiter continued, the last platter still in his hand. "Who's it for?"

That was when Hau and I showed off our Poké Balls.

"Well, I wasn't about to let my Raichu miss out on this," he replied.

"Oh, HO, those are gonna be some happy Pokémon!" he grinned, placing the meal on the table. "You folks enjoy! Just make sure they don't cause any havoc, 'kay?"

"Will do!"

The moment he left for another table, we opened up all of the capsules and let out our teammates. Red, Archer and King all ruffled their feathers in anticipation, while Sassafras and Grace wagged their tails in excitement. All of my Pokémon were on the verge of drooling once the scent of their breakfast hit their nostrils.

And so were Hau's.

"Bri..."

"Raiii, Chu...!"

"Noi, noi!"

His Noibat flitted around eagerly, then landed on the table, already eyeing up the fruit-flavored syrups off to the side of the table.

"Ya want the Mago Berry Syrup on yours, Noibat? Comin' right up!"

It landed on his head, turned upside-down over his face and smothered him with affectionate licks.

"'Ey, come on, now! Save that for your breakfast!"

{So, there's more than one syrup flavor here?} I asked, eyeing up the different bottles myself. The three bottles aside from the maple one looked like they were made from different kinds of berries.

"Yep," Hau nodded as he prepared his Noibat's food, the Pokémon hopping up and down where it stood in anticipation. "I still recommend the maple, though; this is your first time eating the stuff, so why not go for the classics before delvin' into the nitty-gritty of it?"

{Fair point,} I nodded, looking to each of my Pokémon to get their preference. {What about all of you?}

Everybody voted maple except for Red and Sassafras; the latter was eyeing up the Razz Berry syrup, and the former was, to our surprise, insisting that he didn't want any syrup on his, simply turning his beak up at the bottles and shaking his head. It didn't look like there were any flavors there he liked.

"Ru, Haw-Lucha."

{What'd he say, Rotom?}

"Huh...He wantzzz to know where the hot sauce is."

The table erupted into laughter, and the Wrestling Pokémon simply rolled his eyes and covered his pancake with butter and cinnamon instead before eating it.

{How about you, Rotom? You and Grace are pretty small, so you can probably split.}

"Same azzz you fellas! Just lemme get outta this thing real quick!"

The last thing I wanted was for the PokéDex to clatter to the tile floor, so I grabbed hold of it just as he zipped out of the device and darted freely around the rest of us.

"Ro-Roto!"

Everything was set up for everybody else in no time flat, and before one could say "bon appetit," we were all munching away.

{Wow...} I gurgled, mouth full. {Now THIS is fine dining.}

...

"I'm gonna ask one more time in case you changed your mind. You SURE you don't wanna come with us?"

"Yes. Positive. But thank you anyway, Hau," Lillie answered, perhaps a bit too readily. "Clothes aren't going to buy themselves, are they?"

"Well...Okay, then. Guess we'll be headin' out for now. See you this evening!"

{Good luck here in the city.}

"Yeah! Get yourself somethin' snazzzy, why don'tcha? Zzt!"

She giggled a bit at Rotom, and we parted ways, Lillie and Nebby heading west to meet the Professor somewhere and me, Hau and our teams heading east for the resort, Rotom's map displayed just in ront of us as we went along the paved road.

"MAN," Hau huffed as we headed back along the road...Not a good idea to have underestimated that Lycanroc, was it?"

{At least Brionne pulled you through the rest of the way, right?}

"Yeah, but...WOW. I won by, like, a HAIR. Did you SEE that thing's teeth?"

{King's are just as sharp.}

"In that case, I don't wanna battle your Tyrunt anytime soon!"

Hau had just earned a very narrow win against Kahuna Olivia. His Noibat and Raichu were both out pretty quickly once they were on the field, despite being able to take out her Nosepass. It was his Brionne that stole the stage, being able to take on both her Anorith and Lycanroc with her trusty Bubble Beam, although she was also nearly defeated by the Wolf Pokémon's powerful jaws and claws, let alone it's mighty Rock Tomb.

"But hey, still a victory. Just gotta make sure we do a bit more grinding next go around for the Grand Trial?"

