And Alola again everyone! Here's the next chapter of A Hui Hou Kakou. It's a little overdue, but I've got double shifts all until I leave later this week. I do plan on bringing my laptop with me to continue writing when I can, but it's doubtful that I'll be able to post another chapter within a week's deadline. This story is going to be my biggest project here on the site and it's already trumped all but two of my other stories here. It's also coming on ten thousand views and it's hit the 50 fave milestone! Now let's go onto 100! Very happy about all the positive reception I've gotten so far and I look forward on what's to come!

I had a pretty awesome birthday. Went to my favorite Japanese steakhouse with my family and then to a club downtown for drinks with friends on a separate day. Good news is that I don't think I got any additional dare tattoos on my body, so it was a good 23rd. Interestingly enough, it actually comes up as a subject early on in the chapter. What a coincidence...and perhaps a hint of what may happen soon!

This chapter explains my own take on Ride Pokemon since I would find it hard to instantly call in a tauros, stoutland, charizard and such. Actually got this idea from a friend and hope it does have a more realistic take on how it would function.

Couple more chapters before we head off to Akala Island. It's going to be awesome too!

So enjoy the chapter guys!


Things could have gone really bad today! Well…sort of. It was Elio's quick thinking that got me out of trouble! First Nebby, then Professor Burnet and Kukui and now Elio? I have so much to make up to them for them going out for me! What do I do? Elio's been so good to me and I've been telling him that Team Skull are the ones after Nebby. That's partially true, but I know exactly who truly wants Nebby for her own reasons. I can't let that happen, even if I have to break Elio's trust!

Earlier in the day, I did actually take him up on his offer to go back into Hau'oli City. We seem to go there every day, but there's so much to see and do anyway! He picked out his new custom outfit and I have to say that even though I first didn't exactly like what he got; it actually looks super neat and suits him really well!

After a lunch, we headed back to the lab where he actually asked me to go stargazing at Ten Carat Hill with him tonight! Oh my goodness! Is he asking me out on a date?! Why hasn't he done that with Leilani though?

Well either way, before we could go there, Professor Kukui had a visit from two Aether employees. Those Internal Affairs agents claimed that they were studying corsola habitats in the Melemele Sea, but I really think they were sent on mother's behalf to come and search for me and Nebby. The professor hid me and Elio in the wardrobe inside his basement while he talked with them and tried to get them out of his house as soon as possible. Unfortunately, they wanted to stay longer, but it was Elio's thinking that actually cut their visit short! I can't believe that I am so lucky to have him as a friend!


"Alola kakahiaka!" Elio smiled as Professor Kukui opened the door to his lab and let him in, "Thanks for coming by cousin!"

"Of course professor. Anything I can do to help out." He stepped through.

"Make yourself at home," Emilio closed the door, "I'll see what I've got in terms of research material if I need to borrow any of your pokemon."

"Okay," Elio agreed, "Where's Lillie?"

"She's in the shower, but I know she'll be looking forward to going into Hau'oli City with you!" He chuckled as he went over to the kitchenette, "There's hardly a thing besides you that she talks about nowadays."

"Really?"

"Heck yeah! Thirsty cousin? I have guava juice."

"Yeah, I'll have a glass."

He poured them both drinks and slid one over Elio's way, "How about that battle last night?! You had so many stylin' moves out there! Really, you reminded me so much of me when I was younger. Surprised you beat old Hala so handily."

"Heh," He chuckled, taking a sip, "Professor, Hala was anything but easy."

"Yours was still impressive nonetheless. You want to know how many times it took for me to figure out how to beat him on my own grand trial? More than a five time fury swipes!"

"What?! You're kidding!"

The professor shook his head, "I'm afraid not cousin. Back then, old Hala was less lenient on going easy on young challengers like you. He was tough, merciless and very strict. At the same time though, a lot of trial-goers were far better heading off into the other islands."

"That doesn't sound like the Hala I battled. What changed?"

"Age. You grow old and your outlook on life changes. You have a family and grandchildren in Hau's case and all of a sudden, a lot of things can affect you. Hala has had a couple of scares couple years back from cancer, but he's been lucky both times since the surgeries. Since then, I feel that he has had a much bigger appreciation of life." Kukui closed his eyes, "Trust me when I say you got it easy. Way easier than me."

He stopped and went into one of the cabinets in the lab's foyer. Rifling through a file of portfolios, he pulled out an album.

"Check this out," Kukui flipped to a page and slid it across the counter to Sun.

He peered at the older black and white photographs. One of the pictures he had pointed to depicted a middle aged man that bore a striking resemblance to Hala in the center. He was still much older than the Professor was now, but looking roughly in his fifties, the Melemele kahuna was in excellent shape. Granted, there was a bit of a paunch at his age, but there was no mistaking the sharp chiseled features, dark skin and grayish white moustache across his upper lip. Inky black marks adorned the right side of his body in a stark design that really had stood out.

"Hala has tattoos?"

"Sure does! A lot of Alolan art is through the body. Although they can be expensive, but worth it."

"Huh," Sun said, "Do you have a tattoo professor?"

He rolled up his coat and turned around to show a wide band of black waves with a very ornate and sophisticated design that ran across his entire back just under the shoulders.

"You are thinking about getting one cousin?"

"I don't know. Maybe. Tattoos are meant to show off something symbolic, so I want it to be meaningful."

"Well you don't have to rush it. Give it some thought and remember it's permanent."

"Okay." He glanced over past the image of the crossed arms Hala and to the three young teens just in front of him, all with wide, energetic grins. The boy in the center was definitely Kukui with tanned skin, dark hair and a happy looking rockruff perched on his shoulder.

On Kukui's right, there was another boy with a lighter toned hair and wide rimmed glasses. Unlike the casual tanktop that the professor wore, this one had a collared T-shirt and was holding a poke ball by his side excitedly.

It was the third person that really caught Sun's attention. He wore a plain black tee with a light colored basketball shorts that had stripes running on the side of the leg. His white hair was disheveled and there was a very tiny flat pokemon that looked like a squished insect with a long antennae tail scuttling on his forearm that was wrapped around Kukui's back. Like him though, he had a passionate smile and instead had his other hand gently cradling a peculiar looking stone around his neck.

All three of them were clasping the familiar island challenge amulet tightly in their fingers.

"Who are the other guys?"

"Oh that's Mo and um," Professor Kukui trailed off, trying to find an answer of sorts, "A couple childhood friends of mine."

"Awesome. You keep in touch?"

