It was alarming just how quick the seas turned. Its gentle caress, now a violent battering that lurched the vessel uncomfortably. A small number of crewmen held onto the railing, preventing them from going overboard. Taki felt the effects of the rocking boat consume her, as her facial features appeared to turn a shade of green. Nearby, Feraligatr spotted her trainer's current problem.
"You ok, Taki?" she asked.
Taki replied with a meek, "...no."
Elsewhere, Louis, Roy, and their teams of Pokémon stayed close by one another as the vessel continued to rock across the ocean surface. However, Azul rested on a nearby pole, back-first, going with the flow. Roy quickly spotted the Greninja's relaxed state.
"How are you not affected by this, Azul?" he asked.
"Nin-ja Nin?" replied Azul.
"He said...'Affected by what?'" translated Louis.
– "...nevermind."
Abruptly, the rocking ceased. More members of the yacht's crew passed by the gang, carrying the captain, who was dazed and had bags under his eyes.
"I can't believe you fell asleep at the wheel," one lamented.
"Can you blame me?" the captain questioned. "I've been driving this thing for ten-hours straight, without break!"
"I've never seen anything like this," said one particularly gruff sailor. He had a jawline that looked like he could 'fell a tree with a bite' thought Roy.
"You solid-grounders all need to get below," he continued.
"Why?" asked Taki.
The gruff crewmen pointed to the distance.
– "Because of that!"
The gang turned to the direction the member of the crew pointed in. A dark, oblivion of chaos, manifested as a storm, thundered in the far reaches of the horizons.
"Oh great..." groaned Staraptor. "Why is there always a storm in the middle of the ocean?"
The lightning-infested clouds soon absorbed the clear, blue sky above the vessel. Following the orders of the gruff crewmen, the travellers on deck went inside the main interior of the yacht. Thunder and lightning rocked the humans and Pokémon to their core. The yacht made a close call as one bolt of electric discharge struck the ocean beside the vessel, scaring Taki.
"This is the last time I am ever taking a boat!" she cried.
Unfortunately, things worsened in the environment around them. The boat started to slant upwards. Just one look out the windows and it was evident that the yacht was going up a large wave. The vessel's occupants gripped onto something tightly.
'Please go over, please go over, PLEASE GO OVER!' cried Braixen, internally.
Her prayers, thankfully, would be answered, as the yacht soon levelled on the sea and leaned forward as it travelled down the back of the large wave.
"...thank Arceus," sighed Marowak.
In the distance, something loomed in the horizon.
"Are we headed to that mountain?!" shrieked Dragonite.
– "That's not a mountain!" worried Lycanroc.
What was believed to be a mountain was instead a much larger wave, bigger than the previous. Louis and Taki panicked, believing that their journey was ending long before it had even started. But then, Roy's backpack vibrated, before his Rotom Dex popped out from the inside.
"Wait!" it said.
"What do you mean 'wait?!" exclaimed Roy. "That wave's going to crash on us!"
– "No. ...this is not a naturally formed wave."
Puzzled, Taki turned to the floating, red device.
"What?" she said.
"My sensors are picking up a lifeform rising from within," explained Roy's Rotom Dex.
Sure enough, Roy's Rotom Dex was right. As the yacht began to travel up the wave, the water began to fall around it and revealed to the occupants what was causing the strange phenomena – a Pokémon.
Soon, the vessel was unable to move as it rose above the natural sea level, but then, strangely, the travellers inside the yacht could feel the boat going sideways.
"What is going on down there?" shouted Louis above the cacophony of chaos.
Releasing his grip on a nearby pole, Louis moved toward the doorway leading to the outer deck.
"I'm gonna go take a look," he said, still panicked.
"Are you crazy?!" shrieked Taki.
He'd never heard such fear in her voice.
"Someone has to," he replied.
Before Louis could move to the entrance, he felt something wrapped around his chest. Believing it was Taki gripping onto him, he turned around to reassure that he would be fine. However, it wasn't her. Instead, Azul had used his scarf-tongue to grip onto Louis.
"If you're gonna go out there, I'll make sure you don't fall off," the Greninja offered.
Louis blinked twice.
'I don't know whether to be grateful or grossed out," he thought.
