"Are you ready to get going?" Lillie stood by the door, awaiting Jacky's word to go. She volunteered to lead him to the school at the edge of town, while Hau had charged out on his own.
Jacky had collected whatever belongings he'd dropped off when he arrived, RotomDex hovering by his ear, kinda bummed he wouldn't be the one to lead Jacky there. "Yeah, I'm about ready to go." His pokemon all had good rest while he was there and were fully prepped for wild encounters along the way, so on top of Lillie's application of Repels, they'd be good for the trip.
As they left the house, Kukui locked up and went ahead of them, while the two took a bit of their own pace, running casual chat back and forth along the way. In time, Jacky had taken notice of a bit of hesitance. "Got anything on your mind?"
"O-Oh! Well, I was actually wondering about your mother," Lillie admitted somewhat awkwardly. "She's a trainer too, right? I mean, she brought a whole team with her to the event before and beat a lot of people."
"Yeah, she is a trainer. Her journey was over years and years ago, but she still catches the occasional pokemon now and then, but overall she's pretty much buckled down for the family." As those words left his mouth, he drew his hand across his neck in a sign of denial towards when Lillie soon made the assumption that she might have tackled the Kanto Elite Four. "My mom was born and raised in Unova, she only moved to Kanto after she had me and my sister."
"Oh, I see, and you said you have a sister?" Quite a bit of info, drawing his father then into question in her mind, but one thing at a time. "Where's your sister right now?"
"She's still in Kanto, on her own pokemon journey. Last time we contacted her, she had gotten her fourth badge, so I'd say she's doing pretty good for herself." He didn't make it out to be a big deal, moreso that his sister was so far away, but in truth he missed her. He could call her, sure, but seeing her face on a screen or conversing over the phone only did so much. In that moment, that one small moment, he didn't want to be in Alola.
"Well, that's good. Even though she's battling, I'm glad she's finding success. Especially now that training has become a bit more dangerous lately." Lillie's hand hovered over her bag for but a moment as she considered Nebby.
"Zztzztzzt, hey, hey! None of that gloomy stuff, runts, we have a school to get to and-!" RotomDex stopped abruptly, coming to what hovering could equate to a grinding halt. Before any questioning, Jacky noticed a Tauros up ahead just down the road, grinding its hooves into the pavement. "That Tauros looks pretty nettled, Zztzzt!"
In what seemed somewhat panicked at first, Lillie grabbed Jacky's arm and pulled him to the side in a rush. After a moment to register their surroundings properly, and being thankful for the girl's intervention, Jacky realized they were standing in the parking lot of a school. "We're here, huh…?"
"Jeez, why were you just standing there?" Lillie seemed a touch huffy about it, though understandable. "What if that Tauros had charged?" She cooled her head and looked off towards the entrance, spotting Kukui and a woman waiting for them. "Look, there they are!"
"Yeah, cousin, you finally made it!" Kukui cheered. "This is Emily, one of the teachers here in Charge of the Trainer School! Be sure to give her your attention."
The coal-haired woman looked him over and offered a welcome smile. "So you're Jacky, huh? Well, it's nice to meet you. Are you ready for your lesson here?" She instilled a touch of curiosity in him, wondering if he'd have to attend a class or something. Ho-Oh's blessings, he certainly hoped he wouldn't. "On these school grounds are four students you'll have to battle. Each one has something to teach you, and in return, you can teach them a thing or two."
"Is that all there is to it?" He was half-surprised, not expecting it to be that simple, though he did expect an actual battle to be attached to the lesson. "Well, is there any defining features about them I can identify with?"
Emily's face brightened with amusement as she answered, "They like to call themselves the Rookie Four!"
Kukui burst into laughter, while Jacky wasn't nearly as amused as him or the educator. "I see...Well then, I guess I'll go fight them then."
"Good luck, Jacky!" Lillie waved him off as he left to explore the school grounds and hunt down those four students, waving back to her in response.