"Eh," He shrugged, "To be honest, I haven't really made the effort. It's hard to see where they're at nowadays, if they're even in Alola."

Sun sensed that there was something behind the reasoning behind Kukui's reluctance to elaborate on the subject, so he decided not to further press the issue.

They heard a door open downstairs and footsteps treading on the flight coming up.

Lillie emerged, wearing a long white bathrobe wrapped firmly around her body. The braids on her hair had disappeared, blending into the rest of her long cascading blonde locks.

Sun couldn't take his eyes off her, she looked exceptionally attractive like that.

"Sorry for taking so long Professor Kukui," She started, "I just wanted to make sure that everything is perfect for when Elio takes me out to the city again."

The man chuckled, "Why don't you tell him yourself?"

He gestured to the boy mentioned, sitting on one of the barstools beside the kitchenette, sipping on guava juice with an amused look on his face.

"Gah!" Lillie practically jumped up in fright, "Sun?! What are you doing here?"

"We're going to the Alola Transit shop remember?"

"Y-yeah! Right! Sorry if I sounded so surprised. I just didn't expect you over so soon."

Sun chuckled, "Yeah, Mom got called into work early this morning, but she should be back home by the time we're done."

"I've got an idea," Kukui said, "Why don't you two come on over for dinner tonight? I've got to head back to Akala Island in a little bit and let them know we're headed over in a couple days. Really don't feel like cooking tonight oh yeah."

"Uh, sure." Elio agreed, "My mom was talking about a pasta bake with her homemade sauce. It's to die for!"

"Oh that sounds like something to stockpile on!" He paused, "So sorry about not having to borrow your pokemon for research."

"That's fine. I'll come back with Mom this evening."

"Sounds good," The professor leaned over by the ladder leading up to the loft where the girl had climbed up as they were talking. "Lillie, you ready to go out on another adventure yeah?"

"Almost done!" She called back, "I'll be there in a minute!"

"I'll uh wait outside," Sun said before looking over at the loft again, "Lillie, I'll be outside! Don't forget Nebby!"

"Okay!"

"Have fun out there!" Kukui smiled, "See you back here tonight."

"Oh," Sun stopped before he left and dropped his voice so that it was only the two of them that could hear the conversation, "Professor, can I ask you something?"

"Of course cousin."

"The other day, Leilani showed me this; I guess da kine where we go to Ten Carat Hill tonight to go stargazing."

"Oh you mean the hoʻike o ka hoku?"

"The what?" Even though he was slowly learning more and more of the Alolan language, there were still many things that continued to roll right over his head. He did manage to pick hoku out of there, which meant star.

"Show of stars." Kukui explained, "The observatory on Mauna Hokulani gives us a prediction with the weather station and often times sets viewing parties up to Ten Carat Hill where people can go inside for and stargaze without the intervention of all the excessive light pollution in Hau'oli City."

"Sounds neat."

"It really is. You can see a lot more than on usual nights when it's all cloudy and stuff oh yeah. I went up there with someone really special to me and it was an amazing night." He looked over at Sun again, "You should too. I think you and Lillie share a very special friendship after the two of you witnessed Tapu Koko come to both your rescue. Yeah cousin, I think that's a fantastic idea! Lillie has never seen the stars dance before, so it'll be a good experience for both of you!"

Sun nodded, feeling a bit of confidence return to his side, "Okay. Thanks for the advice professor."

"No sweat cousin! Now you two have fun out there!"


After the two teenagers had left for Hau'oli City, Kukui let out a long sigh as he gazed at the open scrapbook he had shown Elio. Many of the non-colored images were relics of old times that he greatly treasured. Rivals, Totem Pokemon, the trials, even the half dozen times he had tried to go up against a merciless Hala and continued to fail. They all were part of his unique story of how he conquered the island challenge. Finally finding that perfect strategy and moves were one of the sweetest moments when he took the Melemele kahuna down, passing the grand trial by the skin of his teeth.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket. Fishing it out of his pocket, he smiled at the name of the caller.

"Hey there honey!" He greeted.

"Emilio," The seriousness in Burnet's voice quickly brought his normally jovial mood out of place. His wife seldom called him by his first name in such a manner unless something was extremely urgent, "Listen carefully. You need to get Lillie out of there."

Kukui paused, "Linda, is everything okay?" Like her, they talked on a first name basis for dire times.

"No!" Her worried voice was being carried over, "You need to get Lillie out of the lab right now!"

"What? Why?"

"I didn't get much, but when I was heading down for work, I passed a pair of Aether employees that were heading down to the docks and overheard that they were on their way over to Waimanalo!"

He frowned, knowing that Lillie was trying to avoid the Foundation's prying eyes from her story that she had told his wife, but it wasn't unusual that they made trips to all of Alola's islands for research on Pokemon habitats. Still, that could also mean that they were searching for her and the cosmog. "Linda, they conduct research on the island all the time and have given us no trouble. I don't understand what the fuss is all about."

"Really Emilio?" Burnet scolded, "How can you say something like that when Lillie is endangered?! These weren't normal researchers and surveyors; they were both of part of their Internal Affairs section."

Kukui felt his blood run cold, "You're sure?"

"They had the uniforms and were talking about heading right over there to Waimanalo. Hurry Emilio! Get Lillie out of there now!"

While it was clear that the Aether Foundation had noble intentions of the welfare of Pokemon, they had garnered a sizeable amount of wealth and power to influence the growing industry dedicated to the wildlife's conservation and role in nature. This obviously was going to make them several enemies. These internal affairs agents were shrouded in mystery and all held a very odd secretive vibe. It wasn't well known even throughout the Foundation itself, but those that did knew that only a small circle of the best battling trainers within were given the responsibility of protecting their interests and looking into future issues that could clog up their progress. On normal circumstances, they appeared as curt, but polite individuals although rarely seen and many that knew of their existence and role already assumed that each individual could be merciless in a battle or a formidable foe if they were opposed. They supposedly answered only to the head of the Aether Foundation and tasked with protecting its most interests and projects from both thieves and competitors.

Needless to say, this small circle was entrusted with the foundation's closely guarded secrets and normally dismissed even by standard employees as preposterous rumor.

"Lillie left with Elio to Hau'oli City fifteen minutes ago."

"Tell them not to come back! If they're headed to Waimanalo, then they're probably really trying to find out where she's hiding!"

"What about afterwards?"

"I don't know," Burnet sounded apprehensive, but Kukui knew she was worried sick even over the phone, "If Aether is onto you, you might have some more issues on commissioning the Pokemon League."

