If anyone remembers the original Shattered Daybreak... Yeah. Kinda lost access to that account because I was stupid enough to use a burner email to avoid getting notifications. If anyone wants to help me get rid of the original, please report it since it seemed like my report didn't go through. Or I might have spammed them with multiple copies. I'm not sure. If I end up not being able to stay here because of poor decision-making (Which my SI shares, by the way, just as a warning) if it turns out reposting even with add-ons is not allowed because the original exists, I might as well plug these mirrors: Archive of Our Own, SpaceBattles, SufficientVelocity, and QuestionableQuesting.

Sorry for the note. Chances are most people skip this because they'd rather consume product. Oh well.

Please feel free to R&R! On to the story!

I groaned at the sunlight hitting me square in the face. Laying vertically, I wondered what possessed me to sleep in my little sister's old bed. The former top bunker wasn't comfortable to sleep on unless half a dozen sheets were piled over the spring in the mattress. I was simply too lazy to flip it over. To be honest, why was I in her bed when I had my own? Better yet, why could I move my limbs about without hitting the mounds of laundry Mom dumped some days before? We never put away her clothes. Daily arguments between a mother and grandma would do that to a bed.

"I shouldn't have left the curtains open…" I groaned before shielding my eyes and sitting up. There was a green blanket covering my legs. Strange. My bed didn't have any green sheets, nor did my sister's. Hers was black. I draped a thin purple layer over mine after getting sick of my sheets jumping off the sides whenever I sat on them. Maybe Mom replaced it when I went out yesterday? Despite my sister having left to start a new life months ago and dumping everything she owned on us? Fixing her sheets when we used them for anything except sleeping didn't make much sense.

Breathing the fresh air coming from the nearby window, I tossed my bare feet to the floor and relaxed. It was quiet today. Strange, though uncommon when it came to the people I lived with. Everyone must have decided to sleep in. Good. The less drama we had, the better today would be.

My toes scraped something soft. Pushing on it, it slightly gave way. I frowned at the smooth surface and pushed at it some more.

"Arf!" yelped a squeaky voice. The thing beneath me shifted.

I gasped. Uncovering my eyes, I found something rather peculiar at the foot of my bed.

The strange-looking blue critter yelped. "Pop!" This pink-nosed, white-collared…?! Right in front of me?

"Augh!" I yelped, withdrawing my leg. I tossed my back to the wall. The weight at which I threw myself came back to haunt me and stung like hell. My mind was quick to stop the pain from freezing me completely in place. I bunched my sheet into a makeshift shield.

The creature heaved itself from the floor. Its flippers rested on the edge of the bed. A frown emerged from under its big snout when it saw me hugging the bedsheet like it was my last possession in the world. "Pop?" it said, resting its chin on the bed.

"Who are you?!" I shouted.

It considered my question for what seemed like a long minute. "Popplio?" it answered, blinking.

No way. No. Freaking. Way. "Po…" I stopped to swallow and replenish my drying throat. "Popplio?"

I was always scared of being jumped by my fat old tabby cat in the morning. Likewise, I was frozen stiff by this new creature leaping onto my bed and right on me. Cats were athletic, sure. Mine would leave scratches if he jumped me when I wasn't expecting him to. Thankfully, this out-of-element seal couldn't do the same and had the smarts to avoid landing on me.

"Popplio!" the seal squeaked. Its tail dropped toward the bed first, balancing the rest of its weight as it landed, and it threw both front flippers out from its sides. As quickly as it celebrated getting on the bed did it settle into my lap. "Pop!"

All I could do was control my airflow. I held my breath, and when I no longer could, I released it and took another. Maybe when I had calmed down, I could search for answers. Right here and now, putting its meager weight on me, was a pokémon. From when I was four and starting in Hoenn to today at twenty-three years of age expecting to explore Paldea soon, I had been a fan of the Pokémon franchise. No matter what I was doing or what other fandoms I had been a part of, Pokémon dominated some facet of my life. It and I may have had our differences, what with its games now coming out every year and its fanbase constantly debating on the quality of the products. I still loved it for the joy it brought me whenever I played a gimmicky team through a region or mopped dungeon floors in search of a plot.

"Okay…" I said. "This is new..."

Popplio stopped hugging me. "Hrm?" it murmured, cocking its head. Its round little ears drooped.

