Chapter 4

'Have you truly listened to what Cubone has to say?'

Wednesday, August 30th

Giselle stared up at the ceiling of her room within Anela's house.

The conclusion to the ancient trial of Vast Poni Canyon was far from what she expected going in. Especially since Hala advertised it as a way for her to discover what it was that she was searching for. A way to restart and develop her trust in Cubone.

And she did! Cubone made the call as they battled Hakamo-o and Giselle followed his lead. It was thanks to Cubone that they passed that portion of the trial and yet…they still failed at the end. She was still missing something, but what was it?!

Giselle turned her head to the side and looked at the dresser against the wall. Resting on top of the flat surface was the item that Noivern left in her care. The Hard Stone. Giselle found that her eyes were fixated on the stone and its unremarkable features that appeared dull in daylight.

Sofu asked her a question at the ceremonial site about Boldore's trial that she couldn't answer, and Noivern brought her attention to the Hard Stone as well. Clearly, she missed the purpose of Boldore's trial because she didn't even understand why they passed in the first place. What was she supposed to do from here?

She wasn't afraid to ask questions, or admit that she didn't know what she was doing, but the answers she received created more questions in her head!

"I don't get it," Giselle muttered. "What am I missing here?"

Meinshao's lesson was to be open to new ideas. She wouldn't have come to Alola if she didn't have an open mind.

Hakamo-o lesson was to place more trust in Cubone. It was difficult for her to see at first, but Hala made it clear that she lacked trust in her Pokemon partner. She took the first step during their battle with Hakamo-o, but that was a work in progress.

Then there was Boldore's mystery lesson. They sat in their cavern for hours, did absolutely nothing, and passed. Was this supposed to demonstrate a touch of luck? But what did luck have to do with getting closer to your Pokemon?!

"I don't get it," Giselle repeated as she shook her head. "Alola makes no sense…is it even worth it to stay here?"

Brock's words echoed in her mind. "Sometimes you meet people that are born with something you can never have…"

"Maybe this is it…maybe this is as far as I will get," She gave a sigh and rolled onto her side. From this position, she was that Cubone was standing in the doorway.

"Cu-bone?" He asked as he stepped into the room.

"No…I don't want to train today," She replied and turned away from him.

Cubone frowned. Giselle was like this from the moment their trial ended. All she wanted to do was sulk and lay in bed all day. Five days of this was enough! He climbed onto the bed beside her and poked at her back with his bone. She raised a hand to swat at him and she told him to leave the room.

That didn't stop him. The harassment continued until…admittedly, Cubone went too far. He hit her lightly, and his defense, something like that wouldn't hurt a Pokemon. But Giselle held her side and writhed in pain. Cubone apologized, but she didn't hear it. She was furious as she knocked him off the bed.

"What's your problem!?" She hollered at him.

Cubone didn't hesitate to yell back at her once he sat upright. "Cu-Cubone!" He pointed to the door.

"I'm not leaving…I don't want to train." She said through grit teeth.

"Cubone!" Cubone insisted and Giselle shrieked.

"If you want to train so bad, just do it yourself!"

Cubone lowered his head and snatched up his bone, then he left the room. Giselle huffed and flopped down onto her bed once more.

"What the hell?"

When dinnertime arrived, Giselle left her room for only the second time that day to join Anela and Oricorio for dinner. Anela observed Giselle closely as she prepared her plate. The young woman was drumming her fingers on the table as she stared out the window where she could see the sun sinking into the horizon.

"Is something on your mind, Giselle," Anela asked her.

Giselle tensed up for a moment before she turned to Anela. "Did Cubone come back…at all today?"

"No, I haven't seen him since this morning. He seemed a little upset, especially since I had to help him open the front door," Anela remarked with a laugh. "I'm sure he'll be back soon."

Giselle bit down on her lower lip as she looked out the window again. She didn't want to admit it, but her heart sank when Cubone left this morning. She knew that his persistence was due to her recent behavior and that he didn't mean to hurt her.

"But if you really want to know how he's doing, I had Dori looking after him earlier," Anela confessed as and Oricorio trilled. Anela stole a glance at Giselle as she revealed this information, and a giggle escaped her lips as she saw Giselle's expression brighten considerably. "He's been down at the beach practicing. I'll bet he's still there."

"I'll be back," Giselle announced.

Anela laughed as Giselle raced to the front door, jumped in a pair of sandals, and rushed out of the house.