"I know," He sighed, "I've worked so hard to build this up and having a strong trainers in Elio and Hau could make this thing so much of a reality. They've already given me enough headache about the league. What do I do Linda? I can't just throw Lillie out of here!"

"Calm down! We'll think of something."


Lillie slipped her signature wide brimmed hat on top of her head before making her way down to the bottom of the lab's steps.

"Well you took your time." Sun said. He was leaning against the porch with his arms crossed, an impatient and grumpy look plastered on his fine features.

"Hmph," Lillie flipped a stray strand of blonde hair out of her face, unsympathetic to his incessant mocking, "A lady needs enough time to look proper doesn't she?"

"I know some that can go from waking up to ready to go to work in a half hour and look just as fine,"

She gave him an inquisitive look and the edges of her lips curled upward, "Oh really? Tell me one,"

Elio opened his mouth.

"And your mother doesn't count."

He snapped it back shut again, at a loss for words. Lillie giggled, knowing that she had stumped him.

"That's what I thought. Besides, I have to try and look as good as possible, even though I don't think I can do that. So I think it's worth all the time in the world."

You're certainly not wrong about that. "What do you mean?"

"I often get told that I don't look good."

Who told you that? "Uh huh,"

"So you know, that's why I want to um…ask around other people and see what kind of clothes they get and all." She stopped, "I do all of my hair each morning. What about you?"

"Me?" Elio chuckled, lifting his cap to show off his longer disheveled cut, "I'm not picky; the pillow likes to be my stylist."

The two shared a laugh again at his attempt of light humor before they realized that they were staring right into each other's eyes again.

That green is just perfect. Just like the rest of her.

"Say," He broke the connection before more of this "thoughts" came back into his head, "Why don't we head right on over to Hau'oli City? I think I'm going to try and use the ride pager."

"Yeah sounds great."

"Sure about that?" She hated the fact that his own gray eyes held an alluring expression of concern, "You did look a little worried when I got on Tauros last night. We can still walk over if you like. It's not far."

"It seems a little scary to ride Tauros, but maybe if you help me out. I can enjoy it."

Elio seemed satisfied by that and opened up the tiny green device. There was a big screen on the front of it which opened up into a menu. He tapped a few buttons, exploring the few options, but only the tauros charge was available for him to use.

"I guess I'll get to access the others as I go." He muttered, Still gotta figure this out, "Alright. Let's request a ride."

The touch option opened up to multiple choices, allowing him to choose the amount of passengers so that a different tauros with another saddle for additional people could be summoned or tracked instead. All on the side of Waimanalo, there were tiny icons of different pokemon faces, indicating the location of an available to use ride.

"Two seater,"

Lillie watched with amazement as Elio started to figure out how it worked. If she was handed it and expected to know everything within a few minutes of being lost, she wouldn't even know where to begin. For the most part, the young trainer appeared to have mastered it quickly.

"And there!" He hit the finalize button and it opened a second screen that depicted a brief summary of his request. It had been acknowledged and one tiny marker with the head of a miniature tauros was seen gradually moving eastward to their location. Right below it was a tiny information panel that described the specifications of the normal type responding to them. Sun learned that many trainers on the island could be using the ride pokemon for their services and the amount spending time to wait varied, depending on what was needed or in demand. Some were going to be much longer than others, so he figured that requesting a ride before needed was a smart thing to do in order to minimize being idle.

"So his name is Hihiu," He said, "He's got two seats."

"You won't go fast will you?" Lillie asked, a bit of worry quavering in her voice.

"Of course I won't. I know you're not comfortable with this and to be honest, this will be my first real time on a trip riding a pokemon. We'll be okay."

"Okay," She nodded hesitantly, "You know, you have a really good way of putting people at ease."

"It's nothing really," He sheepishly smiled, "I just say that there really is nothing to fear."

"Maybe. But if I was doing this by myself, I'd be terrified. You make it seem like what you said; nothing to fear and I'm not scared at all when I'm doing this with you Sun."

Sun's smile all but melted Lillie's heart, "Thanks Lillie. I'm glad that I put your worries at ease." His face turned to shock as he remembered something, "Oh shoot! The gear!"

He quickly dropped to a knee and began strapping on all the pads, securing his harness firmly in place. Since the ride involved two people, Hihiu was going to arrive with a passenger harness attached to it in case one of them didn't have the gear of their own.

Lillie stifled a laugh as Sun grumbled something under his breath as he slipped the helmet on top of his head after stowing his hat. "Oh relax Elio, you look fine. In fact, maybe a little cute."

"I look like someone who wants to go rollerblading with kids half my age!" He threw his arms up in exasperation, "I can't wait to go to the accessory shop and find something better."

"Maybe rollerblading isn't so bad. I heard it's fun and read in a book once that a lot of trainers in the Kalos region enjoy it since it's a lot faster and easier than running."

"No thank you. I really don't want to experience any hint of it since going down a slope at an uncontrollable speed and a perfectly sized rock right in your path. Nothing like that."

"You don't like rollerblades?"

"No not really."

Before either of them could say anything else, the ride pager in Sun's hand let off a light dinging sound. He turned it over and glanced at the front screen again.

Your tauros has arrived. Please hold the pager up so that the pokemon can see you better. Enjoy the ride!

The sound of hooves hitting the sand grew louder and the big bovine pokemon slowly trotted up to them from around the side of the lab, coming to a gentle stop just in front of the two teens. Compared to Hala's own, this one called Hihiu was much more even tempered and gentle.

"Hey," Elio was still a bit nervous; even though this was going to be the third time he had gotten close to one. He was reminded many occasions over that while some could be docile enough to allow him to ride, a tauros was still a very dangerous pokemon.

Sun wondered if all the red trim on his gear would accidentally trigger the beast into charging.

Don't think about that. Not when you've got Lillie here all trying to squash her own fears too.

"Hihiu," The tauros huffed at the mention of his name, "I'm Elio and this is Lillie. It's nice to meet you."

His hand brushed against the snout and he rumbled quietly, closing his eyes and enjoying the contact.

"Alright, shall we get started?" Sun turned to Lillie, who had taken the separate harness and already clicked herself in "After you."

He got down on a knee next to the left side, "Here. Step on my leg and I'll boost you up. There's a little slot where your feet will go and handles right behind where I sit to hold onto."

Maybe she could hold onto me or something. "Ready?"

Lillie nodded and took a step on his calf.

I hope I'm not hurting him. She thought as she found herself boosted up. Swinging her legs around Hihiu's back, she found the slots, having her feet rest perfectly in them. Much to her relief, there was no sensation of losing her balance atop its back. There were a couple straps where the safety sockets in her harness fit perfectly.