"I'm in an unfamiliar bed, there's a pokémon, it's not a plushie…?" I stopped to place my hand on its head. Its skin slid under my fingers as if it were melted butter. "It's real?"

I surveyed the room. To my left and in two corners of the wall behind me were windows with the curtains pulled apart. An unlit large light bulb with a pull switch took the last angle of the wall near me. Right across the room from the bed was a long desk and a chair on wheels, a mountain of papers piled beneath a trio of pencil boxes, and a laptop I assumed to be in sleep mode since both of its battery indicators were orange.

"Where are my glasses?" I said, relaxing my eyesight after having to squint to see the round shape and hands of a clock by the desk.

Popplio lifted a flipper. "Plio!"

Following its direction, I saw my old beat-up pair laying folded next to the single pillow I had been sleeping with. I slipped them over my face. "There we go. Um, mind getting off me? Please?"

The seal pokémon obliged and watched me rise from the unfamiliar bed.

"Thanks," I said. Say this was a dream. Why did the sunlight hurt my eyes unless I squinted? Why had I felt weight when Popplio sat in my lap? Where were the bitter old women I lived with arguing about paying last month's electric bill? My few lucid dream experiences never got me feeling those senses or helped me fully escape from life. I would have been interrupted by now, maybe by Mom wanting to get the stuff she hid from Grandma from my room or Grandma coming to me to complain despite much of the house's upkeep not being my problem. What was it about this dream that made it special?

Popplio vacated the bed to follow me to the desk. "Popp? Plio?"

When I got there, I saw the massive pile of lined paper and withheld a sigh. Writing was a great strength of mine, yet here were these pages without words on them. Years ago, I realized I would never survive in the market of writing and publishing. Inspiration for anything other than niche ideas was hard to come by. Deadlines were my arch-nemesis. Original fiction writers were super critical, I found. I dumped my relationships with them upon learning I was only interested in the fantasy genre to make something "better" than the "horrible" published authors the writing community loved to personally insult.

What if this new world wasn't a fantasy? Was it possible for me to be something more than a failure who believed being a good writer meant everyone would love me as a person? Could I turn over a new leaf in a new life where nobody would judge me or know who I was?

I read the clock. 8:00 on the dot. Judging by the blinding light coming from the outdoors, it must have been morning.

"Pop!" Popplio shouted, gesturing at itself. "Pop lio!"

I drifted to the desk. At its dead center was a messenger bag having been laid flat. Its clasp was opened. Papers with small printed black text barely visible in the light spilled from its innards. Intrigued, I freed the packet and righted the bag so the rainbow of folders within wouldn't spill across the desk.

"Plio pop?" Popplio called, reaching the door leading from the room.

"Don't worry," I said. "I'm coming."

It huffed before dragging its little body from the room. That seal-like creature… This pokémon must have been waiting for me to wake up and feed it breakfast. Great. Not even five minutes of existence in this world and I was already responsible for another's well-being. If I wanted to be a serious trainer, I would have to care about my team.

Pressing the paper packet to my chest, I shouted, "I'll be with you in a second!"

Somehow, this new life had a way of sorting itself out without my intervention. I sat at a dining table with Popplio eating from a bowl next to me and reread the front of the packet:

Name: Emelie S. Avenue

Age: 23 yrs.

Gender: Female

Main Reason for Requesting a Passport: Immigration to Alola from Unova – a passport between these regions cannot be denied unless the applicant has a criminal history or insufficient paperwork.

At the very bottom of the page:

PASSPORT APPROVED on account of sufficient paperwork and backing from the applicant's college.

According to the rest of the packet, which I flipped through again in disbelief, I bought a house in Alola. Hell, forget getting my own place: I graduated college . College was a goal of mine I gave up on when it became clear I couldn't get through without the support systems I had in high school. Upon further reading, my heart almost stopped seeing what the report had to say about my supposed time there:

Applicant graduated in early 2020 from Kanto University with a degree in pokémon and human relationships. Her reason for moving, besides taking residence in a property bought on the outskirts of Hau'oli City, is to learn from the world-renowned Professor Kukui at Professor Rowan's recommendation.

