(Follow me, set me free, trust me and we will escape from the city~ I lovingly refer to this section of the Alola campaign as 'Escape from the City' (why yes it's a Sonic reference, how could you tell? XD), because once you 'escape' from Hau'oli City, the game REALLY starts to take off. Let's get it!
The Reviews
Megan Romero: I'm pretty sure that Jake took a shower at Kukui's place once that realization sunk in. Thanks for the luck!)
The second day came with Aubrey stretching her arms out as she woke up. True to her word, she was used to sleeping on the ground. She was also a morning person!
Jake came out of the bathroom fully dressed at that moment in a new outfit. A Bright blue short-sleeved shirt with an Asian landscape upon it of mountains, cherry blossoms, skies and clouds, comfortable black pants, and similar slip-on shoes to what he traditionally wore. "Good morning Aubrey! Ranger catches the Pokemon bright and early I take it?" Jake chuckled.
Aubrey chuckled at that. "Yeah, you could say that." She'd climb out of her sleeping bag and get it rolled up before taking her turn to head in the bathroom and get dressed for the day.
"Anything you want for breakfast? Usually, I make do with leftovers or sometimes wait for brunch and I don't know if Kukui would want us pilfering food from his stash." Jake pointed out.
"Let's see if he or Lillie got something made for us," Aubrey answered, stepping out of the bathroom in her ranger uniform.
"Like cinnamon rolls!" Jake thought aloud with exuberance. Forrest was already nibbling on berries that were laid out on a plate in the dining room.
"Funny you mention that..." Lillie was heard coming down the basement steps to get the two. "I was just making those and some cinnamon toast for breakfast."
"Lillie! You are too sweet just like these sweet cinnamon rolls! Ahhhhhhhh! I'm so excited! Thank you!"
"And Kukui? What's he up to?" Aubrey asked, zipping her bag up.
"Oh yes. He wanted me to take you two to the Trainers School after breakfast," Lillie added, blushing at Jake's compliments. "Specifically for Aubrey."
"I can see why. Maybe Jake can show me a thing or two as well," The ranger mused.
"Me show you? Well... that'd be hard to determine to be honest Aubrey since I'm not a Ranger like you are." Jake chuckled as he started eating happily, using his napkins and knife and fork with great manners.
As Aubrey dug into her plate of food, she responded, "As a trainer, I mean. I'm fine on the ranger front."
"Hmm. I suppose I could try to surprise ya then in that regard. Still Trainers School huh? Hoenn's is pretty impeccable so I imagine Alola doesn't let it's trainers down either here eh?" Jake suggested.
"I would assume so," Aubrey smirked.
"Does it have a Gym Leader or Trial Leader as an alumni like Roxanne?" Jake then inquired.
"From what I know, it has regular trainers there as students and multiple faculty and teachers," Lillie informed. "I'm not sure what the professor has in mind for Aubrey, but I think she'll manage."
"Well okay then." With that, Jake continued eating until breakfast was consumed and his belly was full and satisfied.
Aubrey had finished her breakfast not a moment sooner, wiping her mouth off with a satisfied lick of her lips. "Alright. We'll see to this getting cleaned up and then we'll go."
Lillie nodded in agreement. "Would you mind helping?"
"Sure!" The ranger agreed.
"Anything for a skilled assistant like you Lillie." Jake nodded.
Aubrey would take her gloves off and help Lillie clean up their breakfast, and once that was done, the three would set off from the lab, following Lillie's lead.
"So...what did you two figure out from last night? If you don't mind me asking," Lillie would inquire.
"A lot of top secrety stuff." Jake teased. Aubrey could tell he was trying to respect not being so open about talking Ultra Beasts and let her decide how much to reveal to Lillie. In contrast, Aubrey was willing to divulge a little information to Lillie.
"We just needed to figure some things out from my partner Van. No idea where she is, but she's letting the Union know I'm on the case," She informed. Forrest flew over and nestled on Jake's shoulder.
Lillie let out a bit of a relieved sigh at this bit of news. "That's wonderful..." They would soon arrive at their destination. "Here we are. You see, the Trainers School is...it's a...a..." Upon hearing something, she'd turn around to see a, to her, terrifying sight. "What in the world?!"
