Chapter 8 - Arc 1 (Melemele Island) Know Thy Enemy
The scene Selene and Elio descended upon at the front of the school looked like something out of a movie, and Selene all but gaped as she saw Lillie and two men in black clothes were squaring up on the blacktop just outside the entrance. With her arm still clamped over her bag, Lillie waved a spray can after her assailants and fiercely spat something Selene couldn't make out (she assumed it was Alolan), all the while, the two men laughed to themselves and jumped just out of her reach. Silvery chains clanked around their necks and black, simple cloth masks obscured most of their face, leaving nothing but their eyes visible. Students started to gather around the doorway and Selene saw Captain Ilima and Hau push their way to the front, Ilima shooing the students away and urging them to go back to their classrooms (to no avail, really).
"You need to leave, right now!" Captain Ilima barked at the two black-clad men as he exited the building. His voice had adopted a strict sternness, his body stiff as a board, and he clutched an Ultra Ball in his right hand tightly. As if to emphasize his point, Lillie threateningly raised that spray can at them again. Selene furrowed her brows. What is that Lillie's threatening them with? Mace? she wondered. Who are these guys…?
"Ay, why you speakin' in Galarish, Ilima?" one of the guys asked, putting his hands on his hips. His tone was light and amused, as if he were hardly managing to hold back laughter. "Gettin' in more practice 'fore you skip out on Alola again? How was Kalos, pretty boy?"
"Aw, are you jealous?" Lillie chimed in sweetly, a dastardly smirk dressing her lips. "Y'know, I'm sure if you just clean up a little better and ask nicely next time, you wouldn't have to go this far to try to make someone notice you."
"She's fun," the other man in black laughed uproariously, and then stepped closer to Lillie. "What's your name, eh, cousin?" Lillie sprayed the Mace suddenly, but he had scrambled away as soon as she started to compress the can, dodging the auburn mist in what Selene thought seemed to be pure instinct. Still snickering loudly, oddly unfazed by her attempt to spray him, he looked Lillie over again slyly. "Mind sharin' some o' that bad attitude with me sometime? Think we could make a numskull outta you yet~?"
Hau looked on anxiously, uncomfortably; it seemed he wanted to help, but he either didn't know how, or was afraid to. He rolled what Selene assumed was his Popplio's Poké Ball between his fingers and nervously paced around the edge of the blacktop, surveying the confrontation.
"That's enough!" Captain Ilima came again. "Get out of here, Skull! Goodbye!"
What the hell is going on? Selene wondered again, more desperately, curious apprehension urging her to crane her neck and take a nervous step ahead. Elio was watching just as intently. Selene could see the tension in his face and shoulders, and she thought to warn him to stay out of it, but her lips suddenly felt like they weren't responding to her… Then, she figured it wasn't like she had much to worry about, anyway. Elio had never been in a physical altercation in his life as far as she knew, and she highly doubted he'd start now, especially considering how the assailants seemed to be… She swallowed against a mouth of cotton, trying to steady her thoughts.
It looked like these two were from some kind of gang, based on their identical uniforms and matching chains, but they were so… relaxed… Why on Earth would members of an organized gang, likely an illegal one, be so relaxed? Why are all the students gathered like this is some kind of theater show? Back in Kanto, sightings of Team Rocket certainly wouldn't be treated so casually! Yet, she couldn't draw her eyes away, even as frightened as she was of what these two men could potentially do.
"Yo, homegirl here was just lookin' some kinda familiar," the first of the Skull men came again, grinning tauntingly at Captain Ilima. "Was just wantin' to chat with her, cousin! Tapus ain't got a problem with that, do they?"
"Yeah. She look like she got a lot she could say," the other came again with a teasing wink at Lillie. Selene heard Elio practically growl and she turned in time just to see his jaw clench, straining some of the skin white on his face.
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Lillie retorted, full of sheer, syrupy contempt, entirely unfazed by their jeering. "And what the hell do you mean familiar?"