Holy. Cow. Professor Kukui? Professor Rowan? My heart did an entire ten-mile marathon in seconds. Whatever this alternate version of me had been up to before today, she sure rubbed shoulders with some awesome people out there! Especially Rowan. No offense to Kukui; Rowan was pretty cool whenever he and his assistant, usually Dawn whenever I played through Platinum, appeared. His stubbornness when it came to Team Galactic's antics was fun to watch. Not to mention he was nice enough to let the player character and Barry keep the starters they defended themselves with in Diamond and Pearl.

This had to be a dream. I loved Pokémon, don't get me wrong. Since when did my love translate into a college degree? I'm a decent battler in the main series. I had some knowledge of what species were amazing in fights. Knowledge alone wasn't good enough for the competitive scene. On the other hand, I was decent at recognizing pokémon species up until early generation nine without having to watch them fight or be themselves. Being invested in the series and a fanfiction writer pushed me to study them somewhat more than the average person.

I turned my attention to Popplio. If "I" had been to multiple regions, was Popplio my first partner or one of several? The report never mentioned me having any. Probably would have if I did.

"Popplio?" I said.

It stopped eating to look up at me. "Bwark!"

"Are you a boy or a girl? Uh… Bark once for guy, twice for-"

"Popple popp!"

"Female. Got it." I braced myself for the next question. Depending on how I got her, this was going to sound weird. She might instantly know something was wrong with me and I would be put in an awkward position having to explain myself. "Who raised you? Kahuna Hala or Professor Kukui?" Weird as they were, what I asked had to do without blowing my cover.

"Be-wark?"

Never mind. "I'm not asking where I got you from. I know where. I'm sorry. What I want to know is… Well, starters are usually taken care of by professors until they get their trainer. I know things in Alola can be different from other regions. You might have been with Hala instead of Kukui-"

"Right you are, cousin."

As I whipped around, pieces of my curly hair got in my face. Upon brushing and spitting them away, I found a man in a white lab coat with large pockets at the opened front door of my new home. I wouldn't mind him leaving his lab coat unbuttoned if he didn't forgo wearing a shirt. The lack of one prominently showed his golden-toned skin, which distracted from the rest of his attire, including gray shorts, greenish slip-on shoes, a cap, and sunglasses. He had tied his dark hair in a man-bun. Going by him being unshaven besides the little patch of hair on his chin, he knew how to care for himself. So why didn't he wear a shirt?

"Alola!" Professor Kukui, a real-life Professor Kukui, said, stepping inside the house.

Right. The region's name was a greeting too. "Alola," I replied. I always had a hard time keeping eye contact with other people, which rang true here with me gazing straight at the floor. Discovering what I had been wearing this whole time got them opening wide: a nightgown reaching right past my kneecaps and long pants. I was familiar with the nightgown's grayish color and the scattered placement of its colorless owl illustrations; it was my favorite sleepwear back home for being way newer than grandma's hand-me-downs. In this world, they turned into owlish pokémon such as Hoothoot and Rowlet. Rather appropriate, as well as shocking enough for me to pause.

"You okay?"

The professor's comment broke my embarrassingly long bout of concentration. "I'm fine," I said. "Kinda tired still." The mere mention of feeling sleepy shaped a desperate yawn in me desperately wanting to escape, which I allowed. Tears formed in my eyes. I wiped them away. "Excuse me."

"I understand," he said. "I've been pulling some long nights myself." Following this, he raised his arm and yawned too. "Now you've got me doing it."

I might have snickered.

He smiled. "You're still wondering about Popplio? Hala gives pokémon to new trainers on Melemele. All of the Kahunas do. He's busy with the preparations for tomorrow's festival, which is why you got her from me instead."

"I see," I said.

"Are you getting along?"

Popplio and I made eye contact.

"We're good now we've eaten?" I asked.

"Popp!" she barked, her snout decorated in the crumbs from the brownish Pokéchow-branded food I found in our kitchenette's cabinet.

I nodded. "Great." Turning my attention to Kukui again, I pried him more about, "A festival?"

"Over in Iki Town, yeah."

The fist I held at my side clenched. The generation seven games began with a festival too. What were the chances I was tossed to the beginning of their plot? "After the festival, what am I going to be doing here? I don't think you've mentioned it. Or if you did, I guess I might've forgotten in the chaos of moving here. So-sorry." The packet never explained why I came here other than to study under him. Finding what he wanted would go a long way toward relieving the anxiety building in my chest.

He fingered his goatee. "I never did tell you what I'm gonna have you do, yeah. We can sit and talk now if you want."

