A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reading, following, favouriting and reviewing this fanfic. It's nice to see it's beginning to catch people's attention now and that there are others who are enjoying it (hopefully). XD I've had to go ahead and end this chapter on another cliffhanger because this dragged out for longer than I expected, and there's quite a bit to unpack here. But I'm hoping this will hold you out until I can get the next update in. I don't want to go overloading anybody with too much information, so... In the meantime, please enjoy the next instalment to this fanfic. Feel free to leave comments or questions in the reviews if you have any, but be warned that there are certain questions I might not answer due to future spoilers. Also, if you do mention anything specific from this fic in the reviews, please be mindful not to spoil it for others. Or make sure you leave a warning so others can avoid looking at your review. Thank you.


Chapter 4: The Good and the Bad

The late morning sun was beating down on Viola, Lillie, and Lucario by the time the three had reached Hau'oli City, after passing by the Pokemon Centre and the Pokemon Trainer's School (which Viola caught Lucario longingly staring at from the corner of her eye upon reaching the gate). Due to the trees scattered across Route 1, Viola hadn't felt the true extent of the heat because of the shade that had been provided. But now that she was heading into the city, where nature didn't flourish much between the buildings, the sun's rays were finally beginning to get to her.

'Oh boy…' Viola huffed and puffed as she raised an arm to her forehead, wiping away at the sweat practically dripping down her face. 'I never realised how hot Alola could get. It wasn't this bad yesterday.'

Originally Viola had stuck beside Lillie up until this point, but now that they were entering the city her feet were dragging along the pavement. It didn't take long for Lillie to notice Viola slowing down, prompting her to stop and look back when the other blonde's body slumped forward, her arms dangling towards the ground.

"Viola, are you okay?"

"… I'm fine," Viola responded in a raspy tone, stopping beside Lucario (who had been following the pair from behind) and hunching over. Lucario silently listened to Viola's rough and heavy breathing and shook its head with a loud huff as she fiddled with the collar of her shirt. "It's just… It feels hotter than yesterday, don't you think?"

"Is it?" Lillie lifted her sunhat a little and looked up at the cloud scattered blue sky, her head tilting. "It doesn't feel that different from yesterday."

"Then it's probably just me…"

Viola exhaled loudly and slumped against Hau'oli City's welcome sign, briefly closing her eyes and causing Lillie to look over at her with a frown. "I assume where you come from it doesn't get very warm."

"It does. Just not like this."

Lucario slowly approached Viola and patted her once on the head with a low hum, prompting the blonde's eyes to droop. "How are you not bothered by this heat?! Your entire body is covered in fur!"

When Lucario responded with a shrug, Viola gave up and turned her gaze towards the opposite side of the road, where she could just about see the beachfront. There already appeared to be tourists gathered down there, with some having put up parasols in the sand to fend off the sun. The little shade they offered was practically calling out to Viola, which only made her body slump even more. She thought she was close to dropping to the ground. 'There has to be somewhere I can take cover from this heat. I can practically feel the sweat dampening my hair.'

Lillie eventually joined the pair when it looked like Viola wasn't going to move from her current spot, her eyes focusing on the top of the other blonde's head. "You might fare better if you had a hat to cover your head with."

"I agree." Viola groaned and hung her head. "Unfortunately, that was the one thing I didn't bring from home. Although I doubt that hat would have done much. It fit too perfectly."

Lillie placed a hand to her chin and pursed her lips, her gaze focused on the ground. It didn't take long, though, before the blonde perked up, balling one of her hands into a fist and lightly hitting it off the palm of her other one. "Viola, did you bring any money with you?"

"Er…" Viola glanced at her shoulder bag with a furrowed brow. "Yeah. But I don't see how-"

"That's perfect!" Lillie reached out to grab Viola's closest wrist with both hands, moving forward and pulling the other blonde along with her. "Come with me!"

Viola gasped and stumbled in response to the actions displayed by Lillie, but managed to regain her balance and follow the other blonde as she lightly jogged across the pavement, with Lucario walking after them. 'Geez. This is the first time I've seen Lillie so lively. Wonder what she's up to…'

Viola allowed Lillie to pull her past one really long building and one smaller building whose sign read "Alola Tourist Bureau" before they reached their destination, which was another small building with an image of a t-shirt on a sign above its door. Lillie released Viola as the three slowed down to a stop, indicating towards the building with a hand. "Hau'oli City has an apparel shop that sells hats. You can get one here."

Viola placed a hand to her head as she looked up at the shop's building, running her fingers across her sweat covered scalp. "That's probably a good idea. I did say I'd purchase a hat if I needed to. And the money I have is meant for spending…" 'Even though I think Mom may have gone a little overboard with the amount.'

"Then now's the time, before we continue having a look around."

"Alright. It's better than trying to search for shade…"

Viola headed towards the shop's door with Lucario at her side. But when she realised she couldn't hear Lillie following her, both she and Lucario stopped and looked back. Lillie had stayed stood where she was with one hand clutching her bag strap, the other stretched over her bag to keep it pressed against her side. "… Lillie, are you coming?"