Having her Styler already in hand, Aubrey and Jake would see what the issue was - down the street, there was a Tauros standing at the entrance to Hau'oli City. Lillie would notice at this point, the ranger was standing protectively in front of her.
"Well, it looks like we won't be going that way anytime soon, thanks to the Tauros there..." Lillie nervously mentioned.
"You see Tauros, I see a free bull ride." Jake joked, trying to cheer Lillie up. "Though seriously, Pokemon blockades are so Kalos and Johto."
"We were only planning to go as far as the Trainers School anyway. We'll just leave that there for someone else to deal with," Lillie responded. "Someone does own that Tauros...I think." She'd head inside the courtyard to the school.
"Alright then. Feels a little weird, a lady twenty years old learning stuff meant for kids half my age, but eh." Aubrey simply shrugged her shoulders, putting her Styler back on her hip.
"Sounds like a great family comedy and you'll find your true love at the end of it." Jake said.
"Wishful thinking. C'mon." Aubrey followed after Lillie.
When they headed inside the courtyard, Kukui was there, as well as a lady who looked to be the head teacher at this facility.
"Hey there, you two! Sleep well?" Kukui asked with a friendly aura.
"Yes we did Professor! Thanks for asking." Jake shared the same feelings of friendliness.
"Welcome to the Trainers' School, Aubrey, the place to learn how to be a Pokemon Trainer!" Kukui sure sounded enthusiastic about this.
"Professor Kukui, is this the woman you told me about?" The teacher lady asked. "I never imagined she would be a ranger."
"Yeah, must've forgotten to tell ya that. My bad. Put her through the wringer, Teach!" Kukui held up four fingers. "Four trainers! You gotta beat four trainers here at the school, Aubrey! The experience will surely help you and your Pokemon grow stronger, yeah."
Aubrey shook her head with an amused giggle. "So uh, I guess we're learning by doing, huh?"
"So how are we beating them then? Clarification would be handy." Jake cracked his knuckles. Lillie chuckled slightly, liking Jake's bold sense of humor.
"Through Pokemon battling, of course," The teacher clarified.
"Yeah, I imagine I wouldn't get much experience from beating up kids," Aubrey boldly remarked. "Plus...I'm pretty sure I'd get into a lot of trouble if I just smacked a kid around here. Actually...no, I would get into trouble."
"Ok then. Me and Forrest are ready!" Jake was ready to roll!
"The trainers who will take part in this lesson may be in or outside the school. You may also want to visit our classrooms. You'll be sure to learn a lot," The teacher informed. "All right. Let the lesson begin!"
"Very well then." With Tenor out to pose with her, Jake, and Forrest, Aubrey would go ahead and do her ranger pose. "Mission...start!"
"...Wait don't we just do the poses AFTER we succeed? I feel like Team Rocket if we do it before we do anything." Jake muttered, slightly embarrassed.
With a laugh, Aubrey answered, "Nah, we do it before and after a mission."
"Ok then! Rangers of Alola go!" Jake does his pose with pizzazz.
"Now, where do we start..." Aubrey looked around the grounds - there was a fenced off section of tall grass to the left, and before that there were two battlegrounds meant for practice matches. "Okay, I see one kid over near the grass and one on the fields. Maybe those would be a good two to start with?"
"Naturally!" Jake agreed.
To their right they'd also spot a girl standing next to what looked to be an incinerator. Aubrey paused and changed direction. "Okay, new plan. We go battle her first, then we sweep from right to left and beat the other students that way."
"Great! Let's go then, Aubrey!" With Jake following her lead, Aubrey would approach the young lady with what looked to be a tennis racket.
The student perked up seeing them. "Alola! I've been waiting here for you because the teacher told me to. If you beat my Pokemon, I'll give you a very simple but important lesson."
"So I'll be learning the basics here. Thankfully it's nothing too complicated," Aubrey sounded relieved, because she wasn't too eager to learn about the 'top percentage' of Pokemon Trainers and how they battled. Sounded boring to her.