What about you Eli- Her train of thought was cut off when Sun grabbed the top of the saddle and pulled himself up with a grunt.

"Watch my leg," Lillie barely had time to avoid getting kicked by leaning back. He settled in the seat and quickly clipped himself into the safety sockets. "Sorry about that. Little bigger than I thought."

"That's okay," She did have to admire the slightly taller height that they were both at, "So what do you want me to do?"

"Nothing, just hold on and enjoy the ride."

He did something that caused Hihiu to slowly move ahead and was quick to figure out the controls, remembering at least a couple things from controlling Hala's own Tauros last night.

Lillie was clearly not used to the rougher ride and let out a startled squeak when she found herself being moved in place as the pokemon effortlessly carried them back towards the street. Her hands quickly found the handlebars that were propped just behind his back and she held on rather tightly, not wanting to be jarred loose again.

"You doing okay?" Sun asked after they headed through Waimanalo for the first couple of minutes.

"Y-yeah," She stammered, "Sorry. Used to smooth rides on cars and stuff."

"It's a whole different experience, that's for sure. Just think that almost a hundred years ago, we used to use pokemon as vehicles. Amazing how far we've come."

"And it's amazing how people here in Alola still continue to depend on pokemon so much. It's the other way around too. I hope this place never changes."

Even though she couldn't see his face due to him controlling their ride, it was easy to tell that he was smiling again, "Me neither."


The trip to downtown Hau'oli City was surprisingly pleasant. Although signs made it forbidden for ride pokemon to traverse on the Alaloa, they instead opted for the longer roads that led down through the residential Jookiba and Pilipaa neighborhoods. Houses, shops and smaller buildings were slowly beginning to become less common and eventually the tall highrises of Hau'oli loomed in the distance, their glass exteriors sparkling in the sunlight.

Sun had found out that ride pokemon were actually quite common in Alola. Although he hardly saw much of it when they took the sidewalks and the Alaloa to and from downtown, it was very surprising and neat to see how much of the city's infrastructure was tailored to their services. They saw mainly tauros on the roads, but at a part of the road that ran alongside the water; there were some others such as a large blue balloon-like pokemon with fins and an even larger harness wrapped around its body.

Although ride pokemon were similar to the mechanical vehicles they shared the road with, there were still traffic laws to abide by. There were two separate lanes on each side of the streets for passing and parking. Traffic lights and signs were to be obeyed just like any other driver. Unless you were on some of the more rural roads, there was a speed limit and even trainers were susceptible to getting a ticket if they were caught violating anything by police. Ride pokemon were also strictly forbidden by Alola Transit to both capture and use in a battle. They had made it clear by the terms and conditions that were displayed on the pager every time the user opened the screen. Failure to comply could land a serious fine as well as confiscation of the service.

There weren't many who wanted to lose the ability to call for virtually free transportation on the fly.

Elio had to guess that especially with a tauros that they had to be tamed greatly as they were also known to stampede when panicked or too stressed.

He brought Hihiu to a stop in front of the light, finally seeing the Alola Transit building past the second intersection.

"Sun?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we ride Tauros here back when you're done? I want to see what ride gear you pick out."

"Yeah sure."

The process of completing the service of the ride pokemon was just as simple. Elio hit the terminate button as he brought Hihiu to the curb to "park" before dismounting. Linking it once again to verify that he no longer needed the pokemon's service, it would pop back up on the availability for other users if it was still active and head over to them in order to continue.

Elio helped Lillie out of the harness and extended a hand to help her down as well. The height was a bit taller than she had expected, since her foot landing brought her slightly off balance. The boy was quick to firmly grab her by the arms, instantly steadying her body once again.

"Woah," She looked back at the animal, "Sorry. Maybe I should've brought better shoes." Her face fell, "Except I really don't have any."

"Hey it's fine. You're alright. Right?" He had that concerned look in his eye again and she felt a strange blooming feeling in her chest when he bit part of his lip.

"Yes, I will be fine."

"Awesome! Let's go!"

With that, he took off again, leaving the blonde to giggle at his never-ending enthusiasm whenever she was around.


Lillie had to admit that she really underappreciated how much effort actually went into the usage of ride pokemon. She had just found out that it was an entire business spanning all of Alola and it was astounding to know how many people depended on it throughout their daily lives.

The Alola Transit building was one of the taller ones on the eastern side of the city, located a few blocks away from the tourist Malihini district. Like many of the others, its glass panel exteriors would reflect the orange sunset and sunrise whenever the shining light would stand on the horizon.

Today though, it was in the afternoon and the clouds that shrouded the top of Ten Carat Hill had disappeared. Weathermen today had predicted another warm sunny afternoon and another cloudless night for the hoʻike o ka hoku. Heat waves shimmered on the roads as many people and pokemon loitered in the shade, the latter trying to avoid the searing concrete.

Luckily for them, the store was entirely in the drier, air-conditioned indoors and it was quite a noticeable difference. Elio had felt sweat begin to pore through his skin and the humidity made his clothes stick to his skin no matter whether he was in direct sunlight or shade. He even had to do a double take as he had noticed that the tone of his normally pale arms were now ever so slightly tanned.

It was a good thing I use sunscreen whenever I go out. Otherwise, I'd be red all over.

Lillie too, was glad for once to be out of the sun's harsh rays. She straightened her hat and quickly followed Elio as some mannequins had caught his attention.

"Woah," They marveled at the sleekness of the body suits on the plastic humanoids. It looked rather thin and streamlined, designed for speed over durability. These were racing suits.

"Heh, I forgot about that." Sun said, "There are some derbies held around Alola. Can be pretty popular events." Although he didn't know the athlete that the brand sponsored, he couldn't deny that the suits looked infinitely cooler than his clunky one.

Further in the shop was everything on display from the main suitpieces with malleable hardpoints to improved harnesses for specific roles from competitive racing to arduous labor on the farms.

Elio was in the middle, deep in conversation with one of the sales associates while expressing a lot of interest in one of the suits. Unlike the other ones, this one was more of a simplistic design, with small contoured pads for the shoulders, chest and legs that thinned out to a more flexible black wicking material. The accents and trim over the wear was an almost neon blue color that starkly contrasted the dark design, but made him look futuristic with the reflective surfaces. The man helping him offered access to a fitting room at the back of the shop. Elio emerged a minute later, fully clad in the suit with a big grin on his face.

"Hey Lillie, what do you think? Pretty cool?"

