Chapter 2 - Arc 1 (Melemele Island) The Girl in White
"Great! You're both here, yeah?" Kukui beamed at Elio and Selene as they approached. He had his hands on his hips and he tilted his head at them curiously. "I can show you some more stuff about Alola along the way, too, yeah!"
"Sounds good, yeah," Elio answered with a teasing edge. Selene fought her own laughter, able to tell he was making a slight at Kukui's love for the word and elbowed her brother sharply in the arm. "Ow," he whimpered and faked a pout at her.
"Don't be rude!" she hissed to him swiftly in Kantonian. "It's probably not his first language, and it's kind of cute!"
Elio rolled his eyes and smirked at her, responding in kind with their native tongue, "You like him, huh? You got a thing for older guys?"
"He's not that much older!" Selene shrilly defended herself.
"Anyway…" Kukui called their attention back with a light clap of the hands. He sounded a little disconcerted and antsy to move on. Oh, Arceus, does he know Kantonian? Selene wondered with a flash of horror. But Kukui moved on without paying any mind to their conversation if he had heard it. He swept his hand out in a gesture across the dirt path ahead of them. It snaked its way up a hill lined with tall, fanning trees. "Iki Town is just up this way, yeah! Follow me." He turned around and waited patiently for them to follow him. Sharing a look with Elio, Selene fell into step just behind the professor.
"Now, this is more like it, yeah! Welcome to paradise, cousins," Kukui started once he knew they were behind him. "This is the Alola region! Folks here in Alola get along by living together with pokémon and working together, too." He animatedly waved his right hand. "You can go anywhere, yeah, as long as you got pokémon helpin' you out here. That's why we gotta get you both to the Kahuna, yeah!"
"Oh, yeah, of course!" Selene offered distractedly to Kukui, back in Galarish. Elio gave her a dubious look.
"What is he talking about?" he mouthed. Even without audio, she could feel the sarcasm dripping off his words.
"I think maybe he just wants to use the Island Challenge to help us get to know our way around Alola better," Selene answered him in a hurried whisper. "Let's just be nice and play along…"
Elio tossed his head back in frustration. "Fine," he muttered back at her.
"Ah, look, cousins! An Alolan trainer has come to say hello!" Kukui paused and bent his knees to become eye-level with a young boy that rushed toward him in a sunhat. Selene couldn't even take in what the boy said to the professor after that. She was too busy staring at him almost scornfully. 'An Alolan trainer has come to say hello?' What—does he think we're blind, or…? She wanted to laugh, even, but then a glint from the professor's hand caught her attention. He had his hands planted against his knees as he talked to the little boy and Selene realized the gleam was from a golden band around his ring finger.
"Damn it," she hissed under her breath.
Elio curiously followed her gaze and then laughed out loud. In Kantonian, he struggled between fits of snickering, "Oh, should've checked his ring finger right away, that's just too bad."
Blushing furiously, Selene glared at him and fought the urge to yell… even though she was smiling the entire time. "Shut up, stupid! I think he knows Kantonian!"
Professor Kukui sent the boy away with something in Alolan, and then he amusedly glanced back at Selene and Elio. As if to confirm her fears, he cracked a knowing grin. "Now, it's not that nice to call your brother stupid, is it?" he beamed in Kantonian.
Selene grabbed her hat and pulled it down her face. "I'm so sorry, Professor Kukui."
"Yeah, I'm sorry for her, too," Elio taunted. Selene burst into giggling and wrenched off her hat to flail it at him.
"Be nice like he said!" she chided him playfully.
"Alright, children," Professor Kukui snorted, "come on, yeah. I don't know Kantonian that well, yeah, just what I learned while I was there… enough to understand what most are saying in it, though, yeah." With that, he waved for them to keep following him, and hurried up the rest of the hillside. Just beyond the crest, Selene could see dark rooftops and hear distant voices speaking unfamiliar words.