{Probably a good idea,} I nodded as we continued along the street. {Which way, Rotom?}

"It'zzz not far! Just keep on going straight and we'll be there in no time!"

{Excellent. Come on, Hau, let's pick up the pace!}

"Hey! I can't pick up as much pace as you, y'know!"

I was careful to not let Hau fall behind as we ran down the street, passing the beaten path of Route 9 on our left as we drew closer to the red flag displayed on Rotom's map.

I looked up to see that we were passing over a bridge, a large white gateway on either side of it, and the coarse paved road beneath us smoothed out into sleek tile.

"Welp, here we are!" my PokéDex announced. "Ooooh...Classy-lookin' place, ain't it?"

{Whoa...} I marveled. {It certainly is.}

"No kiddin'."

Hano Grand Resort was something to behold; it had vibrant flower beds, swimming pools, lounge chairs, a boat dock, and even a walkway down to a small beach, and there were people and Pokémon everywhere enjoying themselves to the fullest. I was already impressed by it, and this was just the OUTSIDE. The actual building was MASSIVE, and the pearly white walls were trimmed with bright tropical orange accents. I knew the Aether Foundation wasn't actually treating us to a stay here, but just inviting us to meet them here was something special by itself.

"...Wonder what kinda fortune you need to spend a night here?" Hau wondered aloud. "Ha!"

"Oh, only a small fortune of 8,000P a night. Bzzt!"

{That much!?} I squawked.

"Well, it IS an upper-crust place," Hau reminded me in an amusingly exaggerated gentleman's voice. "Therefore, only upper-crust people have the money the hotel needs in order to maintain its upper-crust condition."

I let out a raspy chortle.

{True...Shall we go in, my good man?}

"Ha! Most certainly."

"Wow...If you two looked the part, you'd be some pretty convincing aristocratzzz!"

We all continued to laugh with one another as we approached the door. There were two bellhops manning the entrance.

"Welcome to Hano Grand Resort!" the one on the left greeted us, his gaze diverting to me, then to Hau, then back to me. "...Say...Are you two the trial goers that the Aether Foundation said wanted to meet with?"

{That would be us,} I answered, Rotom nodding in confirmation.

"Ah, I figured so! The Branch Chief gave us a...pretty detailed description of you, Ms. Echo...He's waiting for you just inside!"

"Have a Grand time!" the bellhop on the right chimed in, flashing us a smile as we entered through the doors.

It was even MORE impressive inside. The arcs forming the gateway along the entrance bridge were made of wood rather than white iron, and flowers lined the fountain pools flanking either side of the walkway. There were fountains EVERYWHERE, really; by the seating, in the corners, and one giant one came cascading down like a Waterfall above the front desk. It was certainly a sight for sore eyes.

"...Wow."

{Double wow.}

We finally looked where we were going, and saw a familiar figure standing there before us.

"...So you've come at last," he greeted us.

Hau and I exchanged glances with one another, then approached him.

"Yep. Just like we said we would be."

"Ah, do forgive me. We have met once before, and I have yet to properly introduce myself," he realized, frowning a bit. "...You may call me Faba."

"Well, glad to make your acquaintance, Mr. Faba," Hau greeted, extending a hand. I was eager to do the same, and he shook with both of us, the slightest indication of a grimace coming to his face when he made contact with our hands. And he withdrew his own just a bit too quickly. Odd...

"Yes, well," he continued, clearing his throat and attempting to brighten his mood. "I told you before that I would be taking you both to Aether Paradise for the Grand Tour, seeing what you each did to help us before, correct?"

{You did,} I nodded.

"Excellent," he replied, a mildly forced smile on his face. "Now, while we're here, I might as well tell you two a few things about Aether Paradise in advance, shall I?"

We both nodded again.

"You see, as the name suggests, Aether Paradise is a veritable paradise for Pokémon that floats far out into the sea surrounding the Alolan archipelago. It is an artificial island, made entirely from human technology, for the protection and preservation of Pokémon. And as a trustworthy adult who keeps his promises, I will prove to you both that this is the absolute truth with a complete tour of the paradise."

That last part kind of caught us off guard, and Hau and I looked at each other again for a moment. The same thought went through each of our heads.