"Ready when you are!" The battle would turn out to be quite simple for Aubrey, using Tenor to face the student's Pikipek. It was mostly Tenor shooting off Water Gun attacks till the Pikipek was beaten.
"Oh! That's game and set, isn't it?" The student sighed, recalling her fainted Pikipek.
"Match too," Aubrey couldn't help but tack on that little bit at the end.
"Good work Aubrey and Tenor!" Jake complimented. Tenor boldly took a bow for that performance. With that, the student gave her lesson.
"If you use items or moves to boost your team's stats, you can increase how much damage your Pokemon deal and lessen the damage your Pokemon take," She said. "If you ever want to be a Pokemon champion, then that's a total basic."
"Wait. We can use items in battle?" Aubrey sounded surprised. "...Interesting."
"Yeah you can use it but battle items aren't usually worth it since, well, you are sacrificing momentum to just do a buff that Pokemon moves can do. Based on my experience anyway." Jake said, looking skeptical of it being a 'total basic'.
"So it's more something to set up at the start or..." Aubrey trailed off, heading to the left now with Jake.
"Just not use at all and focus on the battle in the first place," He responded. Aubrey gave a curt nod of understanding. Their next stop would be the battlefields, where a young man in green would be there.
"You wanna know why I'm standing here? Because I'm the strongest, that's why! I won't even bother battling you unless you can beat everyone here!" He proclaimed.
"Are you really the strongest? Lemme at you then!" Jake confidently stepped forward, Forrest ready to do battle.
"Heh! If that's what you want!" The boy decided to let him have it, sending out his Grimer...which looked green instead of the usual purple.
"What the...?" Aubrey looked surprised. "Is that Grimer a shiny?"
"Don't tell me you haven't heard of Alolan forms, lady!" The boy humphed.
Rotom came out to clarify for them. "Alolan forms are Pokemon who have adapted to the Alola region. It means they've gotten some new types and moves to work with!"
"Is that so? Huh, good to know," Aubrey mused. "Hey Rotom, what type is this Grimer?"
"Poison/Dark!" Rotom cheerfully buzzed.
"Not much more visually exciting than the original but eh, I'll do my fair share of battle with it! Forrest, Peck it now!" Jake commanded as Forrest swooped in and pecked the slimy Pokemon.
"Grimer, go and use Bite!" The Alolan Grimer lept up and pounced on Forrest, biting into the Pokemon somewhat viciously, but not doing too much damage.
"Shadow Sneak out of there!" Forrest seeped out of the shadows, causing Alolan Grimer to fall forward and onto it's stomach as it looked around anxiously for wherever the Grass Quill Pokemon would emerge from next. As soon as the Pokemon regained its footing, Forrest emerged from above and striked the Alolan Grimer down with a not very effective blow. "Now Leafage into Peck!"
"Poison Gas him, Grimer!" The rival trainer looked frazzled at this surprising display of power. Alolan Grimer formed a toxic cloud but Forrest simply flew around and aimed the swarm of leaves at where Alolan Grimer stood, pushing them out of the cloud before Forrest swooped in with graceful speed and pecked down the Grimer to finish the job.
"Perfection Forrest!" Jake grinned but then noticed Forrest looked a bit sick. "Aye ya yai, stupid poison passives. Here you go." Pulling out an Antidote at the ready, he cured his beloved starter and gave Forrest a gentle pet on the head.
"Well...I know when I'm beat. Here, your friend can have this TM. Clearly she could use it more than you," The boy handed over a white colored disk, TM01. "It's for the move Work Up. Raises your Pokemon's Attack and Special Attack by one stage. TMs used to be one use only, but nowadays technology has advanced to where they can be used as many times as you'd like."
Aubrey was pretty astonished by Jake's ability. "Well, you're pretty good in a Pokemon fight...how good are you in a fight fight?"
"Let's just say if I have to fight, I will not hold back my punches, Aubrey. All bets are off, after all!" Jake grinned as Forrest chimed in with a "Rowlet!"
"Hmm...alright, I think we got time. We could do it on the other field, mano e mano," Aubrey offered. "Long as we don't go for the face we'll be okay."