"Well, it looks like it's just you and me tonight, Dori," Anela noted as she invited her old friend to join her at the table for dinner.

The skies were beginning to darken as Giselle arrived at the sandy dunes that decorated the coastline of Hau'oli City. The torches that lined the walkway were lit, acting as a new source of light for the citizens and tourists that were still on the beach. There was only a handful of trainers that still battled on the beach, and Giselle approached them to ask if they had seen Cubone.

Thankfully, a young man did encounter Cubone, explaining that he thought Cubone was a wild Pokemon that came to the beach to challenge a few people to battle. According to this trainer, Cubone took a bit of a beating in his last battle and was taken further down to the beach by 'Oranguru' to receive some treatment. Giselle furrowed her brow, but this trainer offered ad description of the location.

The torches were placed sparsely, enough for her to follow them down the beach and then further inland until she found a small oasis with large rocks scattered around it. There was a small hut near the water, a dim light shining from within it through the entrance. Giselle approached it quietly, and she could hear two voices from within it. The first voice was deep and burly, but the second one she recognized. It was Cubone.

Giselle approached the entrance of the hut and peeked inside. There she saw the white-ape Pokemon that she assumed was Oranguru as he tended to Cubone on a small mat. Cubone was littered with cuts on his body, and he winced as Oranguru applied a blue paste to his skin from a stone bowl. Cubone's back was to her, but Oranguru looked up and made eye contact with her briefly. His eyes flashed blue for a moment and Giselle felt her skin crawl. She quickly withdrew her head to remain concealed.

"Guru," Oranguru grunted and Cubone huffed.

"Bone-bone! Cubone!" He declared, raising his bone above his head. Giselle winced as she felt her eardrums pop and she raised a hand to her ear curiously.

"Oran…guru?" Oranguru inquired and Cubone lowered his arm.

"…Cu-bone," He answered. "She didn't come today."

"Ora," Oranguru muttered. "Oran-guru?"

Cubone set his bone down and pursed lips before he gave an answer. "She's not happy right now. We had a fight."

Oranguru raised his brow before he pressed further on the subject. "Ru?"

"We failed the island trial," Cubone answered.

"Guru," Oranguru scoffed. "Oran-guru."

"No, she's a good trainer," Cubone interjected immediately. "She has been looking after me from the day I met her."

Giselle felt her vision blur as the oasis and beach faded to total darkness. She looked in search of anything, and monotone images became to appear. Her chest became tight as a pack of Nidorino stood around her and their sharp eyes bore holes through her. She ran, racing through shrubs and thorn bushes that scratched at her skin. It began to rain, and she found refuge in the hollowed base of a tree. It was cold and damp. All she had was her bone.

"These are…Cubone's memories," Giselle whispered as she sat down. She could still feel the hut against her back.

Cubone was all alone until…a shining hand reached out to him from the darkness. Giselle saw the face of herself as a teenager smiling at Cubone the night she and her father found him in their basement. The monotone memories became filled with color as Giselle began to appear in them and she bit down on her lower lip as she saw them.

"I couldn't take care of myself until I met her," Cubone confessed. "I was small and weak. I remember someone said I was unremarkable…alone, I can't beat anybody. But I always knew that there was someone out there who could help me become strong."

Giselle saw the image of her first encounter with Cubone again.

"I knew it was her from the moment I met her," Cubone continued as he looked up. "I've waited for her all my life."

Giselle raised a hand to her chest and grasped at her shirt. She began to see the countless practice sessions that she had with Cubone. She saw herself age from a teenager to the young woman she was now.

"I'm still weak and it takes me a long time to understand what she teaches me, but she still helps me every day and now…I am strong enough to stand alongside her," Cubone declared. "I feel like I owe her so much for her patience with me."

Oranguru tilted his head as he set down the bowl he held. He offered an apology to Cubone for his comment and scratched at the back of his neck as he did so. However, the insights Cubone provided brought him to another question…one that Giselle heard clearly. "What's holding her back?"

"She wants to be strong too," Cubone answered simply. "But she is trying to be strong by herself."

Oranguru grunted and gave a slow nod. "Guru."

"This place is forcing her to realize that she can't do it alone. It's just taking her some time to accept that," Cubone went on. "I relied on her for strength for a long time and I hope one day she will rely on me the say way. She waited on me for a long time, so now it's my turn. I'll wait for her…as long as it takes."