The same Skull man as before crossed his arms and cracked a slack-jawed grin at her. "Well, Big Sis and G took in this new gu—"
He was cut off by a most unexpected source. "Hey, you two deaf or something?" Elio muscled his way through the crowd and Selene lunged after him, grabbing his arm. Although she had reacted immediately, she was stunned that he was actually getting involved… Elio! What are you doing? she thought to herself, almost blithely, You hate fighting and everything about it! Human and pokémon alike! She snapped his name a couple times to try to get him to leave it alone, but he easily threw her hold off. In fact, he did so easily enough that it alarmed Selene, and she had to catch herself to keep from falling to the ground. Watching, half-frozen and worried as he strode out into the midst of the group, she saw Elio cross his arms and glower at Lillie's attackers. He was partially in front of her, putting some distance between her and the men. "Ilima said beat it, you clearly aren't welcome here, so get lost."
"Hey, Romeo?" Lillie hissed, sidestepping his guarded position and tapping his shoulder, "I got this. Back off!" Blinking, she cocked her head at the two guys. "Your bosses took in who?" she pressed interestedly, emerald eyes blazing.
Captain Ilima cut them off before they could respond, hovering his hands in the air in a 'stop' gesture. "Look, I understand that members of Skull feel betrayed by the Island Challenge. I understand that both of you do, too. Your reasons… are moving, even," Ilima reluctantly admitted. "However, I can't allow you to threaten students or innocents of Melemele Island. Leave at once. Return to Po Town. Please. It does not have to get ugly today, or any other day."
'Your reasons are moving?' Betrayed by the Island Challenge? How does he know? They haven't said a thing about it! What the fuck is going on?!
"Or what, bonehead?" one of the men contemptuously shot back at Ilima. "You gon' bore us to death with a history lesson? Ain't nobody scared o' you, Captain of Nothin'. Still freakin' out tourists with your creepy mind-readin'?" He went like he was going to shove Ilima, but Elio cut him off, grabbing him by his dark tank top and almost dragging him to face him in a show of strength that floored Selene even further. This so did not seem like her peaceful, even if snarky, brother… Of course, right about then he looked anything but peaceful, and Selene was abruptly so keenly aware of just how intimidating Elio could be, with his height and lean, but still muscular build. Out the corner of her eye, she saw Hau pause his pacing and recoil a little from the scene, screwing his face up as if he expected things to take a violent turn.
Selene found she was concerned that was where this was going, too, and yet… she still couldn't speak! Why was it so hard to just… speak? She supposed she didn't really know what to say…
Curling a lip at the man in his hold, Elio sneered, "And you think anyone is scared of you?"
"It is not mind-reading!" Ilima snapped angrily, seemingly ignoring the physicality of Elio's confrontation in his aggravation.
Finally, Selene found her voice. Ilima's almost reckless ignorance to the escalating situation at hand was infuriating, and her inability to stand for it had summoned her vocals at last. "Who cares about what exactly it is right now?" Selene annoyedly shouted. I don't know how the hell you know the things you know, Ilima, but to me it's clearly something like mind-reading. Whatever it is, it's terrifying, but that's not exactly the point right this second! Jerking her head to her brother, she cried, "Elio, knock it off! Captain Ilima—who are these guys, what the hell's going on?! Do something!" If Captains are anything like gym leaders, aren't you supposed to be helping more than just talking at them?
"Yo, watch the threads, man!" the Skull man protested Elio's hold, as if he were used to this treatment (or… perhaps desensitized was a better term). Although the consideration was fleeting, it concerned Selene deeply as he added, "Just got these! Know how rare it is to get new clothes in Po T—"
"Elio!" Lillie shrilly interrupted, stamping a foot. "Get out of the way. Let him go. Now! I want to talk to him about what they were just saying!"
"What?" Elio incredulously asked her, still gripping the man by his shirt. He had dubiously turned to glance at Lillie. "Why would I do that? He was—"
"Have it your way, then," Lillie impatiently replied, shrugging and refusing to let him finish his excuses. Then, she sprayed both the Skull member and Elio down with her Mace indiscriminately. Captain Ilima, Selene, Hau, and the unsprayed Skull member jumped back, and ripples of laughter and oohs ricocheted between the gathered students. Immediately, Elio let go of the man he had accosted and reeled from the pepper spray, yelping and hovering his hands over his eyes, barely managing to keep from rubbing his face.
"Elio!" Selene squeaked, trying to haul him by his arm back and away from Lillie and the Skull members. She felt a dull, discomforting tingle in her hands, but ignored it, certain it was nothing compared to her brother, who had been sprayed in the face. I can't believe Lillie just did that! "Shit, how bad did she get you?"