Snapping back to reality, Louis nodded. He opened the portal and got a blast of wind, blowing his hair back. He carefully placed his feet onto the deck.
The combining force of wind and rain completely saturated the young adult from head-to-toe. As he moved out of shelter, Louis was almost swept off his feet by the whirlwind. Thankfully, Azul's tongue kept him from being blown away. He turned to the left of the yacht, where he got a good view of what was causing the strange movement. Once he noticed, he tugged Azul's tongue, signalling him to bring him back indoors. The young adult was forcefully pulled indoors, sending him crashing to the ground.
Soon, the grip from the Greninja's tongue released and returned to it's natural scarf look. Louis sat up and wiped himself from the rain, and possibly saliva.
"Did you see anything?" questioned Incineroar.
"I did," answered Louis.
Before he could explain, a member of the crew rushed down to the large room, where the small group occupied.
"Everyone, we've got an incident going on outside!" the gruff crewmen exclaimed.
"Ya don't say!" replied Roy, with a shout.
"It's a Wailord!" called Louis, getting the group's attention.
"What?" inquired Taki.
– "We're on-top of a Wailord right now. That's why we're going sideways."
"Are you serious?!" shrieked Braixen.
Louis nodded.
Soon, the vessel lurched. But then, from outside, Louis, Taki, and their team of Pokémon overheard the Wailord yell;
"Not agaaaaiiiinnnn!"
Before long, the Wailord began to submerge itself under water, where the yacht finally returned to the surface of the ocean.
"Phew," said Cinderace. "I'm glad that's over with."
"Yes, but we still have to get through the storm," added Feraligatr.
After a few minutes, the thunder and lightning passed. Then, the heavy rain outside began to ease up before finally dissipating.
The warm embrace of the sun returned to the ocean. After a while, it would be safe for the yacht's occupants to return to the outer deck. The cooling breeze brought a smile to the members of crew and passengers.
"That was...weird," said Marowak.
"What was?" asked Inteleon.
"The Wailord in the storm," explained Marowak. "Why on earth would it be travelling around in that kind of weather?"
"Maybe it was lost..." suggested Louis.
There were more questions that needed answers, but they would all have to wait. Because, on the horizon, an archipelago of islands began to rise into view. The first notable feature about the islands was the large, dormant volcano on top of one of the patches of land. An ancient, looming threat to the earth below.
Once Roy caught sight of the land in the distance, he rushed toward the front of the yacht, with sparkles in his eyes.
"We're almost there!" he cheered.
"Where?" called Taki.
"The Alola Region!"
The musician whooped with joy, as Inteleon, Dragonite and Lycanroc looked on, embarrassed.
After many minutes had passed, a set of docks came into view, with a number of local residents standing near the edge of a few empty lots. They appeared to be watching the lightning storm in the distance, gazing at it in awe.
A small group of the locals turned to the approaching yacht, surprised at the battered vessel, limping its way to dock.
Eventually, the yacht anchored at the undercover, concreted docks. Once the vessel's ramp was lowered, Roy slid down the slanted sheet of metal, with Inteleon rolling his eyes as he, Lycanroc and Dragonite stepped down the ramp. Next, it was Louis and Team Venus' turn to exit the yacht, with their supplies as well. Then, Feraligatr and Cinderace carried Taki down to the docking area. Her seasickness had gotten the better of her.
Once she placed her footing onto the ground, she fell to her knees.
"Finally!" she yelped.
Taki breathed heavily, keeping herself from getting sick. Then, the captain, having recovered from his tiredness, came down to the girl and handed her a liquid beverage.
"Here," he offered.
The girl quickly snatched the drink from the captain.
"Thanks," she said.
She was about to guzzle down the beverage, but she suddenly remembered the time she got seasick and a younger Tracey Sketchit told her to just take sips. Following this advice, Taki began to take small sips of the liquid substance. Once the drink had been consumed, Taki could feel her seasickness disappearing.
"Whew, thank goodness," she sighed, relieved.
Louis lifted Taki back onto her feet. The party then stepped up the small staircase, back into the sunlight. Getting a better view of their current location, brought smiles to the gang's tired faces.
"Welcome to the Alola region, everyone," said Roy.