"Now's fine," I said. "I'd rather not get jumped by your assignment at the last second."

To my surprise, he chuckled. "Emelie," he said, shaking his head. "You're out of college. You're supposed to have fun now!"

I frowned. "What fun is to be had, exactly?"

"An adventure through the Alola region, of course!"

Color me surprised.

Not.

"I told a white lie," Professor Kukui said, lowering the coffee mug I gave him to drink from. "You're to observe the relationship between pokémon moves and the bonds tying pokémon and humanity together and report your findings to me."

Made sense. He researched moves. Z-moves, powered by special accessories to be worn by select trainers, were a part of battles in Alola. I wouldn't mind doing what Kukui asked as long as he didn't assign any sort of math homework, given it was my weakest subject. Were whatever threw me into this world needing a mathematician, maybe it would have gotten one instead of me.

"Where's the adventure part come into play?" I asked.

"You'll be exploring the four islands, maybe running into Hala's grandson on occasion."

Hala's grandson? He was a hyperactive kid in the games. He matured later and got more of a spotlight in the Ultra universe by replacing Kukui as the player's final opponent before becoming Alola's first champion. "Isn't he, like, eleven years old? I-I'm not the best with kids, you should know."

Kukui chuckled. "I doubt Hau will get you into any trouble, Emelie. Hala reckoned it would be nice for him to know somebody while he's out traveling since…" He glanced over his shoulder at the door. His shoulders sagged.

I frowned. "Is something the matter?"

Professor Kukui turned back around, enabling me to get a proper close look at his face for the first time. What surprised me were the bags underneath his eyes. He mentioned staying up late. I didn't think he was sleep-deprived. "You're not the only one who's dealing with a kid," he said. "I've been watching over the Aether Foundation President's daughter for… Two months now?"

I knew the faces of Aether and their mission in Alola. Still, I feigned ignorance. "Isn't the President's name Lusamine? Her daughter is…?"

"Lillie," Kukui confirmed. "President Lusamine and her children haven't had the best relationship since Mohn, her husband, went missing some years ago. Lillie has been acting out. Her older brother, Gladion, stole a valuable pokémon and ran away."

Interesting. Seemed more information about Aether was known to the public than what I recalled from the games. Or Lusamine simply filled Kukui in before sending Lillie over. The "valuable pokémon" tidbit interested me almost as much. Most likely it meant Lusamine was in her right, if overbearing, mind in this universe and was actively searching for her son to recapture her unethical science project.

"Lillie's staying with you at her mother's request," I said.

Professor Kukui nodded. "She has been… A handful, to say the least."

Strange. I would never describe Lillie as being a "handful". She was a sheltered girl who wanted the best for Nebby and went to great lengths to ensure its safety. In the original games, after Lusamine was separated from Nihilego, Lillie traveled to Kanto to help her mother despite the abuse she had been put through. Lillie's original portrayal got hate from some fans for being part of a story-heavy game. Others derided her character in the Ultra releases for not making much sense after the plot required her mother to be sane.

"What exactly makes her a "handful"?" I said.

The front door slammed open.

I balked. Why couldn't whatever deity brought me here have locked the door to allow me some control of the foot traffic? "He-hello?"

Popplio made the tiniest squeak. When I checked on her, she ducked into her bowl despite there being nothing left except for crumbs.

In the doorway was a young girl dressed from head to toe in white. A massive sunhat cast a shadow over her blonde front braids and leaf-green irises. Her dress went as far as her torso, with its trim nearly reaching her knees. She clung with both hands to a bag featuring a poké ball design which sank halfway into a pocket. Having removed the obstacle in her way, she rushed to our table. Her skin was almost as pale as mine. Now was a time as good as any to admit I… Never got out much back home. Here was this girl who deliberately prevented the sun from burning her skin, meanwhile.

"Professor!" she cried. "Professor, I-I…"

Kukui, surprisingly lacking his earlier enthusiasm, didn't turn away from his coffee mug. In fact, he side-eyed the girl. "Yes, Lillie?"

She took her palms and slammed them into the table.

I jumped.

Kukui barely reacted.

"Nebby was attacked by Spearow on our way to the Ruins of Conflict to maybe meet the Tapu and I wanted to do something to ward off the Spearow like use repels but I couldn't move and I screamed and then…" The girl took a deep breath, her expression frantic. "While I was screaming I heard someone climbing the trail and it happened to be-"

"Stop!"