"Wait, you are serious?" Jake gulped. He didn't usually like physical pain, just the idea of inflicting it.
"If I was being a hundred percent serious I'd go all out on ya," Aubrey responded. "But for this...not so much as like a full blown spar, but I want to see how good at hand to hand you are."
"Well ok... I guess we could try when the time is right." Jake said as he examined the TM.
Meanwhile, just outside Pewter City...
Vanessa stopped in her tracks, feeling a disturbance in the air. Not from Kanto, but from elsewhere. "...Why do I feel like Brey is about to get in a fight?" She knew her partner was pugnacious to a fault, but she wasn't in any position to try and stop her, so she carried on with her morning.
Back in Alola...
"Yeah, there it is. It's nice and labelled for us," Aubrey mused, pointing out the TM's number and name on the top of the disc. "...How do you use it?"
"..." Jake tried throwing the TM at Forrest. Forrest was aghast and comically hit back by the TM and rubbed his head. Showing a severe stink eye to his trainer for thinking that was a remotely good idea. "Ok so it doesn't work like that. I did it so you'd spare your Pokemon from having to endure the same fate." Jake implied with a coy smile. "I think what you have to do is activate it by saying the TM name and that you want to teach it to one of your Pokemon. Like it's a magic scroll or spell."
"And like that, we can push that spar back to when we're done with our current mission here at this school," Aubrey responded. "And I'll be sure to try that sometime in the future."
"Mmhmm." Jake inwardly was surprised Aubrey didn't show much reaction to his joke. "So onto the next student." 'In hindsight,' Jake thought, 'maybe I dodged a bullet there.'
The next student would be in the grassy area, a kid who looked eager to battle the big ranger. "I'll teach you the tactics I learned here at school...by beating you with them!"
"Aww, precious. I'm quaking in my boots," Aubrey teased.
The kid had a Metapod. It did Metapod things. Not a very challenging match for Tenor. Jake slowly facepalmed and shook his head softly at the Metapod things that commenced.
"Ahaha! I dunno 'bout tactics and stuff 'cause I haven't been doin' my homework!" The defeated kid proclaimed.
"Well that would explain some things." Aubrey put a finger to her chin. "Mmm, I remember my own assignments back from ranger school...those were the days."
"Poisoning an opponent will slowly drain its HP. Paralyzing 'em can prevent their attacks," The kid explained the stuff he did know. "Pokemon moves can have all kinds of effects, so watch out for them!"
"Yes Ultimate Detective. We will watch out for them." Jake said playfully.
"Alright, so...I don't see anyone else outside, so that means the last student must be inside," Aubrey deduced.
"Let's see if they are top of the class or about ready to flunk." Jake gave a very cheesy one-liner. Aubrey snickered at that.
"Okay, that has got to be one of the cheesiest B-list movie-esque quip I've ever heard," She commented.
"Got a laugh out of ya so I'd say it's got A-list success!" Forrest nodded in agreement with his trainer.
Entering through the side door, the last student was seen by the staircase, a little girl with a Bonsly. And she took the initiative. "Lady, you're awfully close!" She exclaimed, acting tough. "Stand so close, and I'll wanna battle you! Is that what you want, huh? Is that it?"
Aubrey giggled, kneeling down and patting her head. "Yeah, that's what I want to have happen."
"Then I'll show you how to fight...up close and personal!" The student vowed. It was then the ranger busted up laughing at this.
"Oh that's just precious. Up close and personal is my fighting style!" As her Popplio valiantly took on her Bonsly, Aubrey took this time to demonstrate some moves of her own by a bit of shadow boxing - throwing off quick, snappy punch combinations, topping them off with either a side kick or a high kick, and even a jumping roundhouse!
Oh yeah, and Tenor was able to deal with Bonsly. It tried to Mimic his Water Gun with...interesting results.
"Ah! Won't be as close t' my Bonsly..." She sheepishly said upon defeat. But she was clearly impressed by the show of force Aubrey gave.
"Great job Aubrey!" Jake applauded for her, sweating slightly all the while.