When she and Elio made their way to where Kukui was, he gestured to the small town in front of them. It was a handful of wooden and thatch buildings that surrounded a wooden platform. Tall poles with unlit torches were littered around. People were gathered in throngs outside. Small children raced around the open ground with odd, brown and yellow pokémon chasing after them. Selene thought she recalled Dad telling her they were Yungoos… or maybe Gumshoos… she wasn't totally sure. Either way, it was so funny to watch them play with the small kids. Some adults were gathered around a grill on one side of the town, loudly and boisterously chatting up something or another, while other small cliques had gathered along the outskirts of the town. Somehow, despite being such a foreign sight to her, it made Selene feel right at home. She grinned up at Elio and found her was still interestedly surveying the town ahead of them. Following his eyes drew Selene to the sight of a dark-skinned teenage girl with long, black hair that flowed down to her waist.
Selene rolled her eyes and shook her head. "One-track mind much?" she teased.
"Hey, I'm not the one that was about to jump the married man," he shook a hand at her without breaking his stare.
Selene went to sputter something back at him, but the defense died in her throat. "You know what, that's fair," she laughed instead.
She noticed that Kukui had decidedly remained out of their conversation. He was scanning the town as well with a frown and adjusted his white ballcap with his right hand. "Everyone here except Hala…" He trailed off into something she was pretty sure was said in Alolan.
"Professor? Is everything okay?" Selene asked. "You looking for someone?"
"Yeah, cousin," he answered dejectedly, "Kahuna Hala's not here right now. He's supposed to be here to send some of the kids off on their Island Challenge today, yeah…" He turned his dark eyes to her and fiddled with his sunglasses. "See, we check every Friday to see if there's any new kids to send off on the Island Challenge, yeah! And the Kahuna has to properly send 'em off before they can begin, 'cause he's gotta give away the Trial Amulets."
"Trial who?" Elio jerked his head back to the conversation at hand. He clearly had heard nothing due to his gawking.
Kukui cut his eyes at Elio. "Trial Amulets," he repeated himself slowly. "They… you know, never mind, I'll let good Hala explain when he gets back. I'll go look for him, yeah, you two settle in and get to know some people!" He cast a grin between the two of them. "We're all family here in Alola, yeah!" As he said the last words, he started to strut away across the center of the town, animatedly waving down an older lady across the way.
"Well, she might not be family yet, but she could be," Elio snidely remarked as his gaze surreptitiously traveled back to the girl he'd been eyeing earlier. He smirked and started to walk off.
Selene grabbed his sleeve and exasperatedly groaned, "Don't be a creep. We just moved here, I'd hate for us to have to change our names and skip town already."
Elio clicked his tongue at her. "Look, I got this, okay?" He smirked at her. "Why don't you go find you a nice island boy?"
Selene let him go and crossed her arms challengingly at him. "Knock 'em dead, Romeo, let me know how it goes." For a moment, Selene thought to follow him and laugh at the inevitable, abysmal failure that his attempt at a Galarish pickup line might be, but her attention was drawn to the other side of the town. A girl dressed in flat white clothes and carrying a comically large, cylindrical bag across her shoulders stood in the maw of a pathway shrouded by thick forestry. She couldn't help but notice her considering how out of place she looked. She was wearing a sunhat the same as most others, but hers looked a pristine, white leather, and even from this distance, Selene could tell she was pale-skinned and blond. Nobody else in the town could have hoped to fit that description.
I wonder if she's not from Alola either? Selene thought curiously. She picked her way across the stubby grass and past a few playfully screaming kids. By the time she reached the entrance to the path, though, the girl was already walking a good deal ahead of her, too far for her to likely notice Selene if she didn't speak up. Excited at the idea of someone she potentially could relate to, Selene called out, "Hey, wait up!"
The girl ahead froze and then slowly turned her head just enough so that she could see Selene, who paused, thinking the other would walk back to her. Instead, she was dismayed when the girl in white… fled. She tossed the bag across her back and bolted with a shocking burst of speed ahead. She navigated the twists and turns in the path with surprising accuracy. Concerned, Selene found herself naturally darting after her. Why would she be running? What if she was in trouble? Was she hurt, or scared of something…? Selene didn't know, but her heart thumped rapidly in her chest as she intended to find out.