Lillie paused. She noticed me for the first time.

"Take a minute," I said. "Breathe. Whatever happened to your Nebby may have been serious. We can't have their caretaker running about like a Torchic with its head cut off. Understand?"

The entire room fell silent.

Professor Kukui blinked at me. Welp, I created this awkward moment. Time to live with it.

Lillie removed her hands from the table, clenched her bag's strap, and closed her eyes. For a minute or two after her appearance, my home had some peace.

I had to get to the point. "Twenty words or less or we're getting nowhere. Start with what happened."

"Th-the Mahalo Trail," Lillie said. "Nebby got away from me and some wild Spearow attacked it."

"Spearow are territorial creatures who often attack indiscriminately," I said. "They believed your pokémon was a threat. How did you save it?"

She moved her hand over the bag, which jumped at her touch. Her Nebby made a little, "Pew!"

"I-I didn't..." she answered, shrinking. "I could've used repels on them, but I couldn't move! I yelled for help..."

"Who helped you?"

"The Kahuna…"

"Hala told me he would be out of Iki Town today," Kukui interjected. "Last minute festival preparations."

Lillie shook her head hard enough for her braids to swing and whack her in the face. She didn't seem to mind, however. "N-no, not the Kahuna!" she shouted. "Hau did!"

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on. I guess in this universe, either the protagonists of the games didn't exist or they never moved here from Kanto. Hala's house was built close to the Mahalo Trail, which might have led Hau, now not having much of a reason to be hanging around Route One, to hear her plea. At least that was my theory. I didn't want to assume everything after what I heard about this universe's Lillie.

"He went to rescue Nebby and it tried to teleport away," she said.

Deciding to play dumb, I queried, "Teleport? Is your Nebby a Ralts or another psychic type?"

She shrank. "I-I guess? What does its typing or species have to do with what happened?"

Yeah, she was right. So much for playing dumb. I came off dumber for asking. Revealing my awkward, if favorable, position in this world wouldn't be a good idea. "I'm curious. Uh, sorry if I made you uncomfortable. Continue?"

"Nebby snapped the bridge in half when it used its power. I got scared Hau and Nebby would fall into the river all the way down there and then- Then the Tapu, it-it came out of nowhere and saved them both and dropped them with me and then the Tapu-"

"Lillie, please," I said, biting my lip. "Let me get this straight. Hau and Nebby were in mortal danger?" I looked to Kukui, who had an eyebrow raised. "Good thing the island's Tapu appeared. They don't usually go out of their way to help the islanders who worship them."

"Hau is a relative of Hala's," Kukui said. Okay, great point. While the Tapu were hard to understand, there sure would be problems if a relative of their chosen Kahunas died in an avoidable accident. "Was that it, Lillie?"

"Ye-yes? Tapu Koko left after it saved them."

The professor and I traded glances.

"If this is true, our Hau's a hero," he said, grinning for the first time since Lillie came inside. "Hala will be proud when he hears what happened."

"You think so?"

Unexpected visitor number three arrived at my doorstep. Again, I asked whatever invisible deity might be watching why they couldn't have locked the door before all of this went down. The kid who came inside the house was about the same age as Lillie, who beat him in the height department. She inherited her mother's genes while, well, who knows who he got his infamous malasada addiction from?

"There you are!" Kukui exclaimed. "Lillie told us everything. You've had quite the adventure, yeah?"

A near-death experience being "quite the adventure", my ass. How did I end up here? I couldn't recall ever dying. Right there was a mystery I would have to investigate more of down the road.

"You've no idea," the kid gasped, a smile on his face despite the circumstances. Unnatural hair colors were common in the Pokémon universe. Hau's dark green tied-back hair was no exception to this genetic quirk, though it didn't stop me from staring at him. Wasn't every day you met someone with green hair. "My heart's still racing." He checked his heartbeat. "Uh, maybe it's 'cause I wanted to make sure Lillie got home safe."

"You were pretty brave," I said. "I probably would have had a full-blown panic attack if I were forced to go through what you have today."

Everyone's heads swiveled to me.

I swallowed the building bile in my throat. Then again, trainers got into difficult situations without their pocket monsters all the time. What was the point of going on an adventure if they weren't willing to get into a little danger?