That's kind of an odd thing to say, isn't it?

Sure, he wasn't some Team Skull hooligan, but there wasn't any doubt that Branch Chief Faba was a bit on the strange side.

"Are we ready to depart?" he asked us.

We shrugged and nodded, ultimately deciding to let his peculiar remark slide.

"Good, good. Do follow me," he told us as he started off somewhere. "Aether Paradise will truly amaze you. So let us enjoy an adventure upon that grand vessel that will take us across the high seas! Ah...By which I mean to say, the ferry. There is one waiting for us on the docks outside."

As he lead us back out the front door, we each stifled laughter again.

Yeah, he might be a little weird, but at least it seemed kinda funny sometimes.

...

The immense white structure floating on the sea seemed to loom higher and higher above us as we drew nearer and nearer to the entrance. We passed underneath the water way, then towards the dock, which was as pristine and white as the rest of the floating structure. When we finally stopped and got off the boat, Faba turned to face us again.

"Here we are, you two. This is Aether Paradise," he told us. "Now, since this facility is created for the conservation of Pokémon, we have installed the latest technology to ensure their safety and well-being, which includes fenced-in areas which people cannot enter normally, high surveillance of all activity through the latest security measures, and of course, precautions taken to keep the Pokémon sheltered here from being stolen and/or captured by either lowly criminals or over-eager Pokémon Trainers. As a result, your Poké Balls will not work in here, due to the jamming signal broadcasted throughout the facility to prevent them from functioning against untrained Pokémon."

{Huh...Clever.}

"Guess we'll have to wait to add to our team until we get back to the mainland, huh?" Hau teased.

"Indeed so," Faba responded. "Now, follow me once more, if you will."

We trailed behind him, and he came to what looked like an elevator of some sort. It wasn't like the one in the Dimensional Research Lab; it was fairly large, and had glass walls that one could see out of instead of just being a closed-in rising and falling cabin...And it was triangular. An interesting shape for an elevator.

The platform lowered, and someone stepped out of it, turning to face the Branch Chief. A female, it looked like, her white uniform accented with pink in contrast to Faba's green.

"Excuse me, Mr. Faba."

"Yes, excuse you!" he nearly snapped back. "What is the meaning of that form of address? I have a title for a reason! How else will anyone know how important I am?"

Again, Hau and I exchanged odd looks with one another. Maybe he wasn't as amusing as we initially thought he was.

The other human sighed in discontent.

"Yes, Branch Manager Faba," she corrected herself. "As I was saying, what did you call me for?"

"You remember how I said over the phone earlier that I was putting you in charge of the tour for our two guests? The one in particular?"

She peered over his shoulder and spied the two of us. Hau gave her a friendly wave.

"Oh, yes, I see!" she replied, eyes still on me, seeming slightly curious. "Yes, I remember."

"Wonderful. I must go speak with the president about our conservation efforts on Akala. Simply show the children around and give them the rundown, and by the time that's said and done, the president and I should be done with our discussion. You can take them to meet her at that point. Am I clear?"

"All clear, Mr...Branch Manager Faba," she quickly fixed.

"Good. I'm off then. Have a pleasant time here, children."

He bot onto the elevator and disappeared above us before we had time to say anything else. Once he was gone, the second human heaved a sigh of relief.

"Phew...That guy can be a real piece o' work," she muttered to herself before clearing her throat and turning to us, a warm, genuine smile on her face.

"Welcome to the Aether Paradise, Echo and Hau," she greeted us. "My name is Wicke."

"Alola!" Hau greeted. "You know who we are, huh?"

"Yes, I do. One of our employees told me about your meeting on Akala Island," she told us. "Particularly yours, Ms. Echo. And about how quickly word is spreading across the islands about you and your Island Challenge."

{Oh...I see...}

I swallowed, backing away a bit and refusing any eye contact. No doubt if the employee from Memorial Hill had explained everything to her, she'd have included the rather unfortunate incident we had with Team Skull's Raticate. She seemed to catch onto my train of thought, though.

"Oh, the Raticate ordeal, you must be worried about," she realized. "She explained to me that it wasn't your fault, and I believe every word of it...I'm more intrigued by the fact that you saved the Pokémon Team Skull stole. And the same goes to you, Hau, for what you did."