Lillie quickly shook her head. "I'll stay outside. I don't want Nebby getting into any trouble."

As if on cue Nebby let out a loud and muffled "Pew!" and shook the bag, prompting Lillie to flinch and gently pat the bag's side until the shaking stopped. Both Viola's and Lucario's eyes drooped at Nebby's reaction, with Viola speaking up as the pair turned away and continued walking.

"Good call. I'll be as quick as I can." 'The last thing we need is Lillie chasing Nebby around the shop. There's no way that Pokemon is going to stay put.'

The moment Viola stepped foot into the shop, her body shuddered at the sudden chill that hit her front. After a few seconds though her body relaxed and she loudly exhaled, allowing the cool air to envelop her exposed skin. Lucario briefly closed its eyes as it stood beside its friend, also taking advantage of the cooler environment despite being a little more indifferent to the heat outside. 'Thank Arceus! The shop has air conditioning!'

Viola gave the shop floor a quick scan until she found the stands for the hats, immediately heading over there without giving the rest of the area any further attention. 'It's not fair for Lillie to be hanging around outside waiting for me, especially in this heat. I'll just find a hat and pay for it. If I need anything else, I can always come back another time.'

Lucario stuck closely behind Viola in the meanwhile, its gaze wandering between the varying clothes stands as it followed her to where the hats were. But then the Aura Pokemon halted when its eyes locked with a stand of sunglasses, its head tilting a little.

"Let's see…" Viola muttered while scrutinising the varying hats on display, placing her hands on her hips and remaining unaware of Lucario's antics. While there appeared to be a good number of styles and colours to choose from, the blonde noticed one consistent style that stood out from the rest. "They have a lot of caps here. It's not my style but…" She looked down at her current attire. "…it would suit me better than a sunhat. And cover my face. The others don't do that."

Viola hummed in thought before turning to face Lucario, whom she assumed was still behind her. "What do you think, Lu-? Huh?"

The blonde cut herself off when she spied Lucario standing in front of the sunglasses, holding a pair on its face with its paws while staring at its reflection in a small mirror placed next to the stand. "Lucario?"

Lucario turned its head when it heard its name, causing Viola's eyes to widen at getting to see the thick and black wide-framed sunglasses on its face. She shook her head and forced herself to blink three times to make sure she wasn't seeing things; however, nothing changed from her actions. 'Those sunglasses…'

Lucario removed the sunglasses at witnessing Viola's reaction, whimpering as it moved to her side and shook her shoulder. This brought Viola to lock eyes with the Aura Pokemon through the sunglasses, who she silently stared at for a few seconds before smiling and lightly brushing its paw away. "It's alright. I'm fine. You just surprised me."

Lucario narrowed its eyes and grumbled in response (obviously not convinced by her words) but stayed still to allow Viola to pick the sunglasses from its face. She held them up with both hands, her brow furrowing as she turned them around to get a look from different angles. "Wow. They're almost exactly like the sunglasses he used to wear." She turned her focus to Lucario with a smirk. "Is that why you were trying them on?"

Lucario shifted its gaze away and rubbed at the back of its head, a hint of pink appearing on its cheeks. Viola's smirk widened. "I thought so. You were always stealing his pair whenever you got the chance."

When Lucario didn't respond or look at her Viola thumbed at the price tag, getting a quick glimpse at the price before leaning forward so she could see Lucario's face better. "You know… if you really want them, I could buy them for you."

Lucario growled and twisted its body so its back faced Viola, prompting the blonde to roll her eyes and straighten out her posture. "Fine. Don't say I never asked." She placed the sunglasses on top of Lucario's head, which said Pokemon's ears twitched at. "Make sure you put those back where you found them. I'm gonna go pay for a cap."

Lucario waited until it heard Viola walk away before slowly turning its head to peek over its shoulder, silently watching the blonde grab a plain blue cap and pull it down her head. She gripped at the cap's front and glanced at her reflection in the shop's window with her chest out and shoulders back, her chin tilted upward. "Not bad. This one'll do."

There was a quick tap on her shoulder. Viola went to turn around, but she barely got all the way before she saw a familiar pair of sunglasses being held out towards her, along with Lucario bowing its head and making quiet grumbling noises. After a few seconds of staring Viola smiled widely and took the pair of sunglasses from Lucario's paws, using her other hand to briefly scratch behind its ears and then pull away. "I had a feeling you would change your mind."

When Lucario didn't say or do anything in response Viola let the matter drop, taking the cap off her head and then heading towards the register. "Come on. We've kept Lillie waiting long enough."


After paying for her purchases Viola wore her cap and stored Lucario's sunglasses away in her bag for the time being (apparently it didn't want to wear them out and about), stepping out of the shop with Lucario to see Lillie still waiting where they'd left her and briefly flinching at the warm air she was hit with. 'Dang. I forgot how warm it was outside.'

Lillie perked up when she saw Viola and Lucario approaching, her eyes lighting up at spying the cap now on the former's head. "Oh! That cap looks good on you, Viola."