Yet, Selene was not used to this winding, uphill path. She frequently skid and fell over, and the girl had so much of a head start… She thought to give it up and simply go back and talk to Kukui, but a sharp yelp from ahead spurred her on. Alarmed, she powered through the dull ache in her calves and found herself at the top of a sandy hill. Sprawled in front of her was a long, rickety bridge that crossed a ravine, and at the end of it closest to her, the girl in white was collapsed on her knees. She cradled her right knee and whimpered in pain.
"Hey, are you okay?" Selene panted. Fuck, this girl can run! she thought. "Why'd you run like that? What's wrong…?"
"Stay back!" the girl in white snapped. She was speaking Galarish, but it was with a twinge of an accent that Selene couldn't place… it certainly wasn't Alolan or Kantonian, she knew that much. The girl tossed a look over her shoulder and her blond hair was frayed and a mess with sweat. Her green eyes were narrowed suspiciously, but it didn't seem… angry. Selene was taken aback by the mixed signals in the girl's form. Her shoulders were squared defensively and her entire body rigid, but she was panting heavily and seemed almost… scared, in a way… More concerned than ever, Selene gnawed at her lower lip worriedly. She suddenly wondered if she was in over her head.
"Look, I'm just here to help, whatever's wrong—what the—?!" Selene yelped and jumped back as she saw the girl's bag started to shake and convulse. All the color drained from her face. "What the hell's in your bag?" she demanded.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" the girl in white spat. She clamped her arm over her bag tightly, but it flew open despite her best efforts and something blue rushed past her and onto the bridge. It moved so fast, it was nothing but a blur… Selene instinctively staggered to the side and craned her neck to try to see past the girl in white to figure out what it was, but she jumped up from her slumped position against the ground and tried to block Selene's view. The girl's right leg shook and trembled beneath her weight and her face twisted in pain from the exertion.
Thoroughly annoyed, Selene stamped a foot. She was clearly hurt! Why was she being so stubborn? "Look, sit back down, your leg… I'll go get Professor Kukui, would that be better?"
"You met the professor?" the girl in white faltered and blinked her green eyes fervently at Selene. She winced and leaned her weight to her left side, raising her right foot off the ground slightly. Selene could see a deep, crimson cut on her calf now that explained why the girl was having such difficulty using it.
Selene concernedly furrowed her brow at the girl. "Yeah… Please, I just want to help. What's going on?"
The girl went to say something but was cut off by the sounds of shrieking Spearow. She limped and turned around, finally giving Selene a view of what was happening on the bridge. She stepped forward in wonder at the sight. A puffy, violet-blue creature was crouched to the wooden bridge's boards. She didn't even know what to describe it as other than it looked like a chunk of night sky… like a starry cloud. Spearow circled overhead of it and squawked obnoxiously to one another. "Whoa… what is that?" Selene asked in amazement as she looked at the night sky pokémon.
The girl in white shot her another guarded look and then grasped at the rope banister of the bridge. She made like she was going to stagger across the boards to the little blue creature, but her right leg twitched uneasily and back to her knees the girl crashed against the grass. "Damn it!" she exclaimed. Casting Selene an apprehensive look, she tried to stand again.
Selene shook her head. This was ridiculous. "I'm gonna go get that little thing for you, you just need to stay back, okay?" she said. The girl in white said nothing but tried to wedge herself between Selene and the bridge. Losing all her patience, Selene wrapped her arms around the girl's torso and dragged her away from the entrance, narrowly dodging an elbow to her ribcage as she set her down. Before she could give the girl a chance to get between her and the bridge again, Selene grabbed hold of the rope banisters and shakily made her way from board to board. Arceus, what kind of bridge is this? she thought as it wobbled and groaned below her weight. This thing should have been replaced years ago!