I heaved a sigh of relief myself, and Hau backed me up.

"Yeah, she's awesome, really," he told her, putting an arm around me. "We pretty much hit it off from day 1, you know?"

"I can see that you have," she remarked. "Thank you both very much for your help! Let me show you around. The main entrance is just on the floor above us."

She pressed a button on the elevator pad, and the platform came lowering back down for us to board.

"Shall we zip right up there?"

It was a short but smooth ride up to the next floor, and it wasn't long before I caught sight of a few Pokémon. They were hanging around the two front desks with their Trainers, looking fairly content.

"This is the main entrance," Wicke explained to us. "You can have your Pokémon healed at the reception desk there, if they need it. Do they?"

"Oh, jeez..." Hau hissed, suddenly looking pretty ashamed. "I forgot all about the PMC. And the team just got done gettin' pwned by Kahuna Olivia...Guess it's a good thing there's a place here for that, huh?"

"Oh, don't beat yourself up about it. All Trainers make a slip-up here or there. Besides, at least you realized it."

"Yeah, guess so...Better do do that, then."

While Hau went over to heal his Pokémon, Wicke and I sort of wandered around the elevator as we spoke.

"So, you and Hau," she said to me. "You're both trial-goers? Hoping to become Island Challenge Champions?"

{That's what we're going for,} I confirmed.

"So I suppose you must both be around eleven, right?"

{What...Age-wise?}

She nodded.

{Well, Hau is a yes to that question, but me...} I trailed off, Rotom casting a curious glance my way, waiting for what to say next. {I'm...Well, to be completely honest with you, I'm actually...not a hundred percent sure...how old I am.}

"No?"

{Most of my past before coming to the Alola region is really fuzzy. Except for a few things I remembered fairly recently,} I explained. {I never kept track of how much time passed at my old home. I didn't count the weeks, or months, or years...I only acknowledged the sun and the moon rising and falling as passing days. But I didn't count them either.}

"Huh...I see," she mused. "The Professor's been spreading more information about you through the Alolan officials since the wormhole theory surrounding you got out to the public. He said that he wasn't sure how old you were, either."

{Wait...Does that mean if I'm any younger than Hau, I'd have to stop doing the Island Challenge?} I asked, Rotom gasping alongside me in utter horror at the thought.

"Oh, I doubt that," she smiled. "What Professor Kukui did learn was that you were fully mature, but still fairly young. We aren't sure how quickly your species develops from a baby to an adult, but biologically, compared to humans, you're definitely old enough."

"Argh..." I gurgled, relieved to know this. {Thank goodness.}

"I can imagine," she nodded. "I suppose all children must yearn to take a journey of their own choosing when they get to be an age like that. Why, in some fields, they're hardly even children anymore. Especially seeing that Trainers tend to be seen by their Pokémon as parents, or the like."

"Oh, yeah, you'd be right about that!" Rotom buzzed. "You should've seen Grace when she hatched from her egg!"

"Grace?"

{Oh. This one right here.}

I pulled out a Pokémon Ball and opened it, and the small, yet elegant young Eevee materialized on the floor before us.

"Vui?"

{We're at Aether Paradise,} I told her. {This here is the Assistant Branch Chief, Wicke.}

The Evolution Pokémon turned to face her, and her brown eyes lit right up.

"Eievui, eievui!"

She bounced in a circle around the human, then sat down before her. She seemed to trust her.

"Oh, she's a dear. You seem to have a strong bond with your Pokémon."

{That I do. All five of them.}

"That's wonderful. I'm glad to know that you're a dependable Trainer."

"Okay, that's all finished!"

Hau returned from the reception desk, and Grace circled around him as he approached the elevator again.

"Ha! Miss me?"

"Vui, eievui."

"Alright. Now that you're finished healing your Pokémon, Hau, would you two like to see the conservation area on the next floor?"

We both nodded, and we were on our way up again with just one more press of a button on the keypad.

The conservation area was green with plant life, with various trees and bushes growing outside the fenced-in walkways and a few vines trailing along the walls, and there were even a few manmade water bodies and hills in some places. It was like a specially-crafted ecosystem, sheltered from the rest of the wild world, and its many dangers.