"Hau, this here's Emelie," Kukui said to him. Then to me, "Emelie, that's Hau."

I did the first thing I could think of: raise a hand and wave it. "Alola?"

Hau trained his sights on me. I could almost see the gears turning in his head. Finally, something in there clicked. "You graduated from college?"

I snorted. "I don't look twenty-three to you?"

His jaw fell. "You're what now?"

I stood up. Crossing my arms, I asked him, "It's because I'm short, isn't it? I'm only five feet tall?"

"No!" said the now flustered eleven-year-old, raising his hands. Oh, dear. If this was how he reacted to me, wait until he met the woman who looked closer to her daughter's age than her forties. "I guess I'll be seeing you around, Emelie?"

"I am here to do an assignment for the professor," I said.

"And have fun doing it!" Kukui called suddenly.

"Yeah," was all I could add to his statement. "We can talk more about what I'll be up to at another time." For the love of… The Tapu, I guess? Since this was my life now, I hoped I could take the professor's word that this kid wouldn't drag me into anything crazy serious. Though if Kului had to deal with a troubled Lillie on a day-to-day basis, I supposed the ever-energetic Hau wouldn't be so bad? He would probably be more like the annoying little brother I never got to have-

"I'm not going?"

Everyone's attention went to Lillie.

"Your mother asked for you to stay here in Melemele," Kukui said. "She doesn't want you getting into any danger-"

"I still did!"

The professor was known to be a chill dude across the series. When he slammed his coffee cup onto the table, startling everyone, I thought that would be as far as he would go toward showing his displeasure. But glaring at Lillie with those tired eyes, his voice neared the verge of rising. "You almost got a boy and your pokémon killed because you keep risking your life for no reason!"

Okay, yep. Hau would never be as big of a problem as Lillie was. Professor Kukui's shouting got the poor boy to flinch. Steeling myself, I got between him and the ensuing argument.

"I have to see Tapu Koko!" Lillie shouted.

"Just because anyone could go to the shrine doesn't mean the Tapu would appear before them," Kukui said. "I've been there many times, some of those visits accompanying Hala, and I've never been face to face with it. Even Hau has had limited contact with Tapu Koko. The last time they met before today was after he was born. What makes you think it will grant a personal audience with you?"

"It probably knows how Nebby could-"

"I don't understand what your obsession is with Nebby!"

Having had Popplio rush to meet my open arms, I nodded at Hau. We made our exit from the house.

"Nebby needs to get stronger-"

I shut the door on them.

Alola's morning atmosphere was pretty nice so long as I took care to avoid the heat. Sitting in the shade of a palm tree with Popplio in my lap, I scratched the back of her head and took in the view of a seemingly-endless sea sparkling in the morning sunlight. Waves crashed on the rocks at the bottom of the cliff far below. In the distance, the shapes of fish pokémon leaped out and back into the water like needles in the process of sewing. The world was at peace for the first time since my awakening.

While I was comfortable getting close to the edge, Hau understandably avoided it and leaned against the palm tree. A sleepy owl nested in his hair. One of the same owl pokémon to be found on my nightgown, actually. In another life and another region, I would have loved to have had Rowlet as my starter.

"Today's been crazy," Hau said.

"Tell me about it," I said. "I wasn't expecting Professor Kukui to have such a strained relationship with anybody."

His gaze fell to his lap. "I didn't think I'd almost…" Poor kid. He should have never had to go through what he did. In another life, maybe I would have been in his place. Tapu Koko could have recognized my "bravery", when in fact I would have known it was coming to my rescue. And were I to have no idea what would happen? Emotionally, I never saw myself as an adult. I would probably be as useless as Lillie and run to someone else for help.

I scratched Popplio behind her ear. "You did a good thing, Hau. I'm sure Nebby appreciates you stepping in to help."

"...Wouldn't be the first time I did."

I turned to give Hau a direct look. "Really?" News to me, that's for sure! "What happened?"