"Woah," She smiled in amazement, "Yeah, it looks awesome!"

"Hooray!" He pumped a fist forward, causing her and the salesperson to laugh, "At least someone likes it!"

"You picked a good one," The man said, "That design was made by Kyas Neos when their designers began to manufacture surfing bodysuits. It's one of their newer ones to come out. Really good for an all purpose riding, especially if you're a trainer."

"I am and going on the island challenge. So it's a really good fit."

"I agree. Are you in need of a helmet?"

Elio thought back to the one that was the "default" of sorts. "Yeah, what you guys got?"

"Just name it and we can do it. Our gear repair section can also customize just about anything you want. A lot of people put just as much into their ride wear as they do in the ride pokemon themselves."

"Huh," He went over to a big stack where several different designs of helmets were on display. There were some with simple over the top designs while others had elaborate features that closed off the entire head and concealed the face with a shadowy visor.

"What do you think Lillie?" Elio had another helmet in his hands and slipped it over his head. It had a smooth rounded appearance with a "V" shaped faceshield, "I think maybe a closed helmet would do better. It looks super cool!"

Although she did have to admit that it went well together, the fact that none of Elio's familiar features could be seen through all the black and blue made her feel uneasy as if he had been swallowed by something.

"I like it Sun, I really do," Her sentence went off.

"What?" The helmet turned to her and he walked over, "Lillie, you sure? If you don't like something about it, then tell me."

"It's…it's just that I have no idea it's you other than when I saw you put on the helmet. Sure you'll be different than everyone else by your customs and all, but I would almost prefer if I saw you through. I want to see your eyes."

"Huh," His gloved hands reached up and he removed the helmet, letting his long hair free from its confined prison, "I was also hoping to get something that could protect my eyes from the sun. This is good, but maybe I'll go with what Lillie suggests and opt for no visor."

"Well this is where your customization comes in and you can get the best of both worlds." The associate said, "We can put in a sliding visor that can go into your helmet's top for a full removal and it can be polarized to your liking whenever you wish."

"Really? You'd do that?"

"Of course. Now it does cost extra to add those features in there, but remember that this ride gear is what expresses you to everyone else. If you want to look as good as possible while riding a pokemon, spare no expense to tailor your options."

He nodded, "Okay then. I'll go ahead and put a retractable polarized visor in this one. That way I can pull it down in the sun and when I'm around Lillie, I can make it clear or gone entirely."

"What color?"

Elio browsed the rainbow array of the nanolaminate visor colors, leaning more towards the blue section, although there was silvers, green, reds, purple, yellow, gold and so many more. There were a lot of hybrids too, blending two colors together depending on the angle that the helmet was looked at.

"I'm going with this one," It was the closest blue that matched the trim on his picked suit, "Goes really well."

"I'd agree." The man printed out a receipt and handed it over, "Okay, I've got everything you need on one bill here. Your custom helmet may take a day to finish, but we can send you a notification on your ride pager when it's ready for pickup."

"Actually, I'm planning to head to Akala Island soon. Onto the next trials and stuff."

"Oh well good luck. We do have another repair shop located in Heahea City, so I can send it there for you once it's ready."

"Yeah that would be great!"

"Awesome. So go ahead and head up to the checkout lanes when you're done and present the receipt for all the things. Good luck on your island challenge kid."


"You know Sun," Lillie started as they exited the Alola Transit building together, "I think I was wrong about that. That suit really does look good on you."

"Thanks Lillie. It means a lot. You still sound a little uncertain though,"

"I don't know. Maybe it's just me."

"Well say something at least." Elio said, "Come on Lillie, contrary to what others think, I do listen to my friends' advice from time to time. How do you think I got past defeating kahuna Hala?"

"Remember what I said back in there? How I wanted to see your eyes even when you wear your gear?"

"Yeah,"

Lillie did that, she stared at his steely gray with her green, "I realized that this is how you want to display what kind of rider you are. I'm sorry. You'll look really good in your new ride pokemon outfit!"

"Sure." The eyes radiated a bit of mirth and a small smirk grew on his face, "Just remember that this is my unique suit! Maybe I'm that rider that'll go off into the sunset carrying a beautiful princess in my arms."

Lillie smiled tenderly at his response, but felt slightly sad on the inside. After what her mother had said to her many times, there was no way she could be that beautiful princess that he had described.

He probably means Leilani.


The two of them got a light lunch over at a food stand close to the pokemon center before calling another tauros to speed them back to the professor's lab. Sun introduced her to a Puka Dog, a pork sausage inserted into a sweet bun and filled with mago berry relish, Alolan mustard and a white garlic sauce. It was only an extra dollar and a half for freshly squeezed tart lemonade.

"Woah," Lillie took another bite of hers while they sat at one of the tables waited for their paged ride to arrive, "This is really good!"

"I know! Hau says that it's sold everywhere for like lunch and all, but this stand is the best on Melemele Island!"

"He's definitely right," She wiped a bit of sauce off her lip with a napkin before looking over at him again, "Elio…thanks for everything today, even though I just kind of followed you around. A little ironic that you're the one showing me all these cool places compared to a month ago."

"Yeah it is," They shared a laugh at that before he turned a bit more serious, "Hey Lillie, um…are you free this evening?"

Her heart stopped for just a moment at such a trivial question, "Um…yeah, why? I don't think Professor Kukui has me doing anything for the rest of today."

"Well he suggested that my mother and I come over to the lab for dinner tonight, which we are. And afterwards, there's this stargazing da kine whatever. I can't remember the name, but it means show of stars."

"hoʻike o ka hoku?"

He brightened up immediately, "Yeah that's it!"

"Oh I've never been before, but really want to go. I heard there's going to be one tonight!"

"Well I do plan on going and…"

"And what?" Lillie inched ever so closer to him.

"I was wondering…"

Oh come on, Elio scolded himself, This should be easy! It's not like I am asking her on a date!

"I was wondering if you wanted to come see it with me." The request or sentence, whichever he would call it was blurted out in such a way that it seemed to be one lengthy word.

Lillie giggled, "Your face is a little red Elio. Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm good."

"Just making sure." She grabbed her trash, "And yes. I'd love to go see the stars with you."


"Huh," Elio mused as he guided their new ride tauros, a different one named Texan, to the front of Professor Kukui's lab, "Normally I'd see or hear the professor by now."

"Yeah me too. It's strange."

The boy dismounted before helping Lillie off in another gentlemanly manner. She couldn't help but giggle at his show of chivalry again.

"Thanks Texan," Elio patted his side before terminating his "use", "Alola!"