He spluttered and coughed, then waved her away aggravatedly. Responding in a broken mix of Galarish and Kantonian, he said something along the lines of, "I dunno, I'll tell you when I can open my eyes…"
Glaring after Lillie, Selene's lips pressed to a thin line as the other still held up the spray can threateningly, and then all but bared her teeth at the two Skull men. The one she had sprayed was supported by the other as he scrabbled at his face, grimacing against the sting of the Mace. Selene had to stop from groaning at their stupidity. Don't they know touching it just spreads it around? Her attention was drawn back to Lillie when she almost cruelly huffed, "Now, what was he going to say? Why do I look familiar? What do you two want from me?"
"Was just gonna say you look like a new guy we just got in Skull!" the sprayed man blurted out. "Fuck, what'd you have to go an' do that for? We was just playin' 'round!"
"I don't play," Lillie growled, then she faltered. "What… what guy?"
"Yeah, I can fuckin' tell she doesn't!" Elio blustered, silencing the Skull men from responding to Lillie.
"What the hell, Lillie?" Selene demanded again. "You sprayed—"
"I told him to get out of the way," Lillie coldly shot at her with a rapid glance. "Not my fault he doesn't listen." Back to the Skull men. "Now, you two, Numskulls One and Two. What guy?"
Scoffing in disbelief, yet again drowning out the reply of the Skull men, Selene shook her head. "You can't just justify it like that, that was so uncalled for, Lill—"
"ENOUGH!" Captain Ilima shouted at last. Everyone fell silent as a faint, white glow enveloped his body, pulsing like a band around him from head to toe. Well, Selene supposed it looked less like he was glowing and more like a ribbon of color were being drawn up and down his body… Pulsing, like an aura. His gray eyes, however, were definitely glowing as he focused on the two Skull members. He threw the Ultra Ball clasped in his hand, and a massive, tan and yellow pokémon materialized from the red beam. It, too, pulsed with the white band of color, and when the ferret-like creature leaned over to hiss at the Skull members, the very air seemed to shake with the force of its movements, the tension palpable. If not for the eerie glow, it might have cast an enormous shadow across them all and been even more intimidating.
Frozen, the two men all but gawked at Ilima as he jabbed a finger at them. "Now, I said get out of here! Go back to Po Town. I don't want to see either of you near me, Hau'oli, or this girl ever again. Understand me?"
Now what the fuck is going on? Selene thought in borderline hysterics as she watched Ilima's lightshow with a bolt of fear. Her normally analytical mind was blank, having nowhere to start to try to explain the visuals ahead of her. No amount of reading binges could have hoped to describe this phenomenon. Elio grunted beside her and whimpered, "What… what's goin' on?"
"Gonna be honest," Selene puffed breathlessly with a small shake of the head, "I've got no fucking idea."
The unsprayed Skull man helped his colleague up and, after nodding their heads in agreement like a couple of bobblehead figurines at Ilima, they bolted down the city's street. The one had to snatch his disoriented friend by the arm and lead him, but they soon vanished around a bend further down, swallowed up by the city ahead. Pedestrians paused and looked on with mild curiosity, and Selene just had to wonder why nobody was freaking out quite like she was on the inside. She felt like she was having heart palpitations! Meanwhile, these people were acting like it was just a normal afternoon! The students of various ages around her were watching like this was Saturday morning cartoons! People in Kanto would certainly not have reacted that way to Team Rocket grunts wandering the streets! Why hadn't anyone tried calling the police, for Arceus' sake? They had accosted Lillie, and she had turned around and assaulted her brother!
"Wait! Shit—" Lillie waved after them, and then hung her head. After a brief pause, she clenched the hand she had over her bag into a fist and snarled her frustration. "Damn it!"
Captain Ilima recalled the beastly pokémon he had sent out. "Thank you, Gumshoos," he crooned as he tucked the Ultra Ball away. Heaving a weary sigh as he turned overlook the snickering crowd, the downed Elio, Selene's stunned expression, as well as the aggravated Lillie, his aura started to dissipate and he called, "Everyone back inside! Back to your classrooms, now!" Almost exasperatedly, he added, "And I mean it this time."