He had to admit, there were more students here than he expected. Perhaps the school did night classes or something. Were there more night owls in Alola than him? Either way, first stop was around the school's sides, where he found a tan-skinned girl wearing gym clothes. In one hand was a tennis racket, in another was a pokeball. "Hi, are you that kid doing the Rookie Four challenge?"
"I don't know, is that really the name you settled on?" He smiled bemusingly as the girl got flustered about it, spouting at him to shut up. "Sorry, sorry! So, I have to battle you four, right? Well, let's do it then! Cinnamon, are you ready?" He sent out Cinnamon, who responded with a melodious purr.
"Jeez, why couldn't Joseph have come up with a better name…" The girl was mumbling to herself for a while, not quite taking in that her opponent was ready to duke it out. When she finally noticed Cinnamon in her peripheral, she hopped in place and became even more flustered. "Oh, right! Sorry about that, uuuhhh, let's take 'em to court, Diesel!" She tossed her pokeball straight up into the air before swatting it with her racket, launching it forward. Her pokemon popped out mid-flight, a Pikipek, but the pokeball continued its flight and cleared the school fence bordering the grounds. "Noooooo, it's gonna take forever to find it!"
"Uh, you want to put this on hold…?" Both Cinammon and his trainer looked to each other as Jacky offered to wait a little while. He knew some trainers liked a bit of flair in their form, but that was kinda not at all the best way to do that.
"No, let's just get this over with," the poor girl sighed, sending her little birdy out to fight. "Diesel, use Peck!"
"Cinammon use Ember, we'll make this quick for her!" His little Litten nodded launched a small fireball head-on at the spry little birdy as it flit towards him ready to prod the fluffer as hard as it could. The fireball slammed right into its wing, taking it off course and just barely managing to graze Cin's front left leg. Now with the poor birdy on the ground and open, all it took was one small attack and Diesel was done for.
Jacky picked the flying-type up and offered it to the trainer, handing her a Potion as well to help it recover. The tanned athlete nodded her head in thanks and cradled her Pikipek closely. "Can you… help me find my pokeball now?"
Smiling a little, he accepted her request, on the grounds that she be more careful and think hard about her flashy entrances next time. The two of them walked out of school bounds to find the lost ball, ending up finding it being played around with by a Magnemite. The girl, Hiromi, spazzed out completely and called out to it to give it back to her, but the steel/electric-type ignored her demands.
With Cinnamon's help, they dealt with the metal menace quickly, Hiromi getting her pokeball back and Jacky catching a new partner. "You shouldn't play with things that aren't yours, you know!" The pokemon blurted out a lot of staticy noise in retaliation, with RotomDex translating. "Alright, calm down, metalhead. It wasn't that bad this time, just be nice next time and return what's not yours, got it? Anyways, now that I've caught you, you need a name…" After a moment of thought, an impish smirk spread halfway across his face. "How about Wattson?"
With a reluctant buzz of confirmation, and a cringed groan from RotomDex, the group returned to school grounds, wandering around to find Jacky's next opponent. "So, do you know where everyone else is, Hiromi?"
"Well, you'll find Joseph at the school battleground! He's thickheaded, but he's the strongest of us too." She was still miffed about being called out about their group title, giving the impression she wasn't too thrilled about the name.
"In that case, I'll fight him next!" He baffled the tennis player by his declaration, though she wasn't critical of his decision after the fact. It's not like he was required to follow a specific order with these battles, so what was the point? As they arrived at the battleground, they saw a lone figure standing in the center, posing like some JoJo character. Needless to say, neither Jacky, Hiromi, or any of their pokemon, for that matter, were impressed; Even less so once he opened his mouth to address them.
"It looks like you've finally arrived, challenger! I am the leader of the Rookie Four, the Rising Star, Joseph! Are you ready for your fourth and final batt-!"
Before he could even finish speaking, there was some compulsion, perhaps out of courtesy or maybe just a striking want to be blunt to this flamboyant punk. "I only beat Hiromi, actually!"