"Moooar!" Texan bellowed before trotting off and going back onto the main roads in Waimanalo.

"Hey Professor Kukui!" Elio called out as the two of them stepped through the front door of the beach house, "We're back!"

His voice was met with silence.

"Professor Kukui?" Lillie said, "Professor where are you?"

"Sun? Lillie?" They heard a faint reply that seemed to come one level down.

"Yeah?"

"Come downstairs right now!"

Like a pair of scolded kids caught trying to steal cookies, they hurried down into the messy basement where they found the older man pacing back and forth on his large training mat. Rockruff was eyeing his trainer curiously and unsure on what had him in such a panic. They had made a concerned face at all the masonry scattered about on the floor, but suspected that he had one of his researching breakthroughs that caused such immense collateral damage.

"Professor," Elio started, "Is everything okay?"

"No," His normal jovial attitude was gone, replaced by something more icy and serious, "I need to talk to Lillie for a moment in private."

"Sure," He didn't know what was going on, but the request plus that urgent tone told him immediately something was not right.

Kukui sighed as Sun went back upstairs before turning to face Lillie, "I was afraid this might happen yeah."

"Professor?" She cocked her head to the side in confusion, "What's going on?"

"Right after you left with Sun to go into Hau'oli City, I got a call from Linda. She said that there were some of Aether Foundation's Internal Affairs agents headed over here to Waimanalo."

Lillie's blood ran cold, "Oh no,"

"I thought that it was their normal surveyors and all, but,"

"They're looking for me and Nebby." Fear came across her green eyes again as she had deduced the same thing, "Professor, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know." He sighed, "But you can't stay here."

"What?! Where will I go? Where will Nebby go?"

"I'm thinking. Maybe we'll have to go to Akala Island sooner than I thought. My other thought was that you stay with kahuna Hala and Hau in the meantime." He knew that the leaders of the Aether Foundation would not dare to cross the island kahunas.

"Or you can stay at Sun's."

Before she had a chance to comment on that, they heard a loud knock at the front door.

"I'll get it!" Elio's voice drifted down and they heard footsteps heading right to the front.

"Sun!" Kukui practically sprinted upstairs, his longer legs covering three at a time in a desperate attempt to stop the boy. By the time he made it to the main floor, Elio was already reaching out to grab the knob.

"Hold up cousin!" The professor practically shoved him away from the door and put an arm around his shoulders as he led him away, "That's probably who I think it is."

"Uh okay?"

"Listen to me carefully, go with Lillie downstairs and hide. Don't come out until I say so. I'll do what I can to get them to go as soon as possible."

"Professor," Elio started, "What are you talking about? Who's them?"

"Just do it!" Kukui's voice had a rare stern tone to it and the boy automatically moved, recognizing the authority.

Elio half jumped, half slid down the flight, landing right in front of Lillie. He saw that she was extremely nervous, clutching the duffel bag containing Nebby with urgency.

"Lillie, Professor Kukui told me what's going on. Let's go."

"What?"

"Hurry!" Elio whispered loudly, spotting an ideal hiding place, "Here! The closet!"

Professor Kukui's bed was set in the corner beside his research computers and aquatic tank. Right across from it was his wardrobe. Inside was dark, a perfect place to hide things out. It was fairly spacious, allowing two people to walk abreast inside while cornering to the left a good ten feet.

There were several casual shirts, belts, and shorts hung up on the racks and even a formal suit. It was actually the first time Elio had seen that article of clothing since moving to Alola.

He placed a hand on Lillie's back, guiding her inside, making care of avoid the stuff knocked askew in Kukui's latest discovery with his pokemon and placing a few of the hung shirts in front of her. Elio scooted over to the side closer to the door's side and slowly peered out. He heard Kukui's voice drift down and it was accompanied by another masculine one that he didn't recognize, but the tone was all-too familiar. Curt, cold and to the point.

"Why are we hiding?" Elio asked in a whisper.

"You remember when I said that we have to keep Nebby a secret on the Mahalo Trail?" When she saw his shadowed figure give off a simple nod, she continued, "Well I didn't want to tell you this right away, but it has to be a secret. There are some really bad people who are trying to find Nebby and hurt it."

"Bad people? You mean like Team Skull?"

"Yes, but there are others too. The man that Professor Kukui is talking with is one of them."

Elio was about to reply when the voices came back and there were footfalls from the stairs.

They were headed down.

He looked back at Lillie and slowly raised a hand, putting a finger to his lips in the universal gesture for silence. She nodded and they moved closer together, hoping that this visitor would suspect nothing.


Professor Kukui hoped that Elio and Lillie were in a good place to hide since he knew exactly what was to follow. He let out a deep breath and turned the knob to open the door.

"Alola," He greeted with his signature smile, "Howzit? What brings you to the awesomeshack of Professor Emilio Kukui?"

There were two men standing on his front porch, each with crew cuts and dark sunglasses with white frames. They wore white dress jackets and slacks that made them almost an eyesore in such a tropical place. Here, you were considered very foreign if you came to Alola dressed in something even as casual as a tie.

"Professor Emilio Kukui," The taller man began and held up a laminated badge, not bothering to return the warm welcome, "Von Kaiser; Aether Foundation Internal Affairs. We're wondering if the Foundation could collect some of the data you have on pokemon behavioral patterns on a date about three and a half months ago?"

"Um," Kukui studied the man a little closer. Other than the glasses, there were no definite features that made him different than his partner other than the height. He had his hands clasped together and hardly any inflection in his voice while speaking. Almost as if he was more machine than human.

"My apologies if this seems as an unexpected request."

"Oh no, it's fine yeah." Kukui nodded earnestly, "I should still have my reports. It'll be just a minute."

"Okay," Von looked past him inside the lab, "Do you mind if we come in for a bit while we wait? It is a little hot out here."

Immediately, the professor's senses went on alert at that, but at the same time, he was right. It was mid-afternoon, when it was going to be the hottest in Alola. The humid heat was already drifting inside the house, making him break out into a sweat with the contrast to the cooler air inside.

He didn't want Sun, Lillie or Nebby to be found, but refusing outright would tell them that he was trying to hide something or someone and it would be very un-Alolan of him to give a frosty welcome. Inwardly, he cursed their exploitation of his hospitality in circumstances like these.

"Sure." He opened the door, allowing the two inside. "Come on in."

They filed through the door and took a look around the foyer, almost as if they were searching.

"Drinks?"

"Not for me."

"Okay, hang on a second, I will go and pull up my reports."