The gathered students muttered to themselves as they dispersed, like chided children. Hau nervously crept closer, his shoulders squared defensively, but he kept behind Ilima. Selene gawked after the students, then stared at Lillie for a moment, and then finally, whirled on Ilima. "Hey, so what in the world—"
"That was Skull," Ilima cut her off with that quiet, resolute tone of his. "They're what you would call criminals. They have forsaken the Island Challenge and were punished for it. They hold themselves together because they're all they have. They love to cause trouble wherever they can for the sheer joy of interrupting others on their Island Challenges."
"Forsaken? Punished?" Selene blinked fervently, and yet again, found herself wondering if she was enduring a particularly lucid dream. "A-and what about the lightshow, and the… Gumshoos, wasn't it?" More frustratedly, she exclaimed, "Well, what would they have been pestering Lillie for? She's not even on the Island Challenge, me, my brother, and Hau are!" For some fucking reason! Something else nobody here wants to explain!
"Wonderful," Elio groaned in response to Ilima as he staggered to his feet, opening and shutting his mouth repeatedly as he no longer could resist the urge to rub his face. Hissing at the burning sensations and unsteadily pulling himself from Selene's grasp, he shook his head abruptly. "Lillie, what the hell?" he whined. "Why'd you spray me?"
"That was quite uncalled for, Lillie," Ilima curtly said over his shoulder at her, refusing to face her. "I know your reasoning, but that is no excuse—"
"Hey!" Selene stamped a foot and crossed her arms, "No! Listen to me! I'm over this! Will someone tell me what the hell is going on? How do you read minds, or—whatever it is—and who were those guys? What do you mean they were punished for it? Why were you glowing? What the fuck is happening and why is everyone so secretive about it?!"
"I'm sorry," Ilima tensely said—she could tell that he was irritated by her 'mind reading' comment, considering the way his lips twitched and he spoke through somewhat gritted teeth—and then waved his hand to get her, Elio, Hau, and Lillie's attention. Concernedly, he turned to Elio. "Young man, let Hau take you inside so you can wash your face and hands, use soap! Water alone won't get rid of that spray and may just make it run worse. I'll talk to your sister and she can fill you in on the details."
Blinking rapidly, his face red and puffy with irritation, Elio croaked weakly, "Y-yeah, sure… whatever." Although he had managed to hold his composure remarkably well, Selene gnawed her lip as she examined his expression more closely. He was in much more pain than he was letting on based on the tension in his voice and the tears welling at the corners of his eyes. Her frustration culminated in anger and Selene whipped around to face Lillie, clamping her arms at her sides, and balling her fists.
"What's wrong with you?" Selene snapped. "So, what, he didn't let go of the guy! He was trying to help!"
As she did, Hau awkwardly herded Elio back into the school. Her brother tensed at first, but had nothing biting to say (much to Hau's apparent relief based on the way his shoulders relaxed soon after they started moving).
"Help?" Lillie snorted and cut her eyes to cynical daggers at Selene. "If he wanted to help, he'd have listened to me and wanted to help me figure out who the Skull guys were talking about, since I was clearly trying to ask them about it. Instead, he came over here ready to beat someone up like this was a scene out of the age of chivalry." She crossed her arms and then kicked her voice deeper into the twinge of an accent she normally had, lowering her tone to mock Elio's. "'Oh, sorry, Miss, I couldn't hear you over the sound of my heroic deeds! No need to thank me or anything! Wanna catch dinner later, though, babe?'"
"Who cares if that was what he was trying to do?" Selene bristled, her patience long gone for Lillie's snarky attitude. "It means he likes you. Not that I can imagine why!"
"I'm getting a migraine," Ilima complained, and he stepped between the two girls, quite literally pushing them apart. Eyeing Lillie, he muttered, "Lillie, I think I'd like to talk to Selene alone. Can you go inside and wait for Hau and Elio?"
Lillie expressionlessly stared back at him and then nodded tensely. "Yeah. Okay." With that, she pulled her bag closer over her shoulder and vanished inside.
Guardedly, Selene scowled at Ilima, feeling a wave of distrust. She was finding it very difficult to keep a level head now, to stop from merely insulting him, as her usually curious and open thought processes were halted in her fear and confusion. Truly, she felt as if she were in flight-or-fight mode, and she had unknowingly settled on the latter of the options. Unlike Elio, her choice of weapon was vocabulary. "So? Care to explain?" Selene bitingly asked.