"Thanks. I hope you and Nebby weren't waiting too long."

"Not at all." Lillie briefly looked down at her bag, which was currently still against her side. "Nebby behaved itself the whole time."

"That's a relief." Viola followed Lillie's gaze. "We don't need a repeat of what happened yesterday, huh?"

Lillie giggled and nodded. "Certainly not!"

"So, with my hat problem out of the way, let's get back to business. Since I'm in your capable hands, what do you think we should do?"

"Hm…" Lillie hummed, placing a finger to her chin and frowning. "I'm not sure. I've never shown anyone around before. And I'm still finding my way around Hau'oli City with certain places…"

Viola's brows raised. "Wait, you are? I thought you said you live here."

"I do," Lillie looked up when a faint blush flushed her cheeks. "just not on Melemele Island."

"… Ah. Right. I forgot Alola was made up of islands." Viola folded her arms and slouched. "That means Professor Kukui showed you around when you came here, yeah?"

"M-hm."

"So why don't you just do what he did?"

"I don't know. The professor has only taken me to specific places. And I have to think about Nebby. It can't stay cooped up in the bag-"

Lucario tuned itself out of the conversation as a sweet scent wafted by its nose, causing it to sniff at the air and look to the pavement nearby. A young boy with dark skin and dark green hair tied up in a short ponytail happened to be walking by from the opposite direction the trio had come from, holding a napkin with a round piece of fried, sugar covered dough in one hand that had a small chunk taken out. The other hand was brushing at the sugar on his black t-shirt and yellow shorts, while having yet to wipe anything away from the ring of sugar gathered around his mouth.

The sight had Lucario licking its lips, a strong wave of hunger suddenly washing over as it eyed the unfamiliar treat. Next thing it knew it was jogging over to the boy and blocking his path, causing said boy to gasp and step backwards, gripping at one of his bag straps from his orange backpack. His gasp caught Viola's and Lillie's attention, having them stop talking and turn just in time to witness Lucario leaning forward to sniff at the treat in the boy's hand while the boy started at Lucario with his jaw dropped.

"Wow!" The boy exclaimed, his gape morphing into a grin. "What a cool looking Pokemon! I haven't seen you around here before!"

"Lucario!" Viola shouted to the Aura Pokemon as she and Lillie ran over, prompting Lucario to stop what it was doing and look at her with a blink. Viola grabbed the Pokemon by the shoulders and pulled it back to her front with a scowl. "What do you think you're doing? You can't go around sniffing other people's food!"

Lucario crinkled its nose and snorted in response, leaving Viola to huff and face the stranger with her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose. "I'm so sorry. Lucario has a habit of running off on its own."

"Lucario?" The boy repeated, his grey eyes still fixed on said Pokemon as he wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. "This Pokemon is your partner? You're pretty darn lucky!"

"Uh-"

"Oh!" The boy interrupted Viola at catching sight of Lillie standing just behind Lucario, causing a wide grin to appear. "Lillie! Alola!"

Lillie smiled slightly and waved her hand a little, responding while Viola's eyes widened at processing the boy's words. "Alola, Hau. It's good to see you."

Viola's eyes darted back and forth between Lillie and "Hau" a few times while she tried to force her words out. "You… You two know each other?"

"We sure do!" Hau replied in a cheery tone. "I see Lillie when she visits Iki Town to speak with my gramps."

"Gramps?" Viola repeated, only to frown at recalling Professor Kukui's earlier words in her head. "Wait…" She slowly turned to Lillie. "Is he referring to Hala?"

Lillie nodded. "Hau is Kahuna Hala's grandson."

"You're kidding!" Viola yelled, prompting Lillie to focus on Hau and gesture towards the other blonde girl.

"Hau, this is "Viola". She's staying with Professor Kukui."

'Is she serious right now? Then again…' Viola squinted at Hau's ponytail. 'I guess I can kinda see the resemblance between Hau and Hala.'

"You're the trainer my gramps was telling me about!" Hau stepped forward and grabbed one of Viola's hands with his free one, shaking it enthusiastically. "I've been looking forward to meeting you!"

"Y-You have?" Viola questioned, briefly cringing at Hau's actions until he let her hand go.

"Yeah! I get my first ever Pokemon today! And since you already have a Pokemon, that means we get to battle!" Hau balled his free hand into a fist, jumping up and down on the spot a little. "Would you battle me? Please?"

Viola saw Lucario's body stiffen at this, looking as if its fur was standing on end. She knew why Lucario was reacting like that. 'Looks like the misunderstanding is really starting to get out of hand…'

Viola opened her mouth in preparation to speak, but Lillie beat her to it before she could even make a sound.

"She can't, Hau. Viola's not a Pokemon Trainer. And Lucario isn't her partner."

'Thank Arceus for Lillie…'

Hau stopped still and turned to Lillie with a forced blink, his brow furrowing. Meanwhile Lucario relaxed and sighed, wiping its arm across its forehead. "What? But Gramps said she was…"

"There was a bit of a mix up on my end," Viola explained as she rubbed at one of her arms, a crooked smile appearing at sighting Lucario slowly side-stepping to her. "But you don't need to know about that. You should get going. Don't want to be late to get your Pokemon."