The Spearow were now divebombing the creature on the bridge. Selene glowered at them as she reached it and she carefully lowered herself to the bridge floor. Half-crawling over the little blue creature, she scooped an arm beneath it and pulled it close to her chest. It was shockingly light. In fact, at first, she wasn't sure if it was even in her grasp at all due to how light it was… Deciding that was a good thing since adrenaline and fear from the height of the bridge was sapping all her strength, Selene tried to stand back up and start hobbling to the side of the bridge with the girl in white. But she collapsed back to the boards when she felt a beak dig into her shoulder and heard the fluttering of wings unnaturally close. "Stupid Spearow!" she growled in frustration. "Of all the pokémon from Kanto that had to live here, too, it just had to be you nasty things!" Spearow were absolute nuisances. For such weak little Flying-types, they sure had the worst attitude of any pokémon Selene had ever had the misfortune of coming across!
It went on like that for what felt like a small eternity. Selene would try to stand, and then beaks would peck at her from above, sending sharp flashes of pain up her spine. She flailed an arm once at them to try to smack them away, but that just made the bridge roll unsteadily below her. Fleetingly, she wondered how she was going to get out of this. I can't just stay here and let them peck me to death! she thought aggravatedly. Wouldn't that be one hell of an obituary? Here lies Selene, who was pecked to death by Spearow trying to save a living space cloud!
Suddenly, said space cloud glowed an ominous blue. Selene stared at it and swallowed nervously. She wanted to drop it and scramble away, but she didn't have enough energy left to move anymore thanks to her fighting with the Spearow. This time, when one dove at her and nipped at her hair, the blue light exploded all around them. Painful pressure blasted against her and she felt the wood beneath her hands and knees splinter underway. She was dully aware of stinging pain in her shins and hands that told her the broken wood had likely cut her some. A distant shriek sounded, and Selene briefly thought it might have been from the girl… Her vision nearly faded black, but she had just enough sight left in her senses to be aware as she plunged toward the river rapids at the bottom of the ravine. She clutched the little blue pokémon tightly against her chest, squeezing it tight as she could, and shut her eyes. She hardly had enough time during that terrible moment to feel terror and brace herself for impact with the cruel water below…
But the impact never came. Instead, the wind was knocked from her lungs as strong arms took hold of her. She felt the wind rush past her face as she abruptly changed direction. She wanted to open her eyes and see what was going on, but blind fear kept them squeezed shut. It felt like forever, but it was really only a few seconds before everything quit moving and she felt solid ground below her again. Shuddering and still clenching that little blue pokémon for all she was worth, she felt the arms let her go and she fluttered her eyelids uncertainly to try and see where she was now. Part of her was convinced she was dead and had been carried away by Shaymin, but when she finally managed to open her eyes fully, she was back with the girl in white… except now there was yet another unfamiliar pokémon staring back at her as well. Beady, aqua eyes narrowed at her from the face of a large, orange pokémon with massive arms protected by ovular shells that seemed to fit together over its head. It shook out the mohawk of feathers on its head and let out a deep, warbling cry that sounded something like, "Ko-ko-ko-ko!"
Selene's jaw fell open and she could only stare as the creature blasted its arms against the ground and was gone. Something shimmery was kicked up in the dust cloud it left behind, but Selene didn't think anything of it. Still half in a stupor, she held out the tiny blue pokémon in her quivering arms out to the girl in white. "You know what," she said with her voice shaking, "you can have this back…"
The girl limped over to her and excitedly hugged the tiny creature. The pokémon in question flailed its puffy blue arms upon recognizing the girl and hugged her tight. The whole time, it chattered a series of, "Pew, pew, pew!" The girl laughed uneasily and stroked its gaseous form. She then nervously overlooked Selene.
"Are… you alright…?" she asked, unnerved. "That was Tapu Koko… It saved you and Nebby…"
"It saved me and who?" Selene squeaked the question like a tennis shoe on a basketball court.
"Nebby," the girl came again and gestured to the little space cloud in her arms. "I'm sorry… I thought you might have been after him to hurt him… my name is Lillie."
Selene collapsed to her back against the dirt path and laughed in borderline hysterics. Oh, she thought I was here to hurt him! That thing nearly blasted me into next century! "Nice to meet you, Lillie, I'm Selene!" she puffed incredulously.
What a first day!