Before the party, the sight of lush, tropical outcroppings of sun-drenched palm trees, and golden sands of the beaches were the first of many things that caught their eyes. Further ahead, a bustling city, overflowing with gentle joy from the general populace came into their field-of-view.
"Wow..." gasped Taki. "This place looks so great."
Beyond them, the fresh Alolan winds swept through the archipelago, brushing the last of the previous, troublesome clouds away from view.
"Either the region got hit by the storm before us, or it just missed them," wondered Louis.
"I don't see any puddles of water, so I'm going with the latter," answered Roy.
Roy looked fondly at the town, bright tile-topped homes and shops lined the large city, interspersed with swaying trees.
And then, something hit him.
A delicious, food aroma, emanating from the town somewhere
'Now that's a scent I can never forget,' he said, internally.
The musician turned to his friends and Pokémon.
"Hey, you guys wanna grab a bite to eat?" he offered.
"Sure," answered Louis. "The yacht didn't provide a lot of food for us, anyway."
"I'll pass," added Taki.
"It's not far, I promise," replied Roy.
– "No, that's not it. I think that trip made me lose my appetite," clarified Taki.
"Oh..." paused Roy.
An awkward silence filled the area around the main party. Then, Roy snapped out of trance, with eagerness in his eyes.
"Well, come on, I'll show you the way," he suggested.
With Roy leading, the circle of friends trailed behind the musician, unsure of where he would be taking them.
"Was Roy...born in Alola?' wondered Marowak.
"Of course he was," answered Lycanroc.
"Well, how come he's never talked about his home before?"
– "Nobody asked."
As they entered the city, passing by a few locals along the way, Roy spotted an apparent tourist who appeared to be lost. He approached the individual.
"Alola!" he called.
The tourist spun around to the approaching musician.
"Oh, uh...hello," the tourist replied.
Louis and Taki raised an eyebrow.
"That's how the people of Alola say hello," clarified Incineroar.
"Oh..." said Louis. "...that's kinda weird."
The remaining members of the group watched on as Roy helped the tourist on their predicament. Eventually, Roy pointed in the direction of the person's destination. The tourist thanked Roy and continued on his way.
Roy then turned to the party and signalled them to come over. Once they were close enough, the musician continued to lead the party through the large city. Louis, Taki, and the Pokémon not from the region were surprised at the clothing of some of the locals. Many wore summer gear, for those hot days, while others had bright shirts with images of flowers, waves, and trees printed on them.
They passed by many buildings, many of which were clothing shops, especially for hats. While others were simple mini marts and souvenir shops.
"Let's hope I'll have enough money to get a few things from here," muttered Louis.
Taki called to Roy, "Why are there so many clothes shops?"
"The region can get pretty hot in the daytime. It's usually best to have the right clothes for the occasion," explained Roy.
– "...that doesn't really answer my question."
Before long, Roy eventually stopped in his tracks, surprising the party.
"Uh, why did he stop?" questioned Staraptor.
"Don't ask me, I haven't got a clue," answered Lucario.
Louis approached his friend.
"You alright, man?" he asked.
"Of course I am," answered Roy.
He then pointed forward, at a nearby building. In-front of the party was a medium-sized building, almost as if it was some kind of eatery. It's main sign, featured on the roof, and multiple windows of the building was an image of a Slurpuff and an edible product above its head.
"What's this?" asked Taki.
"This is a Malasada shop," answered Roy.
– "A what?"
"Might be easier to just show you," said Roy.
Roy gestured for the party to follow him into the building. The sliding, automatic doors opened up to reveal a large eatery, with shelves full of sweet, soft pastry edibles. Inside were a few workers and a number of pleased customers enjoying their treats. The sugary aromas invaded the group's nostrils.
Louis whistled in amazement.
"Welcome," a staff member greeted.
But then, the worker caught sight of Roy.
"Oh hey!" she exclaimed. "It's been quite a while, Roy."
"Yeah, sorry I haven't been here in ages," apologised Roy.
As the two exchanged greetings, Louis turned to Taki.
"You feeling any better?" he asked.
"A little," answered Taki. "I'm still most likely gonna pass on eating."
"I'll probably get some water, though," she added.