"Wow!" Hau exclaimed, thoroughly impressed. "This place is awesome!"

{I could certainly get used to it,} I remarked, admiring the scenery.

"We keep Pokémon that have been harmed or pursued by dangerous people here," Wicke explained to us. "Like, for example, Pokémon that have been targeted by Team Skull."

I snarled at the mere mention of their name.

"I know. It's terrible what some people would do to a Pokémon just to benefit themselves...But it's not just people. Some are simply facing natural threats. Therefore, you may find a lot of rare specimens here. Some species of Pokémon need a little more protection than others...Like Corsola, for instance. They are quite terribly overhunted by a Pokémon called Toxapex. So much so that the latter species tends to leave bits and pieces of them behind at it trails along."

I cringed at the thought of such an image.

"Yeah," Hau nodded. "My gramps is always saying that nature's got its cruel side, as sure as it gives us blessings...But can the Aether Foundation really protect all of the Pokémon that are out there in need of help?"

"Well, nature does still have its own balance," Wicke acknowledged. "Sometimes, it can be difficult to judge how much we humans should try to affect that, can't it?"

"True. I mean, the Toxapex still have to eat something, right?" Hau chortled. "Hey, but the Aether Foundation is pretty amazing! I'm kinda surprised you decided to set up camp in a place like Alola. I mean, it's a pretty small region compared to places like Galar and Sinnoh. Not as powerful, either...What prompted that idea, huh!?"

"I couldn't say," she answered plainly, not seeming to know the answer herself. "It's hard to know for sure just what our president is thinking sometimes."

{Huh...So, is she one to make a lot of quote-unquote 'strange decisions?'}

"Well, not always. Once her ideas are explained a bit, they tend to make a bit more sense...Oh, since we're on the topic of President Lusamine, if you're ready to meet her, she should be here in the conservation area right now."

"Oh, heck yeah! This should be pretty interesting, huh?"

Wicke nodded and motioned for us to follow her again, and we all headed down the pristine white pathway. There were a few employees along the path, some surveying the area and others tending to Pokémon. There were lots of different species out and about the habitat; a few Grimer exchanging grunts, a Meowth grooming itself in the safety of a tree, a Starmie sitting along the edge of the water with a Corsola...And there was some sort of small, pale blue serpentine Pokémon swimming alongside us. It peeked its head out of the water, the white fins it had for ears perked curiously. Grace, who was still outside of her Poké Ball, gave it a chipper greeting.

"Eie, eievui!"

"Mooouuuuuurh...?"

It tilted its head off to the side, and I stopped to look at it.

{That's an interesting Pokémon,} I remarked. {Rotom. Can you do a scan? They never said anything about PokéDex scans not being allowed here.}

"On it!"

He got a bit closer to the Pokémon.

"Scanning...Scanning...Scan complete!"

"Dratini: The Dragon Pokémon! It izzzn't very strong, so it prefers to live on the floors of lakes and riverzzz, eating whatever food sinks down to the bottom. It'zzz constantly growing, so it sheds its skin on an almost daily basis! While it's fairly weak in this stage, it evolvezzz into the sleek and strong Dragonair down the line, which then evolves into the extra powerful Dragonite! Kzzt!"

{Wow...If there weren't a rule about Poké Balls around here, I'd be tempted to catch it. Ha!}

"Hey, Echo! Where'd you go, huh bud?"

{Oh. Guess we stayed put for too long.}

I followed the humans' scent trail to track my party down again, and we continued down the fenced pathway. It wasn't long until we came across a small balcony of sorts, where two other humans were tending to even more Pokémon.

"My sweet Pokémon...I promise I'll keep you safe. I'll protect you with my love..."

Was...that her? She certainly looked different from the other employees, and did have a sense of authority about her. She perked up when she heard us coming up from behind her, and turned around to face us. Wicke bowed lightly, then motioned towards the two of us, and the president nodded in understanding.

"Ah...You must be Echo and Hau," she told us. "I've heard a great deal about you two...Welcome to Aether Paradise: the Aether Foundation's own private island. I am the president of the foundation. But please, just call me Lusamine. I'm so glad we got to meet."