He hung his head. "Lillie keeps putting Nebby in danger because she thinks it'll evolve someday. But it can't fight! She snuck it into Ten Carat Hill last time, ran away, and asked me to rescue it. Gramps gave me Rowlet after I told him I went there." He gulped. I swore his hands were shaking. "There was this red Lycanroc…"

I winced at the word "Lycanroc". Its midnight form was the most aggressive of the three Rockruff could evolve into. Imagining this poor boy scrambling for an exit as a red and white beast with glowing red pupils lumbered toward him sent a shiver through my spine. "Geez. I'm sorry Lillie's been such a bad friend to you and her pokémon. Lusamine shipping her off to the professor instead of getting help for whatever happened to her doesn't sit right with me-"

"We barely escaped with our lives! She could've killed us! I didn't tell Tutu be-because…"

Dead silence.

I'm no good at comforting other folks. Easing their suffering, maybe. Being their therapist? I might as well be paid in pennies for the amount of issues I've had listen to and not lose my temper.

Hau was different. He was only a kid. Kids in Pokémon could do amazing things. They had the capability to be jerks too. There was a fine line between taunting a friend or family member and treating them like utter shit for existing.

"Because you wanted to be a great friend?" I said to Hau.

He sniffled.

"You wanna know why I came here?" I asked. "Other than because Professor Rowan from Sinnoh recommended I should?"

I snagged his curiosity. "Why?"

Here came a white lie of my own. "Family. Living with them caused me heaping loads of anxiety. I tried to please everyone when, really, I wanted no part in their drama. I leaped at the chance to leave Unova so hard that I might as well have been hit by a truck."

Hau sank into the tree hugging his knees.

Rowlet snored.

"Did you feel you had to live up to them?" Hau said.

Live up to them? Or up to myself?

"Depends," I said.

Grass rustled. The next thing I knew, the kid sat closer to me. "Why?" he asked.

"They had high standards," I said, realizing quick I spoke without thought. Nevertheless, I elaborated. "They rarely appreciated whatever I did. In those rare moments I was acknowledged, I could tell their interest in me was superficial. I knew I had to leave when they ignored my anxiety to make me a punching bag.

"It hurts to leave everything I'm familiar with behind. I had to so I could retain my sanity. Me being here in Alola… It's to help me recover from what I've been put through."

Like a mirror, my thoughts reflected my words back. I have high standards. I've rarely appreciated what I did. Some interests were superficial? I knew I had to leave when…? I didn't choose this life. Someone or something decided for me. Whatever their idea was in doing this, they spirited me away from another life without my knowledge.

Was this their way of imploring me to forget the past? Because from what I knew, running away from my problems didn't usually solve them. Most social situations I got into ended with me awkwardly slipping away to recharge my already dying batteries. Schoolwork was my mortal enemy. I was a lazy bum who preferred to sit at home all day unless I had a purpose to leaving home.

Did this mysterious deity expect me to drop those consciously negative aspects on a dime? Say goodbye to any minor achievements made in my old life, watch me struggle with attaining new ones, and laugh at everyone who thought I already achieved much getting confused by my flailing? Let me not mourn all of the fanfiction plans I made before I foolishly allowed their stories to spiral out of my control?

Hau and I didn't speak for a while. The palm tree leaves over our heads rustled in the wind. Part of me kicked myself for going as in-depth as I did in my past life. Chances were I trauma dumped and he stopped listening halfway through.

While I already knew the answer to my next question, I wanted to break the unbearable silence. "Why are you visiting each of Alola's islands?"

"The Island Challenge. A lot of people do it here."

"Any other reasons you're going on this journey?"

"I wanna have a battle with my gramps at his full power."

I almost chuckled at "full power". Right. Maybe next he would tell me there were "power levels" and the three most powerful people in existence was a guy always looking to get stronger, a bald man whose punches drained his emotions, and a scaredy-cat who solved mysteries with his talking dog. "Stick with the Island Challenge and you'll get there, kid. Don't forget to have fun along the way."

Hau laughed. "I won't!"

I smiled despite myself. Good to see his chipper attitude was still there despite everything.

"I was wondering why the Tapu was flying about!"

We looked up from our conversation.

Approaching us from the north, along the dirt path, was an old guy in a knee-high yellow robe. Some of his hair was tied back similarly to Hau's. Even with my glasses, I had a hard time seeing his dark eyes unless I squinted.

"Turns out it was out and about because of you, grandson?" the old man said.

"Tutu!" In a flash, Hau was up and running over to him. His sleeping Rowlet tumbled from his head when he moved, who I caught before it hit the ground. "Alola!"

"Alola to you too!" the old man said. "Are you well?"