Hau was quick to shake his head and smile. "It's all good! I've got time. Where are you two off to now?"

Viola and Lillie exchanged brief glances before the latter spoke up, shrugging her shoulders. "Nowhere in particular. Since Viola's new to Alola, I was just showing her around."

"Nice! I'd expect nothing less from you, Lillie. You're always on top of things." Lillie blinked at Hau's comment and quickly turned her head away to hide her face, while Hau held up the treat in his hand for Viola and Lucario to see. "I'll tag along too. I can take you to get some good eats since Lucario looks hungry."

Viola narrowed her eyes at the treat in question. "Pokemon can eat that stuff?"

"Uh-huh. Malasadas are made for both people and Pokemon."

"Mala- What?"

"Also," Hau moved right up to Viola's face, prompting the blonde to lean back when his eyes lit up. "Gramps said you've already been on a journey. I want to hear all about it."

'Believe me, you don't.'

"So, what do you say?"

Viola dared to look at Lucario then, her eyes drooping when she saw a pool of drool beginning to form at the corners of its mouth as it stared at Hau's food. 'I can't remember the last time I've seen Lucario so hungry. It ate this morning and everything. But…' She slowly turned her gaze back to Hau, a wide grin now plastered on his face. 'I did promise Lucario we could explore once we were settled. And it wants to go where Hau suggested.'

"I… guess that works." Viola briefly turned to Lillie. "Lillie?"

"That should be fine." Lillie glanced down at her bag at feeling it wriggle and gripped at the strap tightly with both hands. "As long as we can stay somewhere that won't attract too much attention…"

Hau jumped and fist bumped the air. "Awesome! Follow me!"

He beckoned for the trio to follow him with the wave of his arm and swirled around on his heels, running off into the city without looking back or giving the girls a chance to speak up. Viola, Lillie and Lucario didn't follow him straight away, instead staying where they were while watching Hau gradually get ahead of them. Viola was the one who eventually broke the silence.

"Sothat's the kahuna's grandson, huh?"

"Yes," Lillie said through a sigh, slowly shaking her head. "He has a big heart, but he can get too excited sometimes." She lowered her gaze to her feet. "I'm sorry. I feel like I should have said something sooner."

"Don't be." Lillie looked up when Viola responded, gaping slightly when she saw the slight smile on the other blonde's face and her furrowed brow. "He reminds me of a friend back home. She used to be excitable too."

Lillie's eyes narrowed slightly at this. "Used to be…?"

"Lillie! Viola!" The girls' heads turned to the street ahead of them when they heard Hau yelling their names, seeing he'd stopped a small distance away and was waving his hand around to get their attention. "Come on! It's this way!"


The small group followed Hau further into Hau'oli City, where he led them to a malasada shop on the street closest to the Marina. After heading inside and grabbing a table in the farthest corner so Lillie could open her bag and allow Nebby to be out and about (apparently Hau was also aware of Nebby, as Lillie explained to Viola), Hau went ahead to purchase four more malasadas for the group to try, despite protests from both Lillie and Viola not to bother with them. In the end they were seated with Lillie and Hau on the left side of the table and Lucario and Viola on the right side, each with one malasada placed on a napkin in front of them (excluding Lillie, who had two because of Nebby).

Lucario picked up its malasada between its paws and put it close to its nose, giving the malasada a long sniff as it inhaled its scent. Nebby was sitting on the table beside Lillie and had its gaze fixed on its own malasada with a slight gape, looking unsure of what to do with itself. And then there was Lillie and Viola, who were observing the individual Pokemon to gauge their reactions before they attempted to touch their own treats. The only one eating anything was Hau, munching away on the malasada he'd already bought.

Viola rubbed her nose at the overwhelming sweet scent lingering in their corner. "Did you buy the same malasada for all of us?"

Hau gulped down the last bite of his malasada and wiped his mouth with his napkin before answering. "Yeah. They only sell sweet malasadas here. They do come in other flavours though."

"Wonder why they don't sell more variety here then… It smells like a Pokemon's used "Sweet Scent"."

Viola watched Lucario bite into the malasada and chew it for a few seconds, only for its eyes to go wide once the taste hit. The blonde raised a brow as Lucario then proceeded to take multiple bites, quickly chew, and swallow without stopping, prompting her body to slump. Meanwhile, having seen Lucario's reaction, Nebby slowly floated closer to the malasada in front of it and took a tiny bite. The moment the sweetness touched its tongue, the Nebula Pokemon's arms straightened and its body froze up, pausing its chewing. After two forced blinks Nebby grinned and closed its eyes with a loud "Pew!", resuming its nibbling straight after.

Lillie covered her mouth with a hand to muffle her giggle at Nebby's actions. "I think the Pokemon are enjoying it."