Noticing this, Aubrey chuckled at Jake. "Oh don't worry, I only go all out for bad guys that need a good thumping."
"Good, because I'd be out by that roundhouse kick." Jake confessed.
Lillie would step inside, and was about to say something when the school bell started to ring. "Oh, that's the school bell." She stated the obvious.
"Attention, all students..." The teacher lady said over the intercom. "Would Aubrey please come to the office on the second floor? Aubrey to the second floor office, please."
The professor's assistant looked quite shocked by this, looking at Aubrey. "What terrible thing did you do to get called to the office so soon?"
"Wha- hey, I didn't lay a hand on anyone!" Aubrey sharply defended.
"That's what you say..." Lillie trailed off.
"Zzrt?" Rotom perked up at this. "You were called to the office already? Naughty girl!"
"Oh, put a sock in it," Aubrey scoffed. "C'mon, let's go see what she wants, Jake."
"Well duh, I'll be your escort and aide and possible lawyer." Jake pledged his loyalty. Appreciating the representation, Aubrey headed up the stairs to the second floor of the school, where the teacher from earlier was waiting for them.
"Aubrey...I can't believe you beat all my students! Fantastic!" She praised.
"Well, I didn't do it all by myself. Jake helped me out against one of them," Aubrey humbly responded.
"Mmhmm! I had to put my two cents into the feat." He was quite proud of his contributions.
"Well that's alright. I'm sure it gave Aubrey a wonderful demonstration of battling from an experienced trainer like yourself," The teacher smiled. "After seeing such a performance, I think I'd like to battle you myself!"
"My Pokemon are ready for ya, ma'am," Aubrey proclaimed. "'Mon then, let's go!"
"As a teacher, I've got to see for myself what you did to beat four of my students!" The teacher was ready, sending out a Magnemite. Aubrey, being familiar with Magnemites in how they recharge her Styler, sent out Nom.
"Grub!" Nom was finally excited to get some action on this mission.
"Hmm, will Grubbin be able to do enough damage to that Magnemite though Aubrey?" Jake looked nervous as he didn't think a Bug-type would be too powerful against Steel.
"Oh don't worry about Nom," Aubrey reassured. "If there's one thing I know about battling from my experience as a ranger, it's type match-ups. Nom, show him what I mean and use Mud-Slap!"
Nom happily obliged, attacking and doing a decent chunk of damage that way.
"Thundershock!" The teacher called out.
"Keep mobile and keep using Mud-Slap, Nom!" Aubrey instructed. The Grubbin did its best to do just that, but after enough effort, the Magnemite would go down.
"Whew! Good work using the underrated!" Jake cheered.
Next from the teacher was an Alolan Meowth, surprising Aubrey by its appearance. "Ooh, that's new...what type is it, Rotom?"
"Dark type!" Rotom cheerily answered, having a graphic of a sock on its screen.
"Hmm...okay, Nom, tag out for me," Aubrey recalled the Bug type and sent out Tenor, who looked raring to go.
While Tenor definitely had his work cut out for him against this faster foe, he was able to turn the tide of battle by busting out a new move - Disarming Voice!
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!~" Jake sang out a Disarming Voice of his own.
With the momentum shifted, Tenor would be able to squeeze out the win for Aubrey.
"Sensational!" The teacher was quite surprised at how things turned out.
"I'm just as shocked as you, lady!" Aubrey smiled.
"Maybe you'd like to take over as teacher here for me!" The teacher jokingly suggested. Aubrey shook her head. "All joking aside, I do want you to take these from me..." She would hand over a couple Great Balls for Aubrey. Kukui would come up the stairs, and with him was a pink haired gentleman who was dressed pretty sharply.
"Know your Pokemon and know their moves. Those are the basics of being a trainer!" The professor exclaimed.
The man raised a hand to wave. "Greetings! Captain Ilima here!" He introduced himself.
"Oh wow!" Jake gave a dazzled expression as he saw the young man. The impeccable poise, elegant appearance, and calm composure of this Ilima was catching his eye. "He's got some SICK style."
Ilima overheard this from Jake, smiling at the compliment. "Why thank you. I couldn't help but observe your battles. You looked so very delightful in battle that I had no choice but to summon you here."