Giselle pulled her knees up to her chest, her cheeks being tickled by the tears that slid down them. The Hard Stone on her dresser came to mind and she understood its purpose. Boldore was teaching them a lesson in patience. They passed because they waited for Boldore to become active, but the application was where she failed in Noivern's eyes.

She invested years into helping Cubone develop. However, in the past several months, she found herself questioning that investment. Her peers surpassed her and ventured off on their respective journeys while she found herself stagnating beside Cubone. They were all getting farther and farther away, and Giselle wanted to catch up with them but the was no need to rush.

Hala was right, Vast Poni Canyon was exactly what she needed.

Mienshao taught her to be open to new ideas and ways to improve with Cubone. Hakamo-o taught her to trust in Cubone abilities and decision-making. And Boldore taught her to be patient.

She needed to…put aside the constant comparisons to her peers. She and Cubone wouldn't be able to match their rate of progression and there were no shortcuts that could help her achieve that. She just needed to be patient and support Cubone.

Thursday, August 31st

Cubone could feel the mattress shift as Giselle turned in her sleep. He ignored the movement and kept his eyes closed, waiting for her to settle down. But then he began to hear the floorboards creak, so he sat upright. He rubbed at his eyes for a moment and blinked hard. Then he saw Giselle standing beside the bed with her arms fully extended above her head to stretch out her back. She raised her brow as she saw that he was awake and lowered her arms.

"Sorry, I wasn't trying to wake you up," Giselle apologized. "I was hoping you would sleep until after breakfast since you came home so late last night."

"Bone…" Cubone noted as he grabbed his bone and came to the edge of the bed.

"Don't go anywhere," Giselle said as she kneeled down alongside the bed, placing herself at eye level with Cubone. "I wanted to talk with you."

Cubone tilted his head. "Cu?"

"I want to apologize for yelling at you yesterday," Giselle began as she met Cubone's gaze. "And for leaving you alone the whole day. I was upset, but it wasn't right for me to take that out on you."

"Cu-bone!" Cubone interjected to offer an apology for his own actions. He only got halfway through it before Giselle placed a hand on top of his skull to pat it gently. Cubone looked at her and she smiled at him.

"I forgive Cubone, and I want to make it up to you," She stated. "So, I thought we should get started training early today, right after breakfast with Anela and Oricorio."

Cubone gave her a large nod, his eyes shimmering. Then he jumped down from the bed and darted out of the door, eager to start the day. Giselle could hear him as he jumped down the steps to reach the ground floor of the house and greet Anela in the living room. Now alone, Giselle approached her dresser to change out of her pajamas, putting on a large t-shirt which she tied around her waist and a pair of shorts. Then she collected a scrunchie and used it to tie her hair into a ponytail in preparation for the long day ahead of her.

Now dressed, Giselle looked to the Hard Stone that sat on top of her dresser. Then she raised both her hands hit her cheeks twice.

"Alright, no more comparisons starting today, I'm going to forget everyone else," She stated firmly. "It's just me and Cubone. We'll bring out the best in each other and become strong together."

Summer and fall flew by, not that there was any difference between the seasons in Alola. The tropical climate persisted all year, and Giselle was more accustomed to it now. She still hated the insane humidity that they would experience from time to time, but she learned to adjust her schedule to stay inside on those days. Perhaps she should have realized that sooner considering how the streets of Hau'oli City were considerably quieter. She and Cubone came home dehydrated one too many times before Anela lectured them about how to handle Alola's climate.

These little adjustments made a world of difference to their training regime. Rather than train 'every single day like they did in Kanto, they mixed up their schedule at least three times a week. With this time available for different activities, Giselle dedicated some time to help Anela with her fruit stand. With an adjusted insight, Giselle made a greater effort to be approachable as she worked with Anela at her stand and she befriended some of her clients as a result. As it turns out, several of them were actually their neighbors whom Giselle had yet to speak to, despite spending almost a month living there up until that point.

They were all extremely kind, to the point where Giselle felt guilty that she didn't put forth any effort to get to know them. On some of those humid days, Giselle would receive an invitation to join someone for a meal, oftentimes that led to her learning more about Alola's history and traditions. The lesson from Mienshao was her motivation to open her mind to life in Alola.

Perhaps that was the mistake she made during her first month in Hau'oli City. She was too narrow-minded to appreciate everything around her. As she spoke with her neighbors and they showed her the finer details of the Alolan lifestyle, Giselle began to see that the island was more than just beautiful in appearance…its culture was rich and filled with new experiences for her and Cubone.

