Jacky wandered across a rickety bridge towards the MeleMele Island's ruins, curious to see what it's actually like inside. However just before he can even make it halfway, something crashes into the cliffside at the end of the bridge. Sparkling in the light, he can just make out the Sparkling Stone that makes up his Z-Ring. He takes a few steps towards it, only to stop and stare into space for a few seconds.

His feet turned and rushed back in the opposite direction of the stone, desperate to stay away from it. However something else fell from the sky, or rather soared down into his path. Staring him dead in the eyes in far too small a gap, was Tapu Koko, emitting a sound that seemed angry. It's body sparked and surged with electricity, the tension in the air growing immense as it the light from its power grew, until-

Jacky woke up at the sound of his alarm, increasing in volume as it continued on, as if to properly ensure he's awake. The boy growled under his breath and smacked the snooze button, eyeing the time and smiling as he managed to wake up at the right time. It was currently eight-thirty at night, just the right time to for him to be up.

Swinging his legs over the edge of his bed and sitting himself up, Jacky yawned and stretched his limbs, his voice transitioning from a yawn, to an exhaustive groan as he finished his stretch, standing up straight as he left his bedroom. Cinnamon, who was sleeping just at the foot of his bed, woke up as well and hopped of the bed to join him, while the rest of the team simply went back to sleep. Entering the dining room, Jacky looked around before eyeing the door to the side porch, spotting his mother leaning over the the edge, looking up at the moon. He took to joining her side to see the phase this time around, a new moon, that is to say, no moon tonight.

"Kind of a shame that the moon's not out tonight," he stated, leaning against the railing, mirroring his mother. He wasn't quite as cool with the moon being virtually missing from the sky, but it was whatever. "I'm gonna make a fresh pot of coffee."

"You're starting to become a mind reader, hon! Are you sure you didn't wake up as a Kadabra or something?" His mother grinned from ear to ear as she used that bogus child's story as a joke.

"No, you're just getting too predictable," he huffed jestfully. Spinning on his heel to walk to the kitchen, Jacky manages to make it halfway to the coffee maker before the doorbell rings. "Kukui again…?"

"Just make the coffee, he'll just let himself in anyways!" This fact left Jacky somewhat unwelcome to the professor, as the man had demonstrated this fact unabashedly multiple times within half a week. Jacky continued and replaced the grounds and filter of the coffee maker, moving to fill up the coffee maker with water just in time to hear the doorbell ring again.

"Guess it's not Kukui then…" Jacky continued to fill the coffeemaker, calling out to the visitor that he'll be right there in a moment. After finishing and starting up the coffeemaker for a fresh pot, he made a beeline for the door, finding Lillie just behind it. "You know, you're good manners are pretty refreshing."

"Mm, I've gotten that quite a few times since I became his assistant." She shivered a bit as the wind picked up and Jacky opened the door wider to invite her in, of which she quietly accepted. "Speaking of the professor, he actually sent me here himself. Yo, Lillie, you mind picking up Jacky while I run some Rock Smashing tests, OH YEAH!"

Laughter came in stereo as Mary emerged from the side porch sharing the hilarity of Lillie's Kukui impression with her son. Lillie had deepened her voice and widened her mouth as she spoke to give her ease of a louder volume. The laughter seemed to give her an immediately pleasant feeling as her jab was an instant hit with them. As the laughter died down, Jacky inquired as to why Kukui needed him.

"There's something he'd like to inform you of about your pokedex personally, also he likes to have company," she explained. "Are you alright with that at all?"

"Sure, why not, it's not like I had anything planned for today, but let me just get some coffee first." Jacky moved back to the kitchen, getting his favorite mug out that read 'Smug' on the side, with the S bolded in red. After pouring and making himself a classic cup of joe, he whistled for Deagle and Cinnamon to get ready. Cinnamon rushed out with his backpack trailing behind and Deagle flew in struggling to carry his utility jacket, which made him chuckle rushing to grab his things before both his Pokemon could get tuckered out.

His mother stepped into the kitchen herself and prepped a cup of coffee for herself as well, using a mug with a Evolution Sentai Pokemongers design on it. "So, how's life with Captain Shirtless, Lillie?" Mary already knew Kukui personally when the professor had spent time in Kanto, but it had been a long time since they'd seen each other up until they moved to MeleMele Island.