"You can say that again," Viola muttered, observing Lucario as it finished eating and stared down at its sugar covered paws with a huff. She shook her head and reached over for the pile of napkins settled in between them on the table, grabbing one and then taking hold of Lucario's closest paw with her other hand to wipe the sugar off. "This is why you should have eaten it in the napkin."

Lucario narrowed its eyes and grumbled at Viola's actions, but it stayed still to allow her to clean it up. Hau watched this with his hand against his chin, his head slightly tilted.

"… Are you sure Lucario isn't your partner? 'cause you sure act like it is!"

"I'm sure," Viola replied while she finished cleaning Lucario up, eventually pulling away and crumbling the napkin up to place on the table for now. "We know each other because it used to belong to the Pokemon Trainer I travelled the Kalos Region with."

"Really?" Hau briefly glanced at Lucario, who was silently sitting there with its arms resting on the table. "That explains why you two seem like lifelong friends."

"And that also explains why people have been assuming I'm a trainer."

Hau chuckled at the remark and folded his arms on the table, leaning forward a little from his seat. "You're so lucky! You got to go on a Pokemon journey a year before me, even without a Pokemon!" His shoulders slumped with a pout. "And yet Gramps won't even let me go up Mahalo Trail on my own."

'I'd beg to differ. But it's not like you know the reason why…'

Viola chose to keep that thought to herself, forcing a smile when she eventually replied. "Well, I wouldn't say I was "lucky". I only got to go because my friends didn't mind chaperoning me with their own Pokemon, and the professor of Kalos didn't seem to care as long as I filled the Pokedex and had fun exploring."

Hau stared up at Viola from the table with a forced blink. "So… you were never given an opportunity to get a Pokemon of your own?"

"Oh, no!" Viola quickly waved her hands about. "I was. Three times, to be specific. I just made the personal decision not to take any of them."

"But why wouldn't you want to be a Pokemon Trainer?" Hau side glanced Lillie for a few seconds. "Don't you like seeing Pokemon battling either? 'cause Lillie doesn't."

"That's not true!" Lillie cried in objection and scowled, folding her arms as she looked away and lowered her voice to a quieter volume. "I just don't like seeing Pokemon hurt, that's all."

'Lillie's not a trainer because she doesn't like seeing Pokemon hurt? Hm… Can't say I blame her.'

"I'm indifferent to Pokemon battling," Viola explained, daring to peek at Lucario when she saw the Aura Pokemon observing her from the corner of her eyes. "I like Pokemon and spending time with 'em. But wanting to battle?" She shook her head. "It's not something I've necessarily felt the need to do. I could have taken the Pokemon anyway, if I wanted. But I was better off. Most people in my region assume that owning a Pokemon means you like to battle."

Lucario's eyes drooped as it turned its gaze away, focusing on Hau when the boy piped up again. "Yet you journeyed around your region anyway?"

"Of course. I got to watch my friends' journeys unfold while trying to figure out what I wanted to do. That was more than enough for me." Viola shrugged her shoulders. "And besides, you're one to talk. Aren't you starting your journey a year later than expected?"

"No way." Hau sat up and jabbed a thumb into his chest with a wide smile. "In Alola, we don't start our journey until we're eleven."

Viola blinked and leaned forward at that. "Seriously?"

"He's right," Lillie answered. "Alola isn't like most other regions. I'm still not familiar with Alola's customs myself, but I'm aware they are unique in certain aspects."

Viola's brows raised at Lillie's first comment. 'But she's native to Alola. So how can she not be familiar with-?' But she soon became distracted by what followed next and disrupted her own train of thought. "They are? How?"

Lillie held up a finger, her chin raised. "Well, for one thing, Alola have the island challenge, which Hau will likely participate in."

"Island challenge?" Viola frowned, turning to look at Lucario when it mimicked her actions. "I think I remember Professor Kukui mentioning something like that yesterday…"

"Aw, yeah!" Hau briefly jumped up out of his seat and waved an arm around, causing Lillie to flinch and lean towards the wall to avoid getting hit. "I know about the island challenge!" He plopped down on the chair again with a loud thump, with Lillie's body slouching when she let out a loud sigh. "It's a rite of passage here in Alola where Pokemon Trainers travel between the four islands and complete the trials on each."

"Trials?" Viola repeated. "What do you mean by that?"

Hau scratched at his head. "It's hard to explain. They're different depending on the Trial Captain who watches over 'em. But they're made to test the trainer as well as their Pokemon. Once you complete an island's trials though, you go into the grand trial by battling against the island's kahuna. If you win, you go to the next island and do the same again until you've beaten all four kahunas."

"And then what happens?"

"Nothing, except being acknowledged as a trainer stronger than the kahunas."

Viola frowned. "So… you don't have a Pokemon League or a Champion?"

"Nope. You just win the island challenge." Hau leaned back against the seat, putting his arms behind his head. "But I don't care about any of that. My goal is to beat my gramps, and the island challenge seems like the perfect way to do it."