While Roy and the staff member were talking, the female worker spotted the party behind the pair.
"Are those people and Pokémon with you?" she asked.
"Yep. They're my friends from the academy," answered Roy.
The worker smiled feeling honoured about meeting Roy's academy friends for the first time.
"Well, come on in," she said. "I'll fetch you guys a table."
The party was led to a large booth, one that appeared would fit at least twenty patrons. They sat by as Roy made an order for the group.
"Y'know, the name of the food here sounds a bit familiar," said Louis.
"It does?" questioned Azul.
– "Yeah. I feel like I've heard it somewhere before."
Louis pondered for a moment.
'Maybe I heard about it from Dad, but I don't recall him saying that word before,' he thought.
A certain amount of time passed, with the occasional idle chit-chat, before another worker came to the table and brought a large plate of Malasadas, gently placing it down, while also providing the Pokémon with their own edibles as well, but at a smaller proportion. Roy carefully picked up a portion of the baked food and placed it in his mouth, with a tiny glint in his eyes.
"Ah. As good as I remember," he reminisced.
Still curious, Louis retrieved a small amount of the food as well. He took a small bite. The very second that the sugary edible made contact with his taste buds, his eyes widened. His subconscious sent him six years into the past. He recalled his first day at the academy, when it was lunchtime and curry, unfortunately for him, wasn't available, so he got a separate treat. Malasadas.
In the present, Louis stared into space, mouth agape. His friends and Pokémon looked at him, confused.
"Uh...is he ok?" asked Braixen.
Feraligatr leaned toward Taki.
"Should I bite him?" she suggested.
"Save that for if he oversleeps, or something like that," replied Taki.
An idea popped into Marowak's mind. He picked up his Bone Club and threw it at his trainer, hitting him in the head.
"Ow!" cried Louis, as he snapped back into reality.
The young adult rubbed his head, groaning.
"Sorry, Louis," apologised Marowak. "You looked like you were hypnotised or something."
"Nngh, well if you must know, I remember having these on my first day at the academy," grumbled Louis.
"Wait, that long ago?!" exclaimed Lucario.
– "That long ago."
Now it was the Pokémon's turn to have a try. Each of them grabbed a handful of the human-sized edibles, as well as their smaller-shaped pastries.
A majority of the Pokémon seemed to like the food.
"Whoa, this is really good!" cheered Cinderace.
However, Staraptor placed the Malasadas into her beak, chewed, but instead of smiling, she seemed to be...slightly grimacing.
"Are you sure we got the same thing?" she questioned.
Concerned, Braixen retrieved one of Staraptor's Malasadas and consumed it.
"...these taste the same," she said.
Before Louis grabbed another treat, he turned to Taki.
"You sure you don't wanna try these?" he asked.
Still skeptical, she spun to her friend and said, "Oh...I guess I could have just one."
The girl picked up a single Malasada and popped it into her mouth. As she chewed, her face began to lighten-up. She smiled as she swallowed her mouthful of food.
"Oh wow, that's great," she complimented.
Before long, Taki grabbed another treat, and another, and so on. This made Louis chuckle.
"I guess you're all better now," he said.
"Can't talk. Eating," replied Taki, with a mouthful.
The young adult laughed lightly. He took another bite of his Malasada. All of a sudden, an unexpected explosion and shockwave rattled the eatery, vibrating the glasses and plates on the many tables. The shaking startled Louis. He almost choked on his food, before coughing and sputtering.
"You ok?" asked Roy.
"Ugh. Yeah I'm fine," replied Louis, clearing his throat.
– "What the hell was that?!" he added.
The party, minus Roy, stood up and dashed toward the exit, wanting to know what caused the booming sound.
"Wait, guys, there's nothing to-" he stopped when his friends had already exited the premises.
Roy sighed to himself.
"Can we get takeaway bags for these?" he called.
Outside the eatery, Louis and Taki turned their heads to the left and right, wondering where the sudden shockwave emitted from. Then, Roy dashed out, with his backpack strapped on.
"Guys! Relax," he called. "It's just from one of the trials."
The circle of friends spun around to the musician.
"Gren?" said Azul.
"Um...Azul said, 'Trials?'" translated Louis.