"Pleasure's all ours!" Hau greeted.

{I should say,} I agreed. {Anyone who's goal is to protect Pokémon is on my side.}

"I am glad to know that, Ms. Echo. And I'm glad to know that there are people like you two, who travel the islands to learn more about Pokémon. It's unfortunate that there are people out there not like us, who harm Pokémon for own selfish reasons, or even for profit. Isn't it, though?"

{Erm...What about for food?} I asked, just to be sure of her thoughts on that.

"Oh...The Raticate incident Wicke explained to me? As a matter of fact, thinning the Raticate population would actually benefit the colonies, seeing as there would be more food to go around for not only them, but other Pokémon as well...Besides, you never really intended any ill will towards the Pokémon, is that right?"

{That is right.}

"Just as I thought...Anyways, that is the reason why I am here. To look after these Pokémon in need...I will be like a mother to them and shower them with love. Even Pokémon from distant worlds, far from the Alola region, are worthy of my love."

"Vui?"

"Oh...?"

She looked down at Grace, who was standing just an inch or so from my foot.

"Is this little one yours?"

{Yes, she's mine. Hatched her from an egg I got at Paniola Ranch. Say hi, why don't you?}

I lightly nudged her with my snout, urging her to greet the president.

"Eie, vui..."

She gave her a strange look, and shrank back, staying fast where she stood.

{What's the matter, Grace?}

She simply shook her head.

"There's nothing to fear, little one," Lusamine told her, bending down and reaching a hand out towards her. "Why, I wouldn't dream of-"

"Eie, VUI!"

She finally sprang forward a bit, but certainly not to be pet. Her ears were pinned backwards, her tail seemed to be twice as bushy as it normally was, and she bore her mouthful of small, but sharp teeth at her.

{Grace!} I snapped.

But right after snapping at the president, her ears drooped, her eyes glossed over with fearful tears, and she shrank back behind me even further.

"Eie, eievui..." she whimpered, still staring contemptuously at Lusamine.

"Oh my goodness...I didn't mean to scare her. I apologize."

"That's funny..." Wicke thought aloud. "She was really happy to see me."

{I know...Rotom. Any idea what's gotten into her?}

"Uh...No offense, Ms. Prezzzident Lusamine," my PokéDex explained. "But she sayzzz that she thinks there'zzz somethin' off about you."

"Aw, chill out, lil' dudette," Hau assured her, to which she lifted her ears just a bit and relaxed her tail. "She's probably cool. In fact, it's amazing what she's done around here, you know? All of it is, Lusamine! I don't know how you did all of it so quickly! You're, like, not even much older than us!"

"Oh, you sweet boy!" she giggled. "I'm already over forty!"

"Oh, you are?"

I drew my head back in surprise. Over forty? Really? She definitely didn't look it.

It took a bit longer for it to sink in with Hau, but when it finally did, he was even more shocked than I was.

"Wait, WHAT?!"

"Oh, you...! The right style does wonders, you know," she replied. "As a matter of fact, yours is a tad bit wanting, hm? Oh, I'll have to take you out sometime and help you pick a smashing new outfit."

"Uh...L-like what you wear?" he asked. "Man...I don't think anyone else would be able to pull off that kind of look as well as you do! Except maybe a friend of mine..."

"Oh, don't you worry. You just leave everything up to me. Trust me-children would all likely be much happier if they'd only listen to the adults around them. I should-"

She was cut off when a sudden loud noise shook the area, and the entirety of the Aether Paradise seemed to tremble.

We all looked around, suddenly on the alert, once it stopped.

"That tremor..." Wicke rasped. "Did...did something happen on one of the lower floors, perhaps?"

Another noise sounded off, coming from the opposite side of the balcony, and we all turned to come face-to-face with...with...

What on earth WAS that!?

A gaping hole formed in midair right in front of us, not attached to any surface, as though it was a hole in the air itself. And something floated out of it before us.

Something EXTREMELY strange.

The amorphous creature gracefully glided down towards the ground, its white, semi-transparent form mildly glowing blue, and its flowing tentacles streaming down from its faceless head, which seemed to glitter in the light.

We were all shocked by the sight of it, but Lusamine seemed more in awe than frightened.