"I see." Viola clasped her hands together under her chin. "That sounds nothing like what we have in Kalos. You battle the Gym Leaders, then you battle the Pokemon League, and if you somehow manage to get that far you go up against the Champion of the region. It's just battles, battles and then more battles…"

Lillie gave a small smile. "I think I'm starting to see why you're not interested in battles either."

"Good."

Lillie quietly snorted and muffled it with a hand, prompting Hau to speak and push himself up in his seat with a slight jump. "I heard the Gym Leaders are as strong as the kahunas. But what's it like battling in the Pokemon League? Did you get to see?"

Viola saw Lucario's ears droop from the corner of her eyes, causing her to close her eyes as she responded in a low tone. "No. The group I was with never finished their journeys."

Hau gaped at this, his eyes widening slightly. "Huh? How come?"

Viola opened her eyes and prepared to respond, while Lucario folded its arms and looked away. However, just as she opened her mouth, Lillie's high-pitched cry cut her off. "Nebby!"

Viola, Hau and Lucario turned their heads to the mentioned Pokemon, who had floated over the table to Viola's side. It was staring at a scowling Lillie with forced blinks and sugar around its mouth. Right next to it was Viola's malasada, which she noticed had a tiny chunk missing.

"You can't eat food that isn't yours," Lillie said as she continued to reprimand Nebby, causing said Pokemon's lips to quiver and its arms to slump.

Hau laughed and clapped his hands once after processing the situation. "Whoops. I think Nebby likes malasadas a little too much."

'You're telling me…' Viola took her malasada off the napkin and broke it in half between her hands, holding out the bitten piece towards Nebby. Nebby stared up at Viola with a blink, its eyes quickly glancing between her and then the malasada piece as if questioning what she was doing. "Here. I'll share mine since you've already taken a bite."

Nebby slowly turned to look at Lillie then, prompting the latter to lock eyes with the Nebula Pokemon before letting out a loud huff and allowing her shoulders to slump. "Oh, fine. But just this piece. You're going to get sick."

"Pew!" Nebby gave a wide smile and swirled round to face Viola as she put Nebby's piece back on the napkin, moving straight for it and chomping down without a moment to spare.

Lucario's eyes drooped as it watched Nebby eating away at the malasada, eventually shaking its head without making a sound. Viola also fell quiet for the time being and decided to finally take a bite of the malasada piece she'd salvaged, all the while listening to the conversation between Hau and Lillie when the former spotted Lillie's malasada still on the table.

"Hey, Lillie. You haven't touched yours. Don't you want it?"

"Oh, I do." Lillie dropped her hands into her lap. "I'm trying to figure out how to eat it."

"How to eat it?" Hau paused to chuckle. "You don't need to figure it out. Just pick it up with the napkin."

"I don't know…" Lillie's brow furrowed as she stared at her malasada. "It looks too messy. I don't want to get sugar everywhere-"

'Huh.' Viola tuned out of the conversation when she'd bitten into the malasada, her lips curling inward. 'And now it tastes like "Sweet Scent" has been used in my mouth…' Her gaze briefly fell to Nebby, who was still munching away on its own piece. 'But at least it changed the topic before things went too far.'


With their malasadas eaten and Nebby secured safely in Lillie's bag again, the group of four left the shop together. They got as far as the pavement before coming to a stop, with Hau being the one to speak up.

"Are you two gonna walk around a little more?"

Lillie nodded. "Yes. There are still places Viola needs to see."

"So I'd take that as your cue to get going," Viola added with a slight smirk. "If you're late, you might miss your chance."

"I doubt it," Hau replied while matching Viola's smirk with a wide grin, grabbing his backpack straps and preparing to back up. "But you're right. You should stop by Iki Town to see me and-"

"Yo, yo, yo! Check it!"

A grating voice interrupted Hau from behind Viola, Lillie and Lucario, causing the group's heads to turn around to see two older and taller looking males approaching them, the pair walking with slightly bent knees and slouched shoulders. But that wasn't the only strange thing that Viola and Lucario noticed about these two. They squinted at the pair's matching blue hair (hidden under white helmets designed to look like a skull) and blue eyes, donning matching black bandanas over their mouths and skull motif necklace while wearing matching black vests, long black shorts, and white trainers. The two were dressed and looked very alike, to the point where Viola was sure they could have been twins.

'Why am I getting déjà vu from this?'

However, Lillie's and Hau's reactions were different to seeing these strangers. Whereas Hau scowled while keeping his eyes on the pair, Lillie's body tensed and quickly pushed her bag behind her to keep it out of sight with one hand, the other tightly clutching her bag strap when the pair stopped. Viola and Lucario were unaware of this though, keeping their focus on the strangers when the one on the left (the same voice who had spoken before and who Viola temporarily nicknamed as "Dude A" so she could tell them apart) pointed straight at Lucario, his eyebrows lowered to etch a permanent look of aggression on his face. Viola could only just about make out what he was saying due to the bandana muffling his voice a bit.

"Nice Pokemon you've got there. You wanna throw us a bone and hand it over? It'll save us the trouble of wiping the floor with ya!"