Her favorite was a luau that she attended with Anela in late September. It was a party on the beaches of Hau'oli City for any and all to attend. It began late in the evening and continued until well past midnight. There was a buffet that was filled with dishes from different households, all meals that they tried, and the entertainment caught Cubone's attention. There was a group of men called the fire dancers, who performed a dance while twirling a torch that burned at both ends. It reminded Giselle of a ribbon twirler in rhythmic gymnastics, but what really stood out was the Pokemon that accompanied the fire dancers.

The Alolan Marowak.

Similar to the torches that the fire dancers held, Marowak's bone club burned with azure flames on both ends. According to Alolan history, the Marowak as the original fire dancers, and the people of Alolan derived this dance from how Marowak battled with their club. It was incredible to watch under the darkened skies, Cubone was enamored by what they witnessed. From that day forward, Cubone had some extra fire in his eyes and attitude as they went through their daily activities.

With each passing day, Alola was steadily becoming more familiar to them. Almost to the point where they were ready to call it home. But as fate would have it, yet another new opportunity fell straight into their lap.

Wednesday, December 6th

Wednesday was typically the day Giselle and Cubone devoted to practice battles in and around Hau'oli City. There were always ample trainers on any day, but today usually had the highest foot traffic on the beaches, so there was no shortage of opponents. After months of battling on the beach, Giselle was familiar with most of the trainers, but there was a new face that challenged her today. He was a teenager with side-swept pink hair that could somehow wear a vest over his shirt despite Alola's weather.

"My name is Ilima," He began as he touched his Pokeball against his forehead before tossing it into the air. The Pokemon that appeared on the sandy dunes held his lengthy tail in one of his paws and pointed the tip of it at her. "And this is my Smeargle. We've heard a lot about you lately, so we wanted to have a battle."

"Are you up for it, Cubone?" Giselle asked and Cubone gave her a firm nod. "We accept!"

As both parties warmed up for the battle, they drew in an audience that Giselle wasn't expecting. Based on what she heard from those listening, Ilima was one of the prized students of the Pokemon School within Hau'oli City that would be graduating this year. If he had an established reputation, Giselle wasn't going to take him lightly.

She was glad that she listened to the crowd before the battle. Ilima was an impressive trainer for his age with impeccable decision-making, while his Smeargle proved to be a slippery opponent. They used some crafty combinations based around the use of Disable, Copycat, and Me First. Ilima was, by all means, an annoying opponent. His goal was to negate their offense and wear them down over time, though a contest of sustained damage worked in Cubone's favor. He didn't mind losing access to part of his moveset, and instead, he opted to square up with Smeargle and give him an old-fashioned beatdown. No moves, just his hands, bone club, and the occasional headbutt.

Ilima gave a weak laugh as the battle concluded, explaining that most trainers didn't know what to do if they couldn't call the moves for their Pokemon. But, Giselle and Cubone were unfazed. He remarked that Giselle and Cubone were no doubt a strong tandem.

"Just so you know," Ilima said softly as they met to shake hands. "The principal of the Pokemon School asked me to battle you as a favor. He's been watching in the audience and I get the feeling he wants to talk with you."

Giselle raised her brow as Ilima pointed out an older gentleman that stood in the audience. When they made eye contact, he gave a nod and approached the duo. He began to clap as he came close and then he extended a hand toward Giselle.

"Alola! Giselle, I've been keeping my Decidu-eye on you!" He proclaimed he raised one hand to his eye to create a makeshift goggle. Giselle raised a hand to her mouth to conceal her smile, but a snort still escaped her nostrils. Samson raised his brow and continued. "I'm Professor Samson Oak and it's nice to finally Chat-ot with you."

Giselle rumbled her lips before she gave a laugh, and Ilima deadpanned.

"I was Absol-lutely impressed with what I saw during your battle," Samson went on and Giselle's laughter filled the air. She needed a few moments to relax before Samson shared the reason for this conversation. "I asked Ilima to battle you so that I could evaluate your ability as a trainer, and now I'd like to make an offer."

"What kind of offer?"

"I'd like to interview you to become the newest battle instructor at the Pokemon School."

It took a moment for this to settle in Giselle's mind, then her eyes grew wide.

"Me?"

Ahonui - Patience

A/N

Hello all, shorter chapter this time around. However, there will be an additional post next week to make up for it. I'm polishing chapter five as we speak, and then I'm going back to Fallout to hopefully write the conclusion for that. Wish me luck!