Ilima dipped, then shook his head slowly. "You are frightened, and your parents did not tell you much to anything about Alola beyond what's in some travel pamphlets. It's not entirely their fault… Nobody talks about most of it and those pamphlets are made by shopkeepers here who don't know any better." When she went to annoyedly snap at him to get to the point, he cut her off with, "My ability is not mind-reading. I was chosen by Tapu Koko at the age of eleven years old and gifted a Normalium-Z."
He reached into his left pocket and pulled a gleaming crystal like the one Selene had been given that day at the Plank Bridge, rolling the glittering prism between his fingers a few seconds before stashing it away again in his pocket. "It also gave me my ability at the same time… All Captains have some particular skill. It wears off once they reach the age of twenty, though Captains can be selected as late as eighteen years of age. We believe the cutoff age is so Captains do not become complacent… A reminder that the Tapus are generous for giving us these gifts and insights."
Selene shook her head slowly at first, then faster, in disbelief. "You… they just… they give you powers?" She failed to stifle the scoff. "S-so… if yours isn't mind-reading… what is it?"
"Well…" Ilima shuffled and frowned slightly. "You see, everyone has a… skewed understanding of what 'normal' is. They think it is a societal standard or a state of moral acceptance… However, what they fail to understand is that everyone sees their own version of 'normal,' it has no single definition." He looked up and smiled softly at her then, and that was when Selene noticed that not only were his irises gray, but his pupils were glazed over as well, like silvery cataracts had taken form.
"What… what does that have to do with…?" Selene asked breathlessly, fearfully intrigued by what he was getting at. Yet, she was chilled, too, at the sight of his eyes. Silver over the pupils isn't good… That usually means the person is blind, or going blind, but he maneuvers fine…? He was writing and stuff in the classroom earlier… And he read our papers easily… I don't understand…
"This definition of 'normal' is what I can see in everyone," he proceeded at her prompting, tilting his head slightly. "Your view of normalcy will taint everything and everyone you interact with. Kahuna Hala believes I was given this ability to try to negotiate peace better amongst the Alola islands, by acting as a mediator to explain the varying views of normalcy to the different Kahunas and Captains. That is how I knew your brother disliked battling and saw it as wrong. His normal is to see battling as brutal and unnecessary. It's how I could comment on the Skull members' reasoning for hating the Island Challenge… I don't know exactly what happened to them, no. But I can tell they dislike it because they see it as cruel, and I can assume that means they had a very bad experience when they attempted their own Island Challenge in the past and failed."
"Let me get this straight," Selene paused him, trying so hard to keep an open mind despite her frustration, despite the wave of despairing confusion, "you were given a shiny rock, suddenly could understand everyone's worldview around you, and that made you a Captain? And all Captains have… abilities, like this?" She blinked. "Okay, I don't think that one's gonna really register for a while, but moving on before my head explodes, I heard what you said about those specific Skull guys, but what did you mean by 'forsaken the Island Challenge' and 'punished' for it? People get punished for talking bad about it, or something? I mean, if they don't like it, why is that such a big deal? Obviously, those guys were trying to hurt people, but… ugh, I just don't understand!"
Ilima winced at her words and looked over his shoulders uncomfortably, as if afraid somebody might have heard them. "That's… a bit of a longer story…" He swallowed hard and those misty eyes settled on her again. "But I can try to explain…"
After about ten minutes solid of soap and water washing, Elio finally felt as if his face, hands, and arms weren't on fire. His chest and abdomen still stung and itched with what pepper spray had seeped into his shirt, and he was sure it was still in his hair, but that would have to wait until he could take a shower. Opting to carefully avoid touching either of those hotspots, Elio turned away from the line of sinks in the school bathroom, huffing and hanging his head. Hau, uncomfortably standing on the other end of the room, asked in broken Galarish, "Is feel better…?"
"Good as it's gonna get, I think," Elio answered tiredly. While the Mace had burned, Lillie being the one to do it and her callous lack of remorse had stung far worse. He had mistaken her grilling of the Skull man for simply more of her venomous sarcasm, and so, thinking nothing of it, he had just… wanted to make them go away and leave her alone. More than that, though, he thought that despite all of Lillie's sharp retorts aimed his way, that he had been getting along with her quite well. How true could that be if she had been so willing to harm him? Who even were those 'Skull' men? He had heard Ilima briefly explain earlier, but none of it had registered while he was still in the throes of the stinging pain. Awkwardly squinting at Hau, Elio sniffled against his running nose (his eyes still refused to quit tearing up) and asked hoarsely, "So, uh… Who were those guys out there?"
