When we finished Total Eclipse, we promised two things for the postgame sequel. First was that we would use a Magic 8 Ball to decide if Diana's family history affected her more than she'd assumed in the first story. Second would be that it was Eli's story. At the time of this writing, I don't know how we did on those promises.
Since the plot of the postgame is so simple, we altered things a bit. This means that we are constructing a bigger plot than the postgame gives us, so if we miss a week, please forgive us.
And finally, we would like to state that the inspiration for this came from the Frozen movies, and the horror game songs of Random Encounters on YouTube.
Diana Freeman had been Champion of Alola for two weeks. She'd had one defeat, and had refused to step down to allow the winner to take her title. That was fine - Hau didn't want the fame, he just wanted the bragging rights and a bit of vengeance. Today, however, found Diana at her cousin's house, helping him groom his freshly-evolved Ninetales, rambling about the differences from the Fire-type Ninetales found in other regions.
And, making up for the absence of a certain Rotom friend of hers, Hau was holding the camera. Due to an incident, Rotom's Pokedex body had been damaged and given to the local professor to repair. Hau managed to keep most of his commentary to himself, mostly through luck.
"It's actually a fascinating concept," Diana was saying, as she ran the brush through one of the many tails. "A traditionally Fire-type Pokémon has an Ice-type cousin from another region. Which actually brings up my next experiment idea - I'm going to test and see if I have any other abilities to mirror Eli's."
Eli looked up, surprised and concerned. She hadn't cleared that with him. "What's the base for that hypothesis, Diana?"
She shrugged. "I got bored," she admitted. "But let's face it. You notice temperature about as much as I do. Fear is the trigger for your fire, and the only time I was ever scared, I got to use an icicle as a weapon."
"Could be coincidence," Hau pointed out.
"I know," Diana reassured him. "But let's look over what I've done without it. I've collected almost all of the typed Z-crystals, I've become the Champion, I went up against the Bride of Cthulhu and won." She shrugged. "I am on an awesomeness streak. I refuse to peak at eleven."
She rarely spoke about the time they chased a woman to a planet inhabited by evil jellyfish that could alter human behavior. It had terrified her, to the point where she had nightmares about it. Diana was not a girl to acknowledge fear even in the sense of self-preservation. Eli wasn't sure why she would bring it up, and Hau wasn't completely sure what had happened at all.
Still, the three returned to the subject of the current video, Eli meeting his Pokémon's eyes just long enough to notice that she shared his uncertainty at the thought of the experiment.
This was going to be a long week.
Diana had to go to work in the morning, and she was lying awake at nearly midnight.
It wasn't her choice. If it were up to her, she'd be following her parents' bedtime rules. But something had found which window belonged to her bedroom, and it liked to scream at her like a cuckoo clock that only chimed at midnight.
She knew what the creature was. She'd thrown too many things at it, of course she would recognize Tapu Koko. Any gratitude to it for saving her life at the start of her journey was now dead, buried under the fury of one too many sleepless nights at its hands.
If it had hands. She should look into that.
But not right now. She watched her clock, her head pointedly facing away from the window, as the seconds ticked by. 57...58...59...
Right on cue, Tapu Koko let out a cry, right outside her window. Diana pretended she didn't hear it. It cried again.
She refused to dignify it with a response.
One more loud cry, more insistent than the others. Diana rolled her eyes.
"Do you think I respect you?" she mumbled, still facing away from the window. "Guess what? I don't. Go away."
Another cry, and Diana groaned and sat up. Fine. If it wanted to scream, she could scream right back.
She hopped out of bed, her bare feet on the cold wood floor, and walked out the door. She clicked it closed behind her, and found herself in silence.
"You're not a god," she said, as if the guardian could hear. "You don't control me."
The only answer she got was the sound of a Meowth lifting his head from the couch he was sleeping on. He promptly went back to sleep as Diana considered returning to her bed.
She found herself in the kitchen, munching on potato chips and staring blankly at the wall. Stress-eating wasn't her preferred way of dealing with problems, but her books were in her bedroom so she couldn't retreat to another reality. Tired, angry, and feeling like she was about to cry, Diana rested her head on the table.
Tapu Koko screamed again.
"For corn's sake," Diana muttered, and, abandoning her midnight snack, she shoved her feet into her sandals and stomped outside in her pink Buneary-print pajamas.
"What do you want?" she screamed back, stopping on the porch. "Do you have a reason for keeping me awake for three days straight? Is it because I punched Tapu Bulu? If it is, it was all Nanu's idea, so go bug him!"
Tapu Koko lowered itself down to her level, and made a softer, more careful call. Diana felt a chill run down her spine, and the connection was made.
"You're not done with me." It wasn't a question. Tapu Koko shook its head. "Figures."
Fear wasn't something she felt often. The pounding of her heart was usually reserved for excitement, and occasionally the presence of a certain Normal-type specialist. But there was no mistaking the look on the guardian's face.