The series of poses he struck throughout his "dazzling" speech were thrown completely off at Jacky's admittance. "What!? You only beat one of us? But that's not good enough, our battle needs to have some finality! You can't just beat one, ignore the others and then go straight for the leader!"
"One, I'm not ignoring the others, I just choose to battle you first. Second, if you wanted to do this in a specific order, you should've brought that up with your teacher." Cinnamon stepped forward, ready to roll with a firm yowl.
"I reject your challenge then!" The boy crossed his arms and turned up his nose, posturing a bit for added effect. The effect in question wasn't at all what he'd hoped for though. Jacky's eye twitched with annoyance, and just behind him he could hear Hiromi give a heaving sigh flooding with exasperation.
"Joseph, if you don't battle him and stop being so stuck-up, I'm going to tell Ms. Emily about this!" Her threat was basic enough, but it did have some semblance of merit. The spoiled midget's pose loosened up as his face tensed up. "Oh yeah…? W-Well, go ahead and tell her, I'm not scared." He was definitely scared.
"Fine, then I guess I'll go now. I bet she'll be pretty upset that you're being so rude to the school's guest. I wonder what she'll punish you with." She turned around and Jacky had to hold in a smile as he caught a small grin on her face, hidden from Joseph. "What do you think she might do?"
Playing along, Jacky made a pose of his own, holding his chin in feigned thought. "Well, judging from my impression of her, I'd say Ms. Emily might just put him in detention. Might even stack some extra assignments to make up for it…"
"She might even call in the school's prince to punish him!" Jacky maintained as neutral an expression as possible to ensure his lack of knowing just who that was wouldn't be telegraphed. "Do you want that, oh fearless leader?"
"Wait, wait, wait!" Joseph tossed a pokeball out and a Grimer emerged, though it was oily and shining in a myriad of colors, unlike the dark purple pile of slime that the ones he was familiar with. "I've decided that he is ready to step up to the Rookie Four's leader! So bring your best fight, challenger! You're up against the Rising Star, Joseph, and his unnatural beauty, Toxica!"
Ah, so he's that kind of person after all. Jacky exchanged a knowing grin with Hiromi while the blustering child was still postulating. "Alright, Joseph, let's do this thing! Cinn, use Ember on that Grimer!" The two leaped into battle, Toxica getting burned pretty bad and taking a bit of extra damage after striking back. The whole exchange, much like the fight with Hiromi, didn't last long, and the result was ultimately the same.
As Toxica seemed to almost deflate at her loss, Joseph fell to his knees and devolved into a frustrated ball of immature pride and growls. "Well, see ya later, Joseph!" He and Hiromi headed out towards the school building, with the athlete leading the charge inside. Along the way, one uninvolved student called him over and lent him a Quick Claw, which he gladly handed off to Cinnamon. What a helpful NPC~!
The next two opponents were much to speak of, a young boy with a Metapod went down incredibly easy thanks to basic type advantage, and then an even younger girl with a Bonsly, which actually had him switch Cinnamon out for once, using Nirvana instead. After taking care of everyone, the boy and little girl gathered around him and Hiromi. "Wow, wow, big bro! You did that so easily!"
"Big bro? Uh, just Jacky is fine…" As he interacted with the two smaller children, he heard a jingle signalling an announcement over the PA. His name was called to the second floor, requesting his immediate presence.
"Oooh, looks like someone's in trouble!" Hiromi was only teasing, and her light jubilance encouraged the younger kids to join in. But that fun was taken a bit too seriously when Lillie walked inside and overheard them.
"Jacky, did you do something bad?" She seemed absolutely flummoxed by the idea that he'd gotten in trouble to be called over the speakers.
"What, no, these guys are just joking!" He gave both the younger kids light noogies before excusing himself and heading upstairs, much to the unconvinced huffiness of Lillie. He gave Cinnamon, Nirvana, and Wattson some Potions as he caught sight of the teacher awaiting him at the top.