"That would be excellent," Von said, nonchalantly as his partner was slowly walking around the house, taking a careful look.

"I haven't seen you cousins out here recently, is everything all right?"

"It is. Thank you for asking. We've suffered an anomaly at the Paradise and some of our assets have been disappearing."

"Oh really?" Kukui retrieved a datapad and scrolled through tidbits of information, "That must not be good."

"It's not. The President is very displeased and trying her hardest to get everything under control," Von said, "So you know how much pressure we're under when the leadership is demanding results quickly."

The professor narrowed his eyes, surprised that the donphan in the room was already being addressed, "Mister Von, why don't you put your façade down and tell me why you two are really here?"

A sigh escaped the Internal Affairs agent as he produced a photo from his pocket. Kukui tried his hardest not to react at Lillie's picture when it was presented to him.

"This girl stole some valuable property to the Aether Foundation's interests and is currently at large. We're conducting a search around Alola so that we can retrieve what's rightfully ours."

"Huh," Although he was aware of the exact thing that they were looking for, it made him almost sick to his stomach to call a pokemon as an object that was "rightfully theirs"

"Do you mind if we take a brief look around?"

"Well," Now he was very much against their invasion of his privacy, but they at least had the politeness to ask. Still it was an unnerving question.

"I don't see why not," Von continued, his eyes boring into the professor from behind his shadowy sunglasses, "You seem like an easygoing man with nothing to hide."

"Well then of course. By all means," Inside his head though, Kukui was panicking. He had just given them free access to his lab and now it became only a matter of time before Lillie and Sun were discovered.

"Is it really necessary though?" He asked.

"We just want to be thorough," Von replied, already moving to the flight that lead into the lower level, "To be honest; I have no interest in seeing what your personal life is all about."

"It's not that," They began to head downstairs, "The basement is a total-"

The Internal Affairs agents stopped short of reaching the trashed basement. Some weights on his workout bench had been tossed about with a blue medicine ball. There was a half collapsed shelf and nightstand toppled over with a bunch of books strewn about. The lamp on top of it was shattered into several hundred fragments.

Granted all of it was there when Sun and Lillie had arrived earlier, but seeing as if a typhoon had ripped right through, minus the water, both agents were somewhat astonished.

"Wreck." He finished.

Von turned back to him, "Professor is everything alright?"

"Oh don't mind the whirlwind yeah!" He stepped past them, "I just get these awesome ideas and I do research on the job and all! Oh yeah!"

"I see." There was an unsmiling nod.

"So what exactly are you cousins looking for?"

The silent partner was about to open his mouth before Von had cut him off, "It's classified at the highest level. I can't say anything more. We will be on our way once we either find it or are satisfied that it isn't here."


Back in the closet, Elio scooted closer to the side of the door as Professor Kukui and the two men accompanying him traveled downstairs. He smirked as they made some unintelligible remarks about the state of the basement.

The silence that followed as they did nothing but listened to the shuffling of feet.

Lillie couldn't take it. Felt as if every passing second made it seem all clear, but then they would emerge out of hiding into the real trap.

She felt Nebby move inside the bag and tightened her grip around it.

I won't let them take you Nebby. I promise.

Professor Kukui continued to talk to the two men while putting himself in between them and the entrance to the closet. His hands were by his side, strangely rooted in place. Had this been Kahuna Hala, herself, Hau, Sun or even Burnet, they'd be animatedly moving about to vividly compliment whatever he was saying.

A pokemon materialized out of a pokeball that was released by the leader of the two. It was avian in appearance with dark patches of feathers and a pink head. It seemed to be wearing a belt of sorts that resembled a bone.

A diaper?

An audible breath caught his attention and he glanced back over at Lillie.

She was huddled close by, hugging her legs close to her chest and putting a protective arm around Nebby in the duffel.

The bird pokemon cawed and fluttered up to Kukui's bed, almost on the other side of the drywall where they were hiding. Being this close to them, he couldn't risk directly peering over to see what they were doing.

An idea suddenly popped into his head; Elio snaked an arm over to his backpack and dug around in one of the pockets. He drew out a long thin metal object.

Lillie opened her mouth and was about to whisper something when the conversation suddenly dropped into silence. He had foreseen it and quickly, but gently placed his left hand over her mouth. The girl stiffened at his touch and he gave her a serious look, gently placing another finger over his lips.

As soon as the talking between the two men and the professor resumed, Elio flicked the switchblade open and held it out in front of him. For a moment, Lillie was worried that he was going to use it on her for something. Fear was gripping her entire body icily, but she had found out that it was just being held back thanks to the boy's presence next to her. It was definitely interesting to note that he didn't seem to catch on to the burning sensation of her flushing cheeks.

Elio continued to stare at the open knife in his hands at somewhat of an angle as if trying to examine its rugged features, the action was making Lillie even more curious on what about it made the tool so interesting in this situation.

A glimmer of movement was spotted on the surface of the long blade and she finally realized why he was using it.

He's watching the reflection.

There was another flutter of wings as the bird pokemon landed just in front of the wardrobe's entrance. It let out a single caw of curiosity, but still failed to notice how it was being watched from inside.

Elio cursed in his head, if it caught the attention of its trainer, then it was all over.

Another idea formed in his head, but he had to act fast. He set the knife on the floor and took out a pokeball. Hopefully this was going to be as quiet as he could.

Grimer was released and before he could let out a cry of affection, Elio put a finger to his lips. The sludge pokemon quickly understood, awaiting directions. His trainer leaned forward, whispering only so that the two of them could hear. After about thirty seconds, Grimer slithered to the doorway, causing the bird pokemon to let out a startled squawk.

"Grime!" The poison type bared its purple teeth in a poison fang and lunged. Dodging the attack, the opponent's small dark beak glowed white and it quickly retaliated, jabbing his side multiple times with a fury attack. Grimer jerked quickly and launched a successive pound.

Professor Kukui and the two men stared in disbelief at the sudden fight. Everyone was at a loss for words. He stared at it for just a moment before finally figuring it out. It was Elio's pokemon. This was the distraction!

"Grimer again?" He played into the act, striding right over to the bottom of the staircase, "Rockruff, get down here! It's back!"

Sun was banking on Kukui catching onto what he had planned and was clearly surprised that it was working so far. He held the knife again, now scooting even closer to the entrance while his pokemon was locked in a frantic battle against the tiny chick.

"Vullaby, stop screwing around!" Von shouted, "Get rid of that thing!"