"He's kindly and dedicated to his work, but I'm worried he's just a bit too dedicated," she answered carefully. "But he gave me a place to sleep and eat, so being his assistant is the least I can do. I just wish he'd be more cautious with his methods."

"Yeah, that sounds about right. When I first met him in Kanto, the guy challenged Celadon City's gym leader often just so he can get first-hand demonstrations on grass-type moves!" She started to snicker upon stating such, earning a knowing smirk from Jacky and a confused tilt of the head from Lillie. "Get this, he challenged the gym leader so many times that he ended up getting banned from the gym!"

Throughout the conversation and Lillie's exasperation at hearing so many ludicrous tales about a younger Kukui, Jacky had finished his coffee and fed Cinnamon and Deagle. "Alright mom, I think she's heard enough stories for one night! I mean she already lives with the genuine article anyways."

"Right, right, you two be careful out there and say hello to Captain Shirtless for me, okay!" Mary waved them off until they'd fully left the house. After the door had shut, her smiled disappeared and her gaze went down to the dark beverage in her hands. "The least she can do, huh? What's going on with that girl…?"

Lillie led the way to Kukui's house, passing through the tall grass and regularly applying Repels to herself to keep Pokemon from attacking her, which kinda messed with how many ran into Jacky and his team. The two were stopped a couple of times along the way by trainers wanting to battle, but Jacky was able to put them down relatively quickly to where they wouldn't be any more late than they already were. The final obstacle was when a Pokemon finally did emerge from the grass to engage them, a Slowpoke to be precise.

A water/psychic-type would be a great addition to his team, despite the shortcomings of the particular Pokemon in question, so the young trainer took to capturing it, and successfully at that. Unsurprisingly given that it was a Slowpoke, it didn't seem at all upset or repellant to being caught. In fact, it was pretty mellow, even as far as Slowpokes go, earning it the nickname Nirvana.

After that final obstacle, the two reached literally the only house that could possibly be Kukui's, given it was the only house on the beach and…

"Why does the house look like a patchwork art assignment," Jacky inquired, somewhat genuinely, thought he had an inkling as to the idea.

"Well-" Before Lillie could explain away, some overly noisy commotion forced its sounds from the closed up house.

"OH YEAH, ROCKRUFF, LET'S GO! MY BODY IS READY!" That voice was undoubtedly Kukui's and he could even hear the barking of a pokemon before both gave way to many a crash, bump, and boom.

"Y'know, I'm honestly surprised this place is still standing…" Lillie wasn't kidding about Kukui's uninhibited methods, bringing to mind whether or not this place was even a safe place to stay in.

Lillie sighs and explains that she's been living with him for three months, giving Jacky a respect for her level of patience. "Given that he researches moves and abilities, I'd probably be a better assistant if I were a trainer. At the very least, I could try to contain his experiments to a less destructive leve-!" Just as she was about to finish, the sound of glass shattering cut in, jarring her from the conversation. Lillie groaned as she stepped onto the porch towards the door, stopping just at the door. "I just cleaned his labcoat this morning and now it's probably going to be ruined and he'll just have to buy a new one!"

Jacky couldn't help a grin as he heard an edge of passive aggressiveness in her tone as they stepped into the house. Rockruff was currently in the process of demonstrating Scratch on Kukui's face, to which a quick whistle from Lillie called it off. As Kukui got up and dusted himself off, the two kids took an unfettered notice of two sizeable pieces of glass protruding from his lower abdomen. "Woah, Kukui, are you okay?"

Kukui looked down at where the two were staring and finally noticed the glass. "Oh, so that's why I've been feeling a sting. I just thought I was still feeling Rockruff's Bite." Lillie had already rushed to the lower level to get medical supplies while Jacky had taken a closer look.

"Perks of being a test dummy?" He was trying to be jovial, since Kukui didn't seem worried about it. For all he knew, this probably wasn't the first time he wound up with glass in his side. "You really need to be more careful…"

"Ah come on, Cousin, it's all for the sake of science!" He laughed when Jacky glared at him for that statement. Lillie emerged from the basement with those square bandages, a cotton ball, and some alcohol. After pulling the glass out and patching the professor up, she went to go wash her hands. "Anyways, I wanted to ask you, do you know about the Pokemon Rotom?"

"I've heard of it, but I don't really know much about it," he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. His mother is Unovan, but he was born and grew up in Kanto, so he wouldn't know.