"You've beaten all four of them, have you?" She seemed pleased with the results as he confirmed such, patting Cinn and Nirvana for their hard work. "Well then, to finish off your assignment, dear student, I'd like to challenge you to one more battle! Consider this the exam!" She seemed somewhat excited for the fight, despite being an educator. Eh, who says teachers can't have fun with their work?
"You're on, teach! Cinnamon, you're up!" As per the norm, his Litten stepped as the dark-haired instructor sent out a Magnemite, the poor thing getting a bit nervous the moment its eye came upon Jacky's little fire-type. "Your opening act looks pretty worried, Ms. Emily"
"Don't worry, Sasha, just give it your all!" She popped encouragement upon encouragement to the poor thing, having to dish out compliments to it before it was confident enough to fight. Seemed this thing had an ego problem. "Now, use Thundershock!" The metal ball's bolt sparked fiercely before unleashing a lightning bolt, having to take a fireball to the face in return, blinding it.
In its moment of vulnerability, it failed to respond to its trainer's orders in time before the spry cat unleashed a body-numbing Lick on it, finishing it off immediately. The next opponent set Cinnamon off something fierce, a Meowth with a dark coat of fur and a very condescending gaze. Purr-chase was one thing, but this Meowth even ticked Jacky off. "Ember, Cinn!"
The two cats launched each other into it right away, Cinnamon catching it with a hot Ember, but taking the Meowth's fangs across his back and then being tossed back at Jacky's feet. His Litten trembled as he tried to stand back on his paws, barely managing to hold himself up. Before he could risk another assault, Wattson hovered between the two felines just in time to take another Bite for Cinnamon. "That's it, Wattson!"
Cinnamon felt a hand on his head, ruffling his fur and scratching a little here and there. "Don't get ahead of yourself, buddy. I don't want you to hurt yourself over this. Wattson, zap that smarmy runt!"
Wattson was two steps ahead of him, already charging electricity as Emily's Meowth moved in for another attack before the metal punk pointed its bolt directly at the cat and shot off its strike, nailing it in the chest and throwing it back. Emily panicked and dropped to her knees to check on her pokemon, giving Jacky and Wattson a bit of concern by proxy. "Oh thank goodness, he's fine!" She returned her pokemon to their balls and congratulated the team on their battle. "I've gotta say, that was quite something, and so quick too. Maybe you should consider being a teacher?"
After the two's adrenaline settled, they finally realized, oh yeah, they were fighting in-doors! There were singe marks from both the fire and lightning that was discharged during the scuffle, much to the dismay of Emily and to the delight of Kukui as he made his presence known. "Oh yeah, what a fierce finish, cousin! That battle had me going hotter than a Flame Charge!"
"Glad you liked it, Professor," the boy remarked dryly with a snarky shift of the eyes. "Well, I succeeded, so I guess I'm all set to go?"
"Yes, I'd certainly like to think that!" Emily picked up a bag that was suspiciously not mentioned before because a certain someone didn't bother to write its presence earlier. She handed the bag to him, revealing several Great Balls, of which he was pretty happy with. "That battle really was a good one, Jacky. I expect great things from you in the future!"
"Indeed, though the battle itself was short and tactically simple, the passion was there, bright and vibrant all throughout!" A newcomer arrived up the stairs, this one taller than Jacky by half a foot, with dark skin and well-groomed pink hair. "And the care you and your Magnemite demonstrated for your Litten was touching as well."
"Oh, thanks I guess... And you are?" Down from the base of the stairs, he saw the Rookie Four all gathered up and watching the pinkette with starry eyes, whispering things about the "Prince of the School" and the "Trial Captain". He couldn't help a smirk from playing on his lips at their admiring gazes, even Joseph's. "Never mind, I think I have an idea."
The young man chuckled at his responses and that of his admirers. "Yes, as they say, I am the Trial Captain of MeleMele Island and the one reputed as the Prince of the School, however, I prefer to go by a real name. I am Ilima and I thoroughly enjoyed witnessing your battle with Ms. Emily." He offered a hand to shake, of which the dark-haired trainer obliged. If nothing else, this Ilima had some pretty words.