Viola's brows raised at what was said, while Hau's scowl deepened and Lillie's shoulders hunched. "Excuse me?"

"Viola," Viola glanced at Hau when he addressed her, noting that he'd taken on a wide stance and edged closer to her side. "Take Lillie and Lucario and go on ahead. I'll stop them from following."

"Huh? Why?"

The blonde felt a shaky grip on her shoulder from behind then, prompting her to look back at a trembling Lillie addressing her in a quiet but shaky voice. "Listen to Hau. They mean trouble. You don't want to mess with them."

"What? What are you-?"

"Hey!" The other male on the right (who Viola had now temporarily nicknamed as "Dude B") yelled and shook his fist at Lillie, causing her to yelp and hold on to Viola by the shoulders. "My bro wasn't talking to you two! Stay outta this!"

Viola's growled as she went to respond, raising her voice some and leaving Lillie staring at her with a slight gape. "Oi. Don't speak to them like that! Who do you clowns think you are?"

"Dude B" turned to "Dude A" with his arms stretched out wide and multiple quick blinks. "Yo, bro! You hearin' this?! This fool doesn't know about Team Skull!"

Both Viola and Lucario gasped loudly at the mention of "Team", the pair simultaneously freezing up as Hau looked their way with a forced blink and Lillie suddenly loosened her grip. '… Team? Oh, Arceus, no.'

"Viola?" Hau called out to the blonde, but she never answered. Instead her gaze fixed itself on the pair's uniforms, a hand going to her chest as she felt her heart thumping against it.

'The matching uniforms, the identical looks… They're just like Team Flare.' Viola's jaw clenched, while Lucario's eyes narrowed into slits with a quiet growl. 'The red hair, the red glasses, the red suits… Just thinking about them is making my blood boil. I should rename these idiots "Grunt A" and "Grunt B".'

"Yo, you got cotton in your ears, kid?" Grunt A spoke up, beckoning towards himself with a hand. "I said hand over your Pokemon. Chop, chop!"

Viola flinched at feeling something hit the back of her legs, which she spotted out of the corner of her eyes was Lillie's bag moving slightly. Her arm moved to her stomach at the uneasiness washing over her. 'Lillie and Hau are right. We can't linger here. If they're anything like Team Flare, they could take Nebby. And I can't risk them somehow taking Lucario either. Even though I can't think of a single reason why they'd want either Pokemon…'

After a few seconds of standing there in silence, Viola closed her eyes and took a quick deep breath, allowing her body to relax as she opened them again. She stood up straight and started to turn around, glancing between Hau and Lillie as she did so. "Sorry. C'mon, Lillie. We should go. Be careful, Hau. We'll wait for you on Route 1." Hau gave a stiff nod, leaving Viola to turn to Lucario beside her. "You too, Lucario. Let's…"

Viola trailed off when she saw Lucario's appendages on the back of its head had risen, its growls having since become loud snarls. The Aura Pokemon looked ready to charge headfirst towards the two grunts. But Viola was quick to intervene, reaching out to gently grab Lucario by the shoulders and slowly pull it back. "Lucario. Let's go. We don't need to waste time on these nuisances."

"Get back here!" Grunt B yelled with his hands close to his mouth as Lucario fell quiet and its appendages lowered, preparing to follow Viola as she placed a hand to Lillie's back and led her away. "My bro's not done with you!"

"Well, she's done with you," Hau replied, stepping forward and standing as straight as he could. "You're not taking Lucario. Go bother someone else."

Grunt A growled and reached into his shorts pocket with a hand, fishing around until he felt his fingers wrap round a pokeball. "No one walks away from Team Skull, 'specially not on my watch!" Hau backed up a couple of steps as the grunt yanked the pokeball out and raised his arm, shouting out the Pokemon name and command when he tossed it. "Salandit, use Ember!"

Hau gaped and leaned back as he witnessed the pokeball fly in the air over his head and open up, bringing forth a blue stream of light and flash. A black and dark grey lizard looking Pokemon leapt from the flash, its light purple slit like pupils immediately locking on the trio walking away just below it. Hau swirled around just as Salandit opened its mouth in preparation to use its move, calling out to the trio as loudly as he could.

"Guys, watch out!"

All three of them stopped and looked to Hau when Salandit ignited the flame, with Lillie and Viola only seeing it once Salandit had spit it out and was sending it straight towards them. Lillie shrieked, closed her eyes and turned away after grabbing her bag and hugging it close to her body, while Viola's body stiffened and her jaw dropped, leaving her paralysed in place. Fortunately, Lucario dashed forward and skidded to a stop before Viola as the flame was closing in, spreading its legs apart and crossing its arms in front of its face to take the attack.

Lucario hissed as the flame made contact with its fur and skin and dispersed into the air, but after a sharp inhale through its nose it shook its head and dropped its arms to its front. The Salandit landed on all fours a small distance away, awaiting for its trainer's next command. Viola snapped herself out of her shock with a forced blink when she was able to process the situation, addressing Lucario as Hau jogged his way over to join them and Lillie righted herself once she'd calmed down.