"Rotom is an Electric/Ghost-type Pokemon that possesses electrical appliances and causes mischief with a variety of different secondary types based on its vessel!" Lillie had returned, giving information on the Pokemon in question with some basic know-how.

"Hey Kukui, can we trade Pokedexes?" he asked, putting a hand on Lillie's shoulder for emphasis, trying to keep a straight face. Kukui offered a behumored half-grin at his request, while Lillie's face turned a touch red from embarrassment. "I'm just kidding, Lillie, thanks for the quick info."

"Anyways, the pokedex I designed is made to house a Rotom to serve as a guide, but I only have the one so I held off on handing its favorite Dex to new local trainers. But then you moved in and got your first Pokemon, and since you're unfamiliar with Alola's islands, I figured this would be the perfect time. Here, hand me your Dex." Jacky was a touch unbelieving, but he pulled out his pokedex and handed it off to the professor. As he fiddled around with the device, something shot out of it in a flash of electricity and light, taking form as a Rotom's default form.

The Rotom buzzed irritably around the room as Kukui attempted to placate it, ultimately managing to calm it down. "Sorry for waking you up, Rotom, but I need you to properly boot yourself into the dex now and help Jacky to navigate the islands. Think you can do that?"

As if being offered a treat, it happily went to work, diving back into the dex, the small device turning on by itself and hovering into the air as the face of the Rotom appeared on-screen. "Hey, hey, Jacky boy, how's it hanging? Can I call you Jack?"

"I'd rather you not-"

"Listen, Jack, since you don't know squat about how to navigate the islands, I'm gonna be guiding you by the nose, ya got it! Whenever you're ready to travel around, you say the word and up comes the map!" As if just now noticing something, the Rotom's face turned to one of shock. "Woah, woah, woah, my clock must be wrong or something, its nine twenty-eight in the evening! What are you doing here, sneaking out of the house or something? Hanging with friends, flirting with babes, maybe?"

Jacky was still currently processing the Rotom Dex's very existence, but he was still conscious of his words. "Wh-What? No, I'm a night owl, that's all!"

"Oh is that all, zt-zt-zt? That's kinda boring, but it's not too-too boring!" Rotom Dex flew around Jacky, snapping a few shots of him with the built-in camera. "Well, at least you'll be able to take a few snaps of some nocturnal 'Mons when you're out, am I right?"

"I didn't even notice you had a camera." He seemed a bit more interested in said function now that it was brought to light, grabbing Rotom Dex from the air and browsing through all its functions. "Let's see here…"

"Alola everyone! Hau is here and ready to roll!" Hau bust into the house without any announcement or warning, standing triumphantly once again with that wide grin on his face. "Hey, this place is pretty nice! Nice rustic charm and look at that water tank!" He rushed to the huge tank containing some Luvdisks, gazing into it with wonder as clear as day on his face. After taking his fill of the water tank, his gaze drifted to the side and the wonder refreshed as he rushed towards a ladder leading up to a pseudo second floor. "Is that a loft? That's so awesome, I wanna see it now!"

Before he could take a single step onto the first rung, Lillie grabbed his backpack and pulled him away, though it was kinda tough to pull him away from the ladder. "No, you can't go up there, Hau! That loft is where I sleep, it's my bedroom!" It wasn't hard to understand why she was so averse to letting a boy into her room, but Hau wasn't having it at all, and that kinda upset her.

"Come on, Lillie, please! I don't have anything like this at home and I bet Jacky doesn't either, right buddy?" Hau looked to Jacky and Lillie with pleading eyes with a somewhat sinister glint behind them, not that Lillie would notice the latter.

"But I-! Oh fine, I guess you can come on up, but Jacky goes first!" Hau was excited at first, but baffled by the end of her relentment. She looked to Jacky, awaiting his move while Hau stood off to the side with an unimpressed look on his face.

Kukui was laughing at the excitement and mischief of Hau. "Sorry, why don't I get some drinks for everyone, yeah?"

"Thanks, that'd be nice," Jacky said as he walked towards the ladder. Taking his hands and feet on the rungs, he climbed up to the loft, catching sight of Lillie's "room". A small bookshelf, a desk with a light a couch that presumably served as her bed, a cushion and a chair or two. "It must have been hard getting the furniture up here…" The final noteworthy decoration was a sizeable Clefairy plushie, one he couldn't help but focus on as he stood at full height atop the loft. "You like Clefairy, Lillie? I guess I shouldn't be surprised, they are a pretty popular Pokemon…"

As he'd predicted, Lillie was the second to come up to the loft, with Hau grumpily climbing the ladder last. "Yes, I actually played with a Clefairy a lot when I was younger." She'd taken a seat on the couch while Hau climbed the ladder and looked around the open platform. "I wish she could've been here." She sounded somber, like she were talking about a friend she'd missed dearly for so long.