"This is Aubrey, a ranger who's here on break from the Union," Kukui introduced. "And this here is Jake, a trainer from the Hoenn region."
"Well met, Ilima," Aubrey waved.
"The delight is definitely mine! So are you a Pokemon master in addition to a fashion master?" Jake asked.
"Trial captain for Melemele, actually," Ilima answered. "Welcome, newcomers! I look forward to seeing the brilliance of your moves in my trial."
"Oh yeah, so the kahunas don't run those? They just do the grand trials, right?" Aubrey asked for clarification. Ilima nodded.
"Correct. We captains are the ones who conduct the trials you will face on your way to challenging the island kahuna," He informed. "My trial is held in Verdant Cavern. The trial of Captain Ilima. You can find Pokemon living everywhere-"
"Apologies, Captain Ilima, but this is all old news to us," Aubrey apologized.
"Fair enough. Before taking on my trial, perhaps you'd want to fill out your team?" Ilima merely suggested.
"We'll keep that in mind," Aubrey answered.
"Yeah, sure. Hopefully we'll meet some starlets there," Jake added.
Ilima would head on out after a friendly wave goodbye.
"Oh yeah!" The teacher perked up. "I reported to the folks upstairs about that Tauros blocking the road out front again."
"That guy's Tauros is pretty much a celebrity here on Melemele, you know?" Kukui mentioned.
"Well, I guess it's time we dismiss you from school, Aubrey," The teacher said confidently. Over the intercom, there was a message that played.
"Attention, all students...Aubrey has completed her lesson at the Trainers' School!" It said.
Aubrey folded her arms with a beaming grin. "Heck yeah! That's another mission clear!" Cue the group's poses! Nom even got in on the action, spinning around on her pincers like a top before bouncing up on Tenor's head, the two of them looking mighty happy.
"YOSH!" Jake made his pose once more, Forrest as well dabbed again.
As they went outside, the students and teacher gave Aubrey and Jake quite the send off, before Lillie would go with them. "You seemed to be in perfect sync with your Grubbin and Popplio - weren't you?" She asked of Aubrey.
"Ah heck, I dunno. Maybe I'm a natural at this trainer thing after all," Aubrey couldn't help but shrug at the comment.
"Well I had no doubts about that in the first place." Jake said with a grin.
"Since we've made it this far together...why don't I show you around the city a bit more?" Lillie offered.
"Sure. But...there's something Jake and I gotta take care of first," Aubrey mentioned. He would know exactly what she was talking about.
"I'll get to it right away." Jake said and they scoped out a spot that wouldn't get them arrested for such activity. Remembering the beach by Kukui's lab, the two decided to go back there for this brief spar.
"Alright, so how about this...just show me what you're capable of, and I'll let you see the toughness of a ranger firsthand," Aubrey offered. "Because trust me, in this line of work, you gotta be tough to deal with the things thrown your way."
"Okay. I'll try to give you a challenge." Jake said as he took a deep breath to brace himself. Aubrey noticed that he kept himself on the move once he was ready, shuffling around in unpredictable fashion, moving about calmly, not staying put. Like perhaps he had studied boxing and applied his own graceful, dance-like fashion to it to keep his opponent on their toes.
'Mmm, he's got some moves...alright, let's see what kind of power you've got behind those hands.' Aubrey squared up, taking a neutral stance as she'd be letting Jake take the lead in this 'dance' of theirs.
Jake then hops forward and then goes for a side kick towards Aubrey's legs. Aubrey would swiftly lift her right leg to check the kick, in a singular, natural movement.
"Pro-tip, if someone tries to kick you in the leg, check it like this," She instructed. "It'll hurt less."
"Hmm! Good point!" Pulling his leg back, Jake went for a judo-style chop towards her shoulder, followed by a right hook. Aubrey would soak these hits quite well, having blocked the chop and metaphorically eating the right hook to her midsection. And Jake would tell at that moment, she wasn't kidding. She didn't feel the hit that much.