"Skull Gang," Hau answered slowly, eyes darting around the room before settling on the floor. He clasped his hands behind his back and scuffed a shoe nervously. "Live on other island. Do not like Island Challenge… See it as, uh…" he trailed off, flushing a little red, like he was searching for the appropriate words. "See it as bad… think that is it. Skull thinks it hurt people, and pokémon, that Tapus are not Tapus… Tapus are pokémon. Strong pokémon. But pokémon. Old Kahuna of other island make them… Old Kahuna hurt by Tapu Bulu."
Reeling for a moment to try to piece together what Hau had said, Elio grunted and winced at another flare of burning sensation down his back. It seemed some that had permeated his shirt and touched the skin below at last. Gritting his teeth slightly against it, Elio raised a brow at Hau. "So… these guys don't like the Island Challenge and they come from another island. They don't like the Island Challenge because it kinda worships the Tapus and they don't see the Tapus as gods like most of the rest of you guys… Or maybe they're upset because it hurt their old leader? Is that right?" Pausing, he chanced, "You called 'em a gang… Are they a gang like Team Rocket…?"
Team Rocket was infamous around the world (or so Elio believed) for their cold callousness and their refusal to permanently disband, even with the absence of their ruthless leader, Giovanni, and they were treated as a severe threat because of it back in Kanto. If this 'Skull Gang' was similar, then… He paled. Potentially running into them again and again did not sound pleasing. "What do you guys… do about them?"
Again, Hau flushed red in embarrassment. "Ah… Team Rocket? What do about what?"
"You… don't know who Team Rocket is?" Elio balked, truly feeling speechless after that. Then, he realized Hau potentially didn't understand much of what he had said before that… He fought off a groan and just huffed quietly instead. Still, Hau had tried to help him, and was doing his best to speak a language he clearly had little understanding of. It was hard to be frustrated with him right then…
For the last couple of interactions with Lillie and Hau, he had gotten the implication that Hau really liked her, and he had, he supposed, overreacted a little… Elio felt guilty for it, and although there was some lingering bitterness and frustration, he realized in that moment it wasn't really aimed at Hau at all. It was at Lillie.
He couldn't shake the feeling of betrayal that had come with her indiscriminately spraying him along with that gang member. Subconsciously, having equated this Skull Gang to Team Rocket in his mind, it felt as if she had called him one, as if he were no different than them, and that… was a painful insult.
Hau scuffed his shoe against the floor again. "We leave? Maybe Lillie help, uh…" There was a long pause. "Oh! Explain. Maybe Lillie help explain."
"I don't really want to see her after that," Elio mumbled. She sprayed me in the face with fuckin' pepper spray, dude. Why was everyone so chill about that? Not wanting any more confrontation that day, he merely sighed. "I just… wanna meet back up with Selene and maybe have us be alone for a while… I'm sure whatever Ilima's tellin' her is wild, too, so that'll be… something." Clenching his jaw, Elio growled, "And I've got a few choice words for our parents, too." They had to have known something.
"Okay," Hau said quietly. Hesitantly, he added, "Ah… Let your Litten out? When we get outside."
"Uh… why?" Elio asked dubiously. Not that he was opposed to the idea of having his Litten out the Poké Ball, but he was confused as to why Hau would care or bring it up…
"Will help," was all Hau said, shrugging slightly as he reached for the door out the restroom. "Pokémon help feel better, cousin." With that, he strode out the room, pulling his orange backpack a little closer to himself as he went.
Elio crossed his arms then, forgetting momentarily about the Mace still lacing his clothes, almost pouting. "Why's he gotta be so nice?" he grumbled. Seizing a little at the new rush of discomfort on his arms, he quickly unfolded them and turned back to the sink to lather up and down his arms again with soap, still muttering to himself. "Now, I feel like a dick for being so rough on him the last few days… Since he helped me get cleaned up after all that… Gotta say, he's much better than Lillie, anyway."
He heard the door squeak, and he whipped his head in time to see a dark-skinned boy that looked younger than him or Hau stare blankly at him. Sensing the awkwardness in the stare, and quickly realizing how what he had just said must have sounded, Elio blushed furiously and sputtered, "That's not what I meant! I know