"I-I'm doing great!" Hau said before spinning my way. "Emelie, this is my gramps."

I ushered Popplio off of me, placed Rowlet beside her, and got to my feet. "You must be Kahuna Hala."

"That I am," Hala replied, looking me over. "Excuse me for asking, but what are you doing outside in a nightgown?"

Taken aback, yet remembering my attire, my face noticeably warmed. "Um, you see…"

"Alright, you two. Break it up!"

The instant Kahuna Hala pushed the front door aside, Professor Kukui's head hit the dining table. His hat and glasses fell off. He groaned.

Lillie turned on Hala. "But-"

"You need to leave," Hala said, shuffling into the house. "I'd like to speak with the professor."

"But-"

"No "but's". Go."

Huffing, Lillie rose from the table. She retrieved her bag from the floor. It swung about as she slid it onto her shoulder, causing the little creature inside to squeak another, "Pew!" She was gone in less than a minute, passing me by, and headed south toward the professor's beachfront home.

I entered the house and closed the door. We had left Hau outside with the starters, including the Litten that Hala still had on hand. The kid needed a break after everything he got put through. What could make any day better than being surrounded by pokémon? I envied him for still being a kid discovering the magic of those cute little pocket monsters.

"Professor," Hala said. "It's not like you to argue with children."

Kukui sighed. "...Yeah."

"After what happened today, something must be done about Lillie," said Hala. "She hasn't improved since she came to stay with you. I'd say she's gotten worse!"

"I haven't been able to reach Lusamine."

Hala and I traded glances.

"You've tried everything?" I said.

Kukui nodded and counted on his fingers. "Front desks, the Aether Houses, some of their higher-ups, Lusamine's number… Nothing's worked. They're too busy with whatever project it is they have right now to get back to me."

"I'll stop by our island's Aether House and talk to the workers there if I can still make my daily rounds later," Hala said. "They might get me in touch with her."

"Good plan," I said, crossing my arms. Aether would be more likely to listen if the Kahuna got involved. "What I'm more concerned about is the pokémon Lillie has. Cosmog is useless to the point of being rescued several times over, yet it's strong enough to blow up a rope bridge." Having garnered both mens' attention, I quickly reinforced my previous statement. "Cosmog is, uh, what Hau called Nebby's species. I'm not as versed on the whole situation as you guys are, but I don't think it's safe to let her keep Nebby if it can't really defend itself and she hasn't done anything to help." I sat across from the professor. "Do you know where she got Nebby from?"

"She had it when she first came to Melemele," Kukui replied.

How did she sneak Nebby outside of Aether in this timeline? Did anyone not do something as simple as a baggage check? Only one way to find out. "Hey, do… Do you think Lillie might've, I don't know, taken Nebby from her mother?" I looked between both men. "I mean, think about it. None of us have ever seen a creature like it before two months ago. Lillie came straight here from Aether Paradise, where specialized workers treat heavily wounded or abused pokémon. Did they mention if she was bringing any pokémon with her?"

"I... Don't believe so?" the professor said.

"I think she stole it," I said. "Lusamine should be told."

"If what you're saying is true…" Hala stopped midthought to leave his seat. "Lillie may be in serious trouble. I'll have to let the Foundation know immediately." Headed for the door, he added, "Thanks for telling me…" He stopped, scratched his head, and turned back around. "Blast! With everything going on, I forgot your name. What was it again?"

"Emelie," I said. "Hey, uh, one more thing?"

"Yeah?" went Professor Kukui.

"Next time you come over, knock and let me answer. I'm Unovan. We keep our doors locked because we're kinda…" Antisocial? No, wrong word. "We're different. It'll take me a bit to adjust to Alolan life, so please don't barge in on me again." I aimed a mock glare at Kukui. "You hear me? Walk in uninvited? I'll have Popplio will be ready with a water gun."

Our morning ended in laughter. The strangeness of this alternate reality aside, I couldn't have asked for anything better.

Fun Fact - I wrote that story in 2020 and dropped it entirely by early 2021. This was due to poor mental health brought on by the COVID pandemic. Posting as the pandemic raged across the world made me more confident to speak my mind... It also made me wish to get as much attention as possible from others when I'm a niche writer.

While I've gotten better at handling my issues, please excuse any large gaps between updates after chapter four is posted next week. Things aren't one hundred percent stable in real life.