"Goodness, you really are tough for your age!" Jake wasn't sure how much longer to keep going but regardless, he lifted his knee up in a strike towards her chest. Aubrey would catch the knee and lightly push him back.
"Just hit me with your best shot, man!" She encouraged. "I can take it!"
"Ok!" Jake hit his knuckles together in a show of strength. He rolled along the ground and then rose up with a mighty uppercut.
Aubrey wasn't surprised by the uppercut, but more how it was delivered. "Mmh! That was pretty cool!" She complimented.
"Thanks Aubrey! It's a tactic I always thought could be cool and unexpected for most enemies to face." He responded.
"Alright...now I'm gonna throw out some strikes of my own, and I want you to hit me with 'em the best you can, okay?" Aubrey then said.
Jake looked nervous at the idea of this feisty and powerful Ranger doing such towards him, especially knowing she was his new friend. Though at the same time, this was perhaps the kind of exercise he needed to overcome his fear of Alola's dark side. "O-ok... I'll not let you down here Aubrey."
With a reassuring pat on his shoulder, the ranger told him, "I'm not gonna hit you with these. I'm just gonna throw 'em like how I did back for that kid at the school." Rolling her shoulders, she'd start off with a bread and butter jab-straight combo. "Lead with the jab from your non-dominant hand, then throw the straight with your dominant hand."
"Oh, I was anticipating I was going to have to dodge these attacks of yours," Jake laughed in embarrassment, jumping to conclusions. "That is a simple but effective strategy though."
"It's pretty much my bread and butter as a striker. Now let's see you give it a try," Aubrey chuckled.
Jake gives his best one-two quick punch combo towards Aubrey, mimicking the technique as best he can.
Aubrey nodded in approval, smiling. "Very nice. You know the basics, that's pretty good. Now if you want, you can combo that with a leg kick, or a kick to the side if you want. Alternatively...try and throw a kick to my side real quick. Lemme show you how to counter those." Jake nodded and threw an axe kick towards Aubrey's side. Aubrey would catch Jake's leg, trapping it between her body and arm. "You hold it like this, and then you pop 'em in the face with a quick punch from your free hand."
"Wak, wak, wak!" Jake flailed as he tried to keep his balance.
The ranger would free his leg, letting him get his balance back. "Gotta time it just right though. If you're not quick enough it'll just hit ya and you can't trap your opponent's leg like that."
"Good point my countermeasure creator. Hoof! Fighting with you is fun though. Who do you spar with normally?" Jake asked.
"Usually with my partner Van," Aubrey answered. "She's tough like me...though I'd definitely say I'm the bigger girl between the two of us."
"Well that's good to know you got a partner. I have a boyfriend too I left at Hoenn since I was hoping that this stay at Alola wouldn't be too long. Just long enough to start up a Pokemon journey and be accomplished," Jake admitted. "Of course I was hoping to maybe invite him over here to move in with me but..." He frowned and looked away. "Now I'm thinking this region might not be the best place for day-to-day living. Although I do like the Pokemon people here though like Kukui and Lillie." He added a positive to not seem as debbie downer as he might've been.
"Man, every region's got their own problems. But you're right, that doesn't mean you gotta look at things half glass empty," Aubrey agreed. "I'm sure there's a lot of pleasant people in this region we'll run into. If Ilima's any indication, the trial captains and Kahunas are gonna be supportive and kind too."
"Yeah, and they clearly are in love with this place... and I like the Pokemon. EXCEPT YUNGOOS." Jake emphasized that last bit with a dramatic expression. "But either way, it's nice to have companionship wouldn't you say? Romantic or personal?"
Aubrey snickered. "I'd like to think that romance is a form of personal companionship. Now c'mon, let's not keep Lillie waiting any longer."
"Personal is when it's with a good friend. Romantic is when you've passed that line of personal, that's my philosophy." Jake explained as the two of them headed to where Lillie was.
(Now that school's out, the next order of business is the city itself! Should be a buncha fun when we run into Team Skull and Ilima's 3-13 Smeargle.
Also yes, Vanessa is in Kanto. What's she doing there? It'll come into play later, I just can't say when right now. So yeah, part two of the second day is Hau'oli City. Bye for now!)