It made her wish she'd had her mother or grandmother's supernatural abilities, or even her cousin's. Being able to luck her way out of any situation, or talk people and Pokémon into anything, or spontaneous fire generation would all come in handy for whatever it was that the guardian had planned. She slowly reached out to touch the rail, half-expecting her fear to make it catch fire, or even better, explode.
Nothing happened. Disappointing.
"I'm not doing it for free," she told Tapu Koko. "I want something out of it. I don't know what yet - answers to my family's secrets, if you can. I'd also accept a free pass to punch you. And I'm not doing it alone."
Tapu Koko made a rumbling noise, almost like a chuckle. "As if I expected otherwise." It looked to Professor Kukui's lab/house, probably indicating Rotom instead of the professor or his wife, and then in the direction of her cousin's house.
So it knew where Eli lived. Was it bugging him, too? Probably not - Eli tended to react to being startled with accidental arson. It probably wanted her because she was Champion. So was it Hau that it was indicating? Hala, for his position as Elite?
She didn't know why she was the least-powerful mutant in her family, or why they were mutants in the first place. But she knew why she was Champion.
"And you'll let me sleep now?" Tapu Koko shrugged. "Then I'll follow you. Tomorrow. With Eli and Rotom at least."
Tapu Koko made a quiet sound again, and flew off. And Diana retreated back to bed, wrapped herself in a blanket burrito, and slept for more than three hours for the first time in days.
"Diana! You look like death!" Eli yelped when he walked into the lab the next morning.
Diana yawned, partly because she needed to and partly to prove a point. "You think, Sherlock?" she snapped back, and her cousin stepped away.
"Sorry," he said quickly, and Diana felt guilty for a moment. "I just thought that...well, brains need sleep to function, and it's a scientist's greatest tool..."
"I hope for your sake that you believe it's more than just scientists who use their brains."
"We all know she looks like death, Eli," Professor Kukui called from the lower floor, where he was carrying a small, familiar object up the stairs. Diana broke out in a grin, and she watched an orange blur zip from somewhere in the lab and settle inside the small machine. "You don't have to bring it up."
Diana wondered if Rotom had missed Lillie, sleeping where she used to sleep. She didn't ask - Hau was coming, and she wasn't sure if she could speak about it around him. Instead, she leaned over the machine as the eyes flicked on. "Hi, Rotom," she said, and the Pokedex made a happy buzzing sound before it recalled its language function.
"Hi, Diana," he said, floating out of the professor's hands. "And Eli. Have you had any adventures without me?"
"Not many," Diana replied. "I punched Tapu Bulu in the face, but I think it let me."
Rotom made a startled noise and flew back, almost hitting the professor. "You punched an island guardian?"
"So did Nanu!" Diana protested. "And it was his idea! I just asked him where it was."
"This is why I have to be your camera-mon!" Rotom complained, as Kukui broke down laughing in a corner. "You do stupid things without me there! What did you think would happen?"
"Um, Eli would hold the camera? He and Hau have been pretty good at that so far..."
Rotom groaned. "I'm amazed you're still alive, Diana."
"That's what they all say." She grinned and held out her hand for a high five. "Good to have you back, Rotom."
Rotom gave her what she wanted, before settling into her bag like he'd never left. "Glad to be back. Maybe now you can stop being stupid."
11:59 PM.
Diana had kept Eli and Rotom awake, but all of them were pretending otherwise. There was the chattering of Eli's Snorunt, who had taken a guard position under Diana's bed, and the pitiful howls of a Meowth banished from a slumber party. Once again, Diana kept an eye on her clock.
57...58...59...
Tapu Koko's cry joined the sounds of the house. Immediately, Diana hopped out of bed, and led the small army outside. Even Meowth followed.
The guardian seemed pleased. "I see. This is the one."
Almost as if she could understand, Diana crossed her arms over her chest. "You expected me to choose differently?"
"No. He will do." Tapu Koko moved away from them, looking back briefly. "You have your Pokémon?"
Rotom had to translate that. Diana nodded briefly. She'd taken her Poliwhirl, and had left her Mimikyu behind - she didn't need half her team to be Ghost-type, but she did need the legendary. Without another word, they followed the guardian halfway to Hau'oli City, where it suddenly vanished, seconds before a man arrived.
"Diana and her accomplice?"
Diana blinked once. "You talk to the Tapus, do you?"
"No," the man said at once. He held out a letter. "You were suggested to be the one to read this. Be careful where. We don't know if someone is watching."
And as soon as the letter was in her hand, he ran away. Diana, completely disregarding the warning, opened the letter.
Eli and Rotom, rather than ask, read it over her shoulder. It requested that she and any accomplices she chose go to a motel on Route 8, Akala Island.
Without waiting for their approval, Diana started walking back home. "We start tomorrow," she told them. "I want to sleep for once in my life. Rotom, send a message to the professor that I have Champion business."