– "Yeah. Look, I'll show you what I mean."
Roy directed and led his friends. They stepped up numerous stairs and passed by many stone tiki statues, before arriving at a small gathering at the top of the hill The sight that found the group proved to be a familiar one; two trainers, one young, and the other much older, worn out after a hard fought battle, exchanged looks of surprise in-between exhausted breaths.
Something familiar about the younger trainer's intensity, and youthful energy reminded Louis of days gone, and he smiled in remembrance.
"Go on, Raticate. Use Sucker Punch!" commanded the trainer.
Louis and Taki raised an eyebrow.
"Did he just say...a Raticate?" said Louis, as he stared at the puffy-cheeked, round, black-furred rat Pokémon.
"That looks nothing like a Raticate," blurted Taki.
"That's because it's an Alolan Raticate," explained Lycanroc.
Louis gazed down to the wolf-like Pokémon.
"...you mean there's variations of Pokémon?" he inquired.
"Uh huh. There's a number of variants of Pokémon here," said Lycanroc. "I would list them all, but I'd hate to ruin the surprise."
– "Uh, ok."
Nearby, a spectator overheard the young adult speaking to the Pokémon and stared, in a dumbfounded state. Louis caught sight of the individual.
"What?" he said.
Quickly, the stranger looked away, continuing to watch the Grand Trial.
Then, the ground shook, and clouds of dust spread past the audience. The group peered past the locals to get a good view of the battle and saw that the young trainer had defeated the much older trainer.
"Melemele's Kahuna Hala's Crabrawler is unable to battle," announced the man in a lab coat.
"Which means that the winner of the Melemele Island grand trial...is the challenger, Kona Māhoe," he finished.
Roy's eyes widened when he spotted the individual wearing the lab coat, white hat and sunglasses.
"Professor Kukui..." he said to himself.
The large crowd watched on as Kahuna Hala and Professor Kukui approached the young trainer, Kona, and presented her with a diamond-shaped object, that gave off the appearance of a gem.
"What's that thing?" asked Louis.
"That's a Z Crystal," answered Roy. "Whenever a trainer completes a trial, they receive one of many crystals. They have one for each type of Pokémon."
"What do you mean by that?" questioned Taki.
Roy promptly replied, "Well, the Z Crystals, when a specific Pokémon is out to battle, can be used to help enhance a Pokémon's attack power, and give them a powerful and awesome super move!"
Louis and Taki blinked twice.
"Sounds like something from a video game," said Louis.
– "Sort of. In fact, Alolan trainers receive the crystals instead of badges like every other region."
"Oh?" blurted Taki.
"Yeah, Alola doesn't really have Pokémon gyms. They use the trials instead as a way to get trainers to prove themselves worthy," explained Incineroar.
The young adult took a moment to process the new information.
"That's kinda...strange," said Louis.
Before long, the gathering of locals and trainers alike dispersed from the area. Professor Kukui bid Kahuna Hala farewell, and prepared to head back to his lab. However, Roy saw an opportunity to approach him.
"Excuse me for one second," he said.
The musician made careful steps, as he trotted toward the region's trusted professor. Once he was within range, Roy tapped Professor Kukui on the shoulder.
"Alola, Professor," he greeted, confidently.
The professor spun around to the musician.
"Oh, uh...Alola," he replied. "Um...have we met before?"
Roy answered, "Of course. I'm Roy. ...Roy Hunter. Do you remember me?"
The professor pondered for a moment, attempting to recall distant memories.
"...Roy Hunter..." he muttered.
Then, the shifting gears of recollection began turning in the professor's subconscious, bringing forth the memories of Roy being proposed to the idea of going to the National Pokémon Academy years ago. Clicking back to the present time, Professor Kukui locked eyes with the musician with a smile.
"Roy! Now I remember," he exclaimed, bringing Roy in for a long, overdue hug.
"Wow, I can't believe how big you've grown. How long has it been?" the professor added.
"Oh...I think around eight-years, I guess," answered Roy.
Professor Kukui was quite surprised by the revelation.
"Eight years?! I thought it was shorter than that," he said.
Roy rubbed the back of his head.
"Hehe, time really flies," he joked.