"Thanks for the congrats, Ilima, it's good to meet the fabled Prince. From what I've seen, you've got a lot of admirers in this school!" He didn't mind the famous as long as they were polite and not show-offs like Joseph on the first floor.
Ilima smiled knowingly and nodded in confirmation. "Yes, it would seem that way. Oh, and I so appreciate their adoration. One even took a liking to my love of combat and tactics as well! Those eyes under those shades were quite adorable when we talked." Sounds like something a little bit different than what the Rookie Four offered, but that wasn't Jacky's business, nor was he really too interested in making it his business. "Regardless, I ultimately came to meet the new Trail-goer and get a good look at him. I must say, I greatly anticipate the future for both you and your team. Well, I must get going!"
"Yeah, see you around, Ilima!" Jacky waved to him as he left the school, he and his team making their leave of the building soon after. Emily and the Rookie Four gathered together outside in the parking lot to see him off.
"Bye, big brother!" the youngest boy cheered, hopping in place. His Metapod hopped in place like it was moving for the send-off too.
"Come play again!" The little girl seemed a bit sad that he was leaving, holding her Bonsly in her arms like a teddy bear. The cute stone tree pokemon was asleep in her arms, snoozing the night away.
"Next time you come around here, the Rookie Four will be waiting, and this time we'll do it right, with a nice buildup!" Joseph was still striking ridiculous poses as he challenged Jacky to come back again and fight them all. Toxica was probably inside her ball, since there was no sign of her anywhere. At least he hoped she was.
Hiromi bopped him on the head with her racket to calm him down. "Thanks for the help earlier. It'll be good to have you around here again some time. The next time you see me, Diesel will be a Toucannon and I'll perfect my entrance!" Though she chastises Joseph for his attitude and priorities, she seemed to really value flashiness almost as much as he did. Diesel himself gave a resounding chirp in agreement.
"You're always welcome at the school any time, Jacky." She smiled calmly at him, thankfully not holding a grudge against him for the scare she got at the end of their fight. "Alright, everyone, let's head back inside now." The teacher ushered the students away, allowing Kukui some room for himself.
"So, how does it feel to win five times in a row, cousin? Makes you feel real good to have that Stone Edge, doesn't it?" He laughed at his own joke, making Jacky roll his eyes in response.
"Yeah, I can't lie, I do feel a bit better about this whole trial thing now. But I still have some concerns, especially after Cinnamon almost pushed himself," he conceded, petting his Litten and giving him a nice chin scratch.
"Well don't you worry, cousin. You can always just go at your own pace, not to mention you can always train like there's no tomorrow if you're feeling real intimidated!" He pumped a fist into the air to emphasize the unshaken control that the new trainer had over his own journey. "You've got plenty of folks rooting for you in this, Jacky. It doesn't matter if you battle 'til you're sore, train 'til you're aching or take a break every now and then. It's all your call, just like I told you before, so don't you go stressing it."
"Thanks again for the words of Foresight, professor." Giving Kukui's little vocal quirk a bit of acknowledgement in return gave the shirtless researcher a good, hearty laugh. Inside, though, Jacky was kinda upset with himself for how effortless that quip was. Even RotomDex was giving him funny "What did you eat" looks.
"Well, I gotta scoot along! I'll leave the rest to you for now, cousin!" With a kind farewell, the professor took off back towards home, leaving Jacky and Lillie to each other's company once more.
"Congratulations on pulling off that assignment. You think you got an A or something?" She seemed to be joking, though it seemed it could've gone either way from her. "So, should we go see the rest of the town?"
RotomDex immediately shot between the two and tapped his screen himself, pulling up the map. "Zttzttztt, Now hold on there, snowflake! I'm supposed to be the guide here, not you! If I ain't, what's even the point of possessing this Dex!"
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Rotom, I didn't mean to take this away from you!" Lillie was immediately thrown into a moral-driven panick over RotomDex's declaration, overriding the ghostly Dex's outrage. "Please, lead the way!"