"I'm sure you'll see her again." He stepped aside to give her a clear view of her plushie, hoping to give her some peace of mind. "Besides, if you two played together so much, then I'm sure she misses you too, right?" He seemed to have cheered her up somewhat, as he saw a bittersweet smile on her face.

"Yeah, I guess you're right…"

Hau cut in after getting a good look around the room with his amiable obliviousness as per usual. "Wow, y'know when you think about it, I'm in a girl's room!" He seemed to really take joy in that thought, making Jacky chuckle.

"Yeah, right? I didn't expect you to pull that off for another fifteen years, Hau!" His soft laugh turned impish when his friend gave him a wicked stink eye. He couldn't help himself with that one, and even Rotom Dex gave him a high five for that.

As the night carried on, the three took seats and talked amongst one another until Kukui came up somewhat awkwardly with a platter of cups with Hot Cocoa in them, but somehow managing to make it look flourished. This man truly was a complete and total enigma that defied logic, Jacky thought. As he handed each cup out and took a seat on the cushion, he looked to Jacky ready to question him. "So Jacky, now that you've had some time to sleep and think on it, have you figured out what you want to do for the Island Challenge yet?"

This brought the boy into a moment of silence, as if all the jovial atmosphere was sucked away through every word of his inquiry. After a long moment of retrospective, he finally gave his answer. "I'll give it a try, but I can't really promise I'll see it through…"

"Huh? Why not, man? The Island Challenge is an awesome adventure across the islands, right?" It was an understatement to say Hau was shocked by his answer, but Jacky wasn't done speaking.

"That's exactly why, Hau. Near everyone insists I do this challenge without hesitation, but I just don't want to do this simply because everyone says I should." He held up his wrist, showing off the Z-Ring he received from Hala. "And then there's this… Tapu Koko gave me a Sparkling Stone and Hala turned that into a Z-Ring, and even before that, the guardian saved my life too. I feel obligated to do this for them at least, but the fact that I started my journey with their help, I don't know. It feels like a lot for someone my age. I'll take the challenge, but I reserve the right to stop if I need or even want to."

After giving his answer, and his concerns, he looked down and away from the eyes of the others. He waited for some negative response or further insistence that he should just do it all the way or even apparent disapproval for his answer. Instead, he felt a hand on his shoulder as Kukui kneeled down before him with a calm demeanor. "That's perfectly fine, cousin. The Island Challenge is an opportunity for up and coming trainers to Bulk Up their skills and strengthen the bonds they share with people and Pokemon… But if there's any other path you want to take as a trainer, then that's fine too."

"Yeah, yeah! Like Pokemon breeding or being a professor like Kukui!" Hau added, nudging him with his elbow playfully.

"Or maybe you could do Pokemon Contests…? I mean, Alola doesn't have any, but I'm sure you could make a career out of that…" Even Lillie was contributing to the encouragement of his decision.

He raised his head and nodded with understanding, knowing that he truly was in the company of good friends. "Thanks everyone, I appreciate that a lot."

Kukui pat his shoulder and sat back down on the cushion across from the sofa. "And if you're still worried about the challenge, I know a good way to get you started right! There's a school close by that helps new trainers learn the basics. Sounds like the perfect place to get your bearings and really mull things over. And remember this, cousin: Your ultimate choice doesn't matter as long as you're happy with it and don't have any regrets. We'll support you no matter what direction you take your life in!"

Jacky smiled as he drank from his mug, taking in the rich cocoa he was given, feeling himself warm up inside. "You know, Professor, for a guy who lets his Pokemon pummel him all the time, you're actually pretty good emotional support." Hau and Kukui laughed at his remark and even Lillie took humor in that statement. "Anyways, that sounds like a good idea, thanks for the suggestion, Kukui."

"Any time, cousin, oh yeah!"

hr

Author's Notes:

I'm so sorry I didn't get this out much sooner, it kept slipping my mind and then there were times I was too busy, and then there were days I wasn't motivated. I love this story and I want to see it through to the end, I swear! I just hope that those of you wonderful enough to read and enjoy it will offer me patience.