Nearby, Louis, Taki, and the gathering of Pokémon witnessed the conversation between the two Alolans.
"Didn't realise Roy was so popular here?" said Louis.
"Do you think he might know the person who founded the Alola region?" joked Taki.
"Hehe. Don't ask me."
The musician and professor
"Anyway, what's been happening with you?" asked Professor Kukui. "Have you graduated from the academy yet?"
"Oh...no, not yet," answered Roy.
"Then what brings you back to Alola?" the professor added.
Roy answered, "I'm here on a world excursion. Alola's our first stop."
"World Excursion? Hmm, sounds pretty cool. Where else are you gonna go?
"Well, we're gonna be visiting Sinnoh, Johto, Unova, Kanto, Kalos, Hoenn and Galar. But, I have no idea what our next stop is."
Professor Kukui said, "The winds of adventure are always changing. I'd suggest just going with its flow."
Before Roy could react, he realised that he had neglected his friends and Pokémon.
"Oh yeah, I should mention that I'm not on this journey alone," he revealed.
"You're not?" the professor replied.
– "Nah. My friends and Pokémon are here with me."
Roy gestured over his shoulder. The professor peered from the side to see the party. Some metres away, the group's Greninja began sweating bullets. It grabbed the tail-end of its tongue-scarf and wiped the sweat off of its face.
"Ew..." cringed Taki.
"Azul, no offense, but...that's kinda gross," she added.
"Grenin Ninja," said Azul. "Ja Ninja Gre-nin-ja."
"I know it's hot up here, Azul," replied Louis. "But there'd have to be another way to get the sweat off of your face."
Almost immediately, an idea sprung into action inside the young adult's subconscious. He opened his backpack, brandished a dry towel and threw it at the water-type Pokémon. The Greninja wiped his head with the towel as it absorbed the drops of water. Azul handed it back to Louis, but as the young adult was about to grab it, he noticed that the towel was now very wet, dripping with water.
"Uh..." he said, scrunching his face. "...you can keep it for now."
The professor's face turned from an expression full of curiosity, to one of outright confusion. He turned his attention back to Roy.
"Nice people, huh?" said Roy.
He then observed Professor Kukui's changed façade.
"What?" the musician wondered.
The professor blinked twice.
"Were they talking to that Greninja?" he asked.
Panic struck Roy like a tolled bell.
'Uh-oh...' he thought.
Roy searched his brain, and as usual, found nothing to help.
"Uh..."
Roy's eyes darted from side to side. Now it was his turn to sweat.
"...yes?" he answered.
Professor Kukui peered over to the circle of friends, before switching back to Roy, more confused than ever.
"...how?" he asked.
Roy's eyelids shot up.
'Oh crap, I didn't think it'd get this far,' he thought, panicked. "Think, man. Think!"
Once again, Roy searched the inner machinations of his brain, trying to work out the best way to explain. That is until, thankfully, he found the perfect cover story.
"They're...language...ists," he said.
"You mean linguists?" the professor corrected.
"Linguists! That's the word!" exclaimed Roy.
The musician calmed his panicked state, attempting to relax himself.
"So...those two have been around Pokémon for a very long time," Roy attempted, aversion of the truth. "And so, they've been studying the language and mannerisms of Pokémon. They've discovered that although humans can't really understand what Pokémon are saying, they know exactly what we're talking about. Basically, those two know exactly what Pokémon are really trying to say. Sometimes I think they can actually hear Pokémon speak like humans."
The professor stroked his beard.
"Hmm..." he grumbled.
Roy, incorrectly, took this as a sign that it was working.
'He's buying it. ...yes!' he cheered, internally.
"...Roy, you need to work on making things up," said the professor.
– "No, I'm not lying. Just...trust me on this, ok?"
A brief, but calm, staredown initiated between the two individuals.
"Alright..." the professor chuckled. "...if you say so."
Without warning, the sound of beeping rang. Professor Kukui turned to his left arm to see that the electronic sounds were coming from his watch.
"Oh! I didn't realise what time it was," he exclaimed.
Before doing a full one-eighty, the professor locked gazes with Roy.
"Sorry Roy, I gotta get back to my lab. There's something important I need to do."
"Don't worry about it, I understand," replied Roy.