The pokemon called Vullaby launched forward, readying another fury attack. Grimer saw it coming and belched out another cloud of nauseating green gas. With no time to dodge, the bird flew right into the smog and flapped its wings furiously, hacking and letting out an annoyed caw. There was some nasty liquid clinging onto its feathers, causing it to cringe up in pain from some of its damaging effects.

From upstairs, Rockruff yipped and ran back over, running up and baring its teeth. The swagger attack quickly fazed the blob and it waved its arms around in an erratic manner while moaning loudly in the confusion.

"Vullaby return!" Von pulled out the pokeball and quickly pulled his pokemon out of the action. It had been poisoned.

Rockruff barked again and Grimer took the brief lull to run away. He slithered rapidly towards the three humans, who immediately became nervous and backed away. With the puppy in hot pursuit, he aimed for the half-bath on the other side, quickly making his way over and disappearing around the corner. Another burst of toxic gas slightly deterred Rockruff, but it was immediate to bound after it through.

"Sorry about that guys," Kukui sheepishly put a hand behind his head, "After the garbage truck accidentally forgot to pick up my cans the other week, I've been having curious grimer hang out sometimes around here. For the most part, they're harmless, but I don't want another infestation like last time yeah."

The silent partner finally spoke up, "Considering you've got that, I really don't want to look any more." He made a disgusted face at the thin trail of slime on the floor where Grimer had slithered around. Inside the bathroom, Rockruff was continuing to bark excessively.

"You certainly have your hands full professor, even with just maintaining the state of your lab," Von stated, checking his clothes to make sure none of Grimer's gunk had touched him either. "I think it's safe to say that what we're looking for isn't here, so we won't take up any more of your time."

"Okay," The professor nodded, "Sorry again for the mess. You sure you don't want to stay for drinks yeah?"

Von's partner was already beginning to climb up the steps as he turned to face him, "No, that will not be necessary."

"Fair enough yeah," Kukui gestured to the flight, "Come on, I'll walk you out before I have to go and take care of that pesky grimer. That particular one has been avoiding me with its detect!"


The two Aether IA agents were more than relieved to emerge back out into the fresh air that served to stave off the rising bile in their throats after seeing all of the nasty appearance of the basement. While the rest of the house had been in working order, the sharp contrast from the virtually spotless Paradise to the dank lab's basement couldn't escape the minds of both men. Even the grimer and muk evolutions that were taken care of in the headquarters weren't as messy or nauseating.

"If you do manage to find this girl," Von said as he stepped down from Kukui's porch and handed him a reflecting business card, "Please do contact us immediately. We may need to send several of us out as she has already evaded capture."

"I will do that," Kukui had not even thought about any intentions of doing that at all, but neither of them needed to be told.

"My apologies if we interrupted anything you were doing Professor," He continued, "Alola."

"Alola cousins! Have a good day!"


Back in the basement, Elio and Lillie continued to stay silent, even as Rockruff kept yipping unnecessarily as he and Grimer waited there until their trainers were back.

"Are they gone?" Lillie whispered.

Elio peered out and contemplated moving to check and see, but decided against it. He would only say that it was good if Kukui said so.

Footsteps sounded down the stairs again and much to his relief, it was only one pair, not three.

"Elio? Lillie?" Kukui's voice rang out, "It's safe to come out now yeah."

"Come on," He stood on his feet and gently helped her up. She hesitated for a moment before accepting his outstretched hand.

A slight smirk played across the professor's face when he saw them come out of his wardrobe and neither had let go of the other's.

"Sorry about the mess of the closet and all yeah." He chuckled, "But it was just the first place I could think of."

"It worked perfectly," Elio said. He leaned over, "Grimer! Good job on making it convincing! Come on out buddy!"

"Grime!"

"And yes, you do deserve a treat." He pulled out the refresh kit and tossed a couple beans, which the sludge pokemon happily devoured, "Rockruff played his part too like a pro."

"You hit me with a confuse ray when you let Grimer out," Kukui admitted, "Then I kind of saw where you were going since those guys didn't plan on leaving anytime soon. Elio, you've got a calm mind for sure!"

"Thanks professor. Hey Rotom, what kind of pokemon was that? A vullaby?"

"Yezzir!" Rotom had been on low power during the scare, much to its dismay. It was more than happy to come back on to its normal self when it was all over, "Vullaby. Diapered pokemon. They are incapable of flying on their own and must wait until they develop stronger wings. It hops about friskily when it's at a playful age. The bones on their posterior are made from the prey it has consumed. Vullaby is a dark and flying type and an all female species. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."

"Thank you Sun," Lillie said, holding the bag close to her, "I'm so glad you understand why I have to keep Nebby safe. I just don't want those bad people to find it."

"Hey," He gently put his arms on her shoulders and looked at her in the eyes again. She couldn't help but stare into his since they were just so….so.

So alluring. My goodness, I could look into them all day! Gah! What am I thinking?!

"I won't let anything happen to you." He firmly said, "I promise you. Okay?"

Lillie couldn't believe the overwhelming support she was getting from Elio. She gave a hesitant nod, but smiled at him anyway.

"Okay,"

Sun felt his insides melt from seeing that rare, but radiant smile from the shy blonde.

Neither of them seemed to care that Professor Kukui was standing a few feet next to them. He had already gotten out a bucket and cleaning material to patch the mess, but the small touching moment had caught his attention.

He chuckled to himself when he saw they both had faint reddened and flushed faces. Neither had taken their eyes off each other.


So I've introduced another muscle from Aether. Von Kaiser does have the potential to be a recurring character although I haven't finalized what plans I have for him if he makes additional appearances. As always suggestions are appreciated.

Translations:

Alola kakahiaka - Good morning!

Da kine - Dakine literally means "the kind" in pidgin. It is usually used as a placeholder for something. A similar analogy can be like; thingy, whatchamacallit. It can refer to anything from a person to an object to a concept. Basically the word you use when you don't know the word. If that makes sense.

Hoʻike o ka hoku - Show of stars

Hihiu - Wild

Alaloa - Highway

Waimanalo - Potable water. Waimanalo is the name of a city/census on Oahu (Melemele) located on the southeastern part of the island. It is roughly in the same location as the player's house and Professor Kukui's lab. I've designated it as the general neighborhood area where they live as an affluent neighborhood and home to many upper middle class residents.

Puka Dog - Although this isn't a Hawaiian word, Puka Dogs are a local delicacy with a Polish sausage inserted into a roll of Portuguese sweet bread and garnished with a fruity relish (usually mango or coconut) and served with freshly squeezed lemonade.

As always, mahalo for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.

Brav