"Lucario, are you hurt?" Lucario peeked over its shoulder and shook its head, to which Viola switched her attention to the other Pokemon and its red markings on its back. "Who's that Pokemon?"

"Allow me! Zzzt!" Rotom Dex floated out of Viola's bag after making Viola and Lillie gasp, already bringing up the information and image for Salandit on its screen for the group to see as it hovered at Viola's side. "Salandit: The Toxic Lizard Pokemon and a Poison and Fire type. Its venom sacs produce a fluid that it heats up with the flame in its tail, creating a poisonous gas that weakens opponents and sends them reeling."

"Whoa! Is that a Rotom Dex?" Hau asked, causing Viola's eyes to droop.

"Yes, Hau. But this isn't the time to be gawking over it."

"Salandit's a Fire type?" Lillie repeated, her brow furrowing as she turned to stare at Lucario's back. "Lucario's a Steel type, isn't it? I read in a book once that Steel types are weak against Fire types. Which means Lucario has the type disadvantage."

"And now you understand why I'm worried." Viola glanced at Lucario and took a step forward, raising her voice again so it could hear her. "Lucario, get back here! It's not worth it!"

Lucario whipped its head back and bared its teeth with a snarl, forcing Viola to step back with a blink. But after a few seconds the Aura Pokemon fell quiet, its eyes going wide as its gaze switched between Viola, Hau, Lillie and then the area behind them. This was where its gaze lingered as its expression relaxed but its muscles visibly tensed. Within a matter of seconds, Viola found herself witnessing her friend practically slip from its stoic self into a scared child—its ears and tail drooped, its body started to violently tremble, and when it raised its hands to either side of its head and closed its eyes it let out a high-pitched whimper. Lillie and Hau frowned at Lucario's behaviour, but Viola briefly placed a hand to her throat, her breathing hitching as she realised what was going on.

'Oh no. This is the first official battle Lucario has been in against another trainer since…'

"What's wrong with Lucario?" Hau questioned, concern seeping into his tone.

"It seems scared all of a sudden," Lillie added. "Something must have frightened it."

'Yes—the reality of its trainer no longer being around.'

Viola scowled and pulled her bag down from her shoulder to her elbow, reaching in to grab the pokeball she thought was Lucario's as Grunt A laughed with his hands on his stomach.

"Ha! That Pokemon's all bark and no bite! This is a sure win for Team Skull!"

"Not if I put an end to this!" Viola shouted back and held out the pokeball towards Lucario. "Lucario, return!"

Viola had been expecting a thin red light to streak from the pokeball and engulf Lucario's being until it disappeared from the area. Instead the pokeball opened and unleashed a small, rounded bodied Pokemon from the blue flash, causing everyone (excluding Lucario, who remained oblivious to what was currently going on) present to watch on with open mouths. An owl-like Pokemon with a beige and white body loudly hooted and glided down towards Salandit, twisting its body upright in mid-air before sticking its clawed foot out. Salandit watched the unfamiliar Pokemon charge its way with a startled cry, getting sent flying upwards into the air when the Pokemon closed in and kicked it under the chin.

"No! Salandit!" Grunt A cried out as he was forced to watch his Pokemon plummet straight into the ground, the two grunts breaking out of their shock only after Salandit had been attacked.

Viola blinked multiple times as she glanced between the pokeball in her hand and the unfamiliar Pokemon hovering just in front of Lucario, struggling to process what had just happened. "What the…?"

"Viola! Now's our chance!" Lillie's voice broke Viola out of her shock, prompting her to shake her head and reach into her bag again with her other hand.

"Right." She took out Lucario's pokeball and swapped it for the other one she'd grabbed, pointing it at Lucario's back. "Lucario, return!"

A thin line of red light briefly flashed from the pokeball and stretched out to engulf Lucario, causing the Aura Pokemon's image to disappear and retract with the light back into the pokeball. With Lucario secured Hau, Lillie, and Viola all turned around and dashed off as fast as they could away from the malasada shop, with Viola securing her bag on her shoulder again as she went. Rotom Dex jumped back with a loud shriek as the trio moved past it but was quick to shake itself off before flying after them. "W-Wait for me! Zzt-zzt!"

The unknown Pokemon glanced back when it heard the group's retreating footsteps, and after watching them get ahead a bit it loudly hooted and swirled around, quickly flapping its wings to pick up speed and catch up.

Grunt A and Grunt B took a few seconds to process everything. But once all five of them were fleeing from the area, the latter screeched and clenched his hands into fists, waving them about above his head in a frenzy. "Hey! Where do you brats think you're going?! My bro's not done with you! Hey-"

The group never bothered to respond or look back, even as Grunt B continued the rest of his rant. The further they ran the less audible the screeching became, allowing them to make a great getaway without the worry of the two grunts tailing them for the time being. But even as she dashed behind Hau and just ahead of Lillie, she still found herself tightening her grip on Lucario's pokeball still in her palm, causing it to tremble.

'For Xerneas' sake! Is trouble ever going to give us a break?'