"...Did you come," she whispered. "...From another world...?"

"Brr-rrr-rrr..." it garbled, swaying a bit.

"Agh! Miss Lusamine! Get back!" Hau warned her, eyes wide with panic. "That thing's...not right!"

She just ignored him, still drawing closer to it.

"Oh, you poor creature..."

This wasn't good. What was going on? What was that thing? What did it want? Was it dangerous!?

And why on earth was Lusamine just getting closer to it like that with no regard for her own safety!?

{Wait, WAIT!}

I screeched for her to stop, and wedged myself in between her and the odd being...

Only to startle it.

And that, in turn, made it angry!

"Brr-RRR-RRR!"

It the blink of an eye, a bright red light exploded from it, and it started to prepare an attack

The paradise might have been a safe haven for Pokémon, but it didn't look like I could find a way out of this imminent battle.

{Grace! Hop to it!}

"Eie, vui!"

She leapt out in front of me to face it, and it launched an odd glowing pink attack. Fortunately, it honed in more slowly than we anticipated, and she was able to dodge it.

{Great! Now, go in for Swift!}

She launched her array of stars at the opponent, and every last one of them made its mark...

But the attack ended up doing very little damage, if any.

{Uh-oh...}

"Eievui..."

In return, the enemy creature fired up a spray of acidic purple fluid, and shot it right into Grace's middle.

"VUI!"

She was flung into the air, dazed and battered by the time she hit the ground again.

{Grace?}

"Eie...vui..."

It was obvious by that display that she didn't have much a chance against it. Of course, she was still the weakest member of the pack, and needed a bit of extra practice, so I decided to spare her from fainting.

{Return, Grace. You did what you could,} I told her as I returned her to her ball. As soon as she was back, though, I called out my next fighter.

{Archer! Let's show 'em what we got!}

The Arrow Quill Pokémon materialized before his foe, and readied one of his projectiles just before his talons hit the ground.

"Dwit, dritdroo!"

"Brrr-rrr..."

{Spirit Shackle!}

As soon as I said it, the arrow quill shot towards him and made a direct hit. To our good fortune, it did a load more damage than Grace's Swift had.

"Brr!"

"Dwit dwit!"

{That's it! Now finish it off with Razor Leaf!}

"Droooo, drit-DOO!"

He fired up his sharp leaves and hurled them at the strange being, and it didn't take much else for it to fall in defeat.

{We did it!}

"Drit-twooo!"

He trilled cheerfully as came back over to me, spreading his wing out victoriously.

"Brr-rrr..."

The strange creature we'd just defeated floated back up into midair, then seemed to flicker, becoming even more transparent.

And then, just as suddenly as it was there, the unidentified creature disappeared.

All of us stared at where the mysterious entity had been. One thing was for certain; what had just happened was phenomenal.

"So it's true..." Lusamine whispered to herself. "...I still need that Pokémon...I need to get it back."

"Did you say somethin'?" Hau asked her.

She smiled, but her expression seemed a bit strained.

"...That creature we just saw was undoubtedly an Ultra Beast," she told us, a flash of strange light entering her bright green eyes. "An unknown being from another dimension that suddenly appears from the Ultra Wormhole."

The Ultra Wormhole. The same thing, according to Professor Kukui and Burnet's theory, that brought me here in the first place. I was there when the wormhole opened...Was there a connection to that creature and me, perhaps? It was strange to think, but considering everything else, I didn't put it out of the realm of possibility.

"It looked like it was suffering," Lusamine continued. "Like it pained it to be in this strange place...I can't bear to see that happen. I will save it...And I will love it!"

She turned to the two of us again.

"...Thank you. Both of you...Thank you so much."

{I...didn't hurt it, did I?}

"Dwit, dwit?" Archer chimed in, seeming equally concerned.

"No, no...I believe it will recover," she assured us. But again, there was something about the tone in her voice that wasn't a hundred percent genuine. "Of course, it was natural for you to want to protect an adult like me. Seeing how much we do to protect you children...I will tend to the Ultra Beast in good time."

"Well...Okay, then..." Hau shrugged, seeming a bit off put himself.