Jacky narrowed his eyes at Rotom disapprovingly, but gestured for him to lead the way as well. "Zttzttztt, Sorry, snowball, I just got a little huffy. You two just talk amongst yourselves and try not to fall behind!" The hovering device started the lead, the two following after it.
"Y-Y'know, it's pretty amazing to be able to win so many battles like that consecutively. You just started not that long ago and yet you're so good at this already. You're like an unstoppable Lucario…" He had to admit, that was pretty damn flattering, being compared to something like that.
"Nah, I don't think I'm anything like a Lucario, though. Remember, I needed convincing to do this in the first place…" He still felt a bit unsure about things even now, though it was better than before. Still, he didn't think he deserved the comparison he got from her.
"Well, you're a pretty big hardass, so let's just call you a Geodude and leave it at that, Zttztt!" It was supposed to be a playful jab, but Lillie didn't take that any better than Rotom's outburst a minute ago.
"But he's done so much in so short a time! He beat all those trainers, he made so many new friends, and he even saved Nebby from those Spearow!" She'd thrown a mini tantrum at that, but quieted down just as fast. "Nebby's so important to me, but I couldn't move… I couldn't save him myself."
"So you were scared, big whoop, Ztt!" It was pretty blunt and crude, but it was ultimately the same thing Jacky had thought. "Just because you were, doesn't mean you get to beat yourself up about it!"
"Rudely put, but he does have a point, Lil-!" The convo was cut short as the three were given the distinct reminder that there was a Tauros blocking their path to the rest of the area. However, it wasn't alone this time, and it was much more tamed this time around. Standing between Hala and Hau, it gazed at the trio closely.
"Jacky, Lillie, you're finally out of school, yeah? You ready for that summer vacation?" Hau was just as chipper as ever, despite being next to a previously raging Tauros.
"I apologize if Tauros here was an inconvenience at all, children. He's since settle, as you can see." Looking to the three, Hala waved them over to come closer. All three were reluctant to close in on it, but after a while, Jacky stepped forward. Since Hala, and more importantly Hau were standing so close to it, making noise without a fear, then it must be safe, right?
He moved in slowly to ensure that he didn't somehow set the Tauros off again and get himself impaled on those horns. When he was close enough, he looked at the face of the prior aggressor for a moment before electing to try and pet him. Before he could fully move his hand in, Tauros simply pressed his own head into his hand. It felt immensely relieving to be given such an unmistakable confirmation that everything was all under control.
Lillie, on the other hand, had hung back and simply watched cautiously, keeping just outside of Tauros direct charge path. He didn't blame her, how could he after her admittance prior. Hala laughed in his usual boisterous volume. "Well, it seems Tauros has taken quite a liking to you. How curious though, wouldn't you say?"
The Kahuna placed a hand upon Tauros's back and instructed it to come with him, leading it away after some brief goodbyes. Hau marched right over to Jacky, that wide grin on his face as he impressed upon Jacky's move. "I didn't think you'd actually pet it!"
"To be honest, I was kinda shaky about it, being so close to what was a wild rager just a half hour ago." Hau couldn't help but take humor in that nugget of knowledge.
"So, what are you guys gonna do now that gloomy here is out of school?"
"We were going to show Jacky around Hau'oli." Lillie had since rejoined Jacky now that Tauros was gone, but she remained close to him despite that. RotomDex giving her the stinkeye didn't exactly help.
"Oh, that's cool. Hey, you mind if I tag along? I know all the best places to eat when you're running low on fuel!" There was a fire in his eyes, a deep motivation then and there to show him something. All the best restaurants, huh?
"Sure, I don't mind. The more the merrier, right?" He'd better make sure to get the whole restaurant thing out of Hau's system, or he might never stop hearing about it. Better to nip this one in the bud, not that it would be some grand quest or long errand.
"Alright, to Hau'oli!" Hau stampeded his way away from Lillie and Jacky harder than the Tauros, leaving the two alone again. So much for "together".