The professor waved and said, "I'll see you around, Roy."
– "You too, ...Masked Royal," the musician responded.
Abruptly, Professor Kukui froze. He was about to say something, but then he remembered how he revealed to Roy in his younger years his alias for when taking part in battle royal matches. He showed the young musician his mask and whispered to Roy that he was the trainer known as Masked Royal.
Back in the present, the professor chuckled and continued on his way.
As the man stepped down and out of view, Roy returned to his friends.
"So, who was that?" asked Louis.
"That was Professor Kukui," answered Roy. "He's the man who introduced me to Pokémon training...and the academy."
Taki's eyelids shot up.
"He did?!" she shrieked.
– "Yep."
Roy's two human friends looked to one another, and eventually shrugged.
"I guess you learn something new every day," said Louis.
Roy smiled.
"Come on, we've got more things to see."
Once again, the Alolan local led the tourists down the stairs and back through Hau'oli City. They visited many shops. Taki purchased some souvenirs, including a new bow tie for Feraligatr, while Louis purchased some new clothes, in case he were to run out of changes of attires. As Roy was about to direct the party to another location, a news channel began broadcasting on a nearby TV.
"It has now been over one month since the Alola region had its first ever Pokémon League," the news presenter read.
The musician stopped in his tracks and turned to the TV displayed through a nearby window.
"Wait...what did it just say?" wondered Roy.
He jogged toward the glass portal and gazed at the electronic box full of liquid crystals.
"What's with him?" asked Incineroar.
"I don't know," replied Inteleon.
The circle of friends joined the musician as they watched the TV.
"Many of the region's best trainers took part in this history-making event to showcase their skills and abilities," continued the news presenter.
Then, video footage of the numerous battles that took place during the event. One segment involved a Rowlet and a Decidueye, another had a Primarina battling a Tsareena, and lastly two Lycanrocs, but one with white and dark-red fur.
The gang watched in awe, amazed by all the action, that is except for Roy, who had a look of disappointment.
"Whoa, that must've been intense," said Staraptor.
"Why wouldn't it be? The Leagues are one of the most exciting events in the world," replied Azul.
Louis turned to Roy, and noticed his sad expression.
"Uh...you alright, man?" he asked.
"...I missed it,' whimpered Roy.
"I can't believe I missed the first ever Alolan League," he added. "Ugh! If I had've known beforehand, I would've taken part in it."
Then, Roy felt something touch his shin. He gazed down to see Lycanroc, having placed a paw on his trainer's body. Giving him a confident grin, Lycanroc growled a few times.
"He just said...'Don't worry about it, Roy'," translated Louis.
Giving a smile himself, Roy knelt down and rubbed Lycanroc's hand, thanking him. He stood back up and led the team to their next location. However, Incineroar stayed behind and remained focused on the League footage. Witnessing a battle between a Torracat and another Incineroar, he looked at his open claw, almost as if he was questioning himself.
Nearby, sensing that not everyone was present, Louis spun around to see Incineroar still in front of the window, staring at his claw.
The young adult called, "Hey! Incineroar, are you coming?"
Jolting at the sound of his trainer's voice, Incineroar looked toward Louis.
"Y-yeah! I'll be there in just a sec," he said.
Quickly rejoining the team, Incineroar continued asking himself the same questions.
After a long time of walking, the party grew impatient of the never-ending journey.
"Roy, do you even know where you're taking us?" groaned Taki.
"Of course I do," replied Roy. "I wanted to show you guys where my parents...would..."
Abruptly, Roy stopped walking. His friends and Pokémon followed suit.
"What's wrong?"
In the distance, a laughter like a jovial foghorn rang from afar. The musician's heartbeat sky-rocketed. Blinking twice, adrenaline began flowing into Roy's legs.
"It's..." he paused.
"...IT'S THEM!"
Hmm. I wonder who Roy is talking about? Regardless, it seems like the party is enjoying their time in the Alola Region so far.
Anyway, thanks for reading. Is there something you enjoyed? Can you guess what happens next? Or...what do you hope to see in future chapters? If so, go ahead and leave a review explaining any of these reasons. (Please don't leave hurtful reviews)
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Thanks again. See you next time