"Oh. Wicke," she addressed. "These two are still in the middle of their Island Challenge, aren't they?"

"That they are, Ms. President."

"I would like you to deliver them to their next island, if you will. I have to make sure that none of our poor resident Pokémon were harmed in anyway by what occurred...And I will need to speak with Mr. Faba about exactly what happened downstairs. And of course, I will have to start preparing the foundation for our newest and perhaps greatest duty yet: the protection of the Ultra Beasts!"

"Oh, yes ma'am! Certainly!"

"Thank you, Wicke."

"Bye, Miss Lusamine!" Hau bid her, and she waved back before turning and leaving to tend to her duties.

"I'll see you two off to Ula'ula Island, then," Wicke told us as we boarded the elevator once more.

"Man...Never thought I'd see anything like that," Hau remarked as we descended towards the docks. "Dang, we gotta tell Professor Burnet about this the next time we see her!"

{Good idea,} I replied. {And we'll have to tell her about that Ultra Beast that we faced off against.}

"Yes, I think it would be best if you did that," Wicke agreed with us as we got off the elevator and headed for the boat. "I am very glad I got to meet you both, and I hope you both have wonderous adventures on your Island Challenge. Oh, and I got you each a little something for you to remember your visit by."

She handed us both a bag of familiar-looking treats.

"So I've heard, you're both quite fond of Malasadas. Especially you, Hau."

"Oh, YEAH!" he celebrated. "Thanks a million!"

"It's the least I can do," she smiled. "Remember to share with your Pokémon!"

"Will do!" Hau assured her as we boarded the ferry that was waiting for us. "And thanks again for everything, Ms. Wicke!"

...

"Hoooo, boy...My heart's still kinda racing, you know?"

{What? Over the whole Ultra Beast thing back at Aether Paradise?}

"Yeah...You?"

{My heart isn't racing over it...But I do have a lot on my mind.}

We were well on our way to Ula'ula Island at that point, nothing but the vast expanse of open ocean to be seen outside the window.

"Dang, though...The Ultra Wormhole is real, and so are the Ultra Beasts...The world is just way too biiiiig. And we still have more things to discover on Ula'ula Island, too!"

{I know...We're really small in this universe when you think about it...It can be kinda scary to think about sometimes, can't it?}

"Maybe. But there's still plenty of good things to think about in life, aren't there?"

{That's true...}

"Like malasadas!" he gave as an example, pulling one out of each of our bags. "How 'bout we dig in? It'll ease your nerves as much as it'll fill your stomach!"

{I couldn't have said it better myself.}

"A'ight! Let's chow down!"

He was already starting to eat his when he was finishing his sentence; an amusing thing to witness.

{So...Hate to spoil the good mood we got going on here,} I continued. {But don't you think Lusamine was kinda weird?}

"What? About the whole 'finding me an outfit' thing?" he joked, his speech muffled by the malasada in his mouth.

{Well, not just that. She seemed to be trying a little too hard to be nice to us, and...well, then there were the weird remarks, like you just said. And then the strange things she said about the Ultra Beasts...There's something about her that just rubs me the wrong way. It took me a bit to see it, though...Makes me wish I'd paid more attention to Grace's behavior earlier.}

"Huh...In hindsight, I can see your point," Hau nodded lightly. "But I mean, she IS the president if the Aether Foundation. She's got a lot of stuff on her plate, so she could just be stressed out over everything, you know?"

{I don't know...}

"Hey, come on. Let's not be all grim and gloomy. We've got an Island Challenge to look forward to!"

I nodded, and we both dug into our Malasadas some more.

"Ahhhh, so GOOOD...Aw, shoot, I already ate the whole thing!"

I chattered a laugh. No matter how bad it got, things would never be grim and gloomy as long as Hau was around.

A/N: PHEW...Glad this is finally out. I was stuck on here for WAY too long, I know. I need more inspiration for this story...Probably because I haven't played Pokémon in such a long time, because my DS charger's broken and I haven't gotten around to replacing it. I need to change that ASAP, then maybe this will see the frequent updates it used to, lol.

But at least I update more frequently then Shippiddge.

*shots fired*

Well, see you fellas next chapter! Things are going to get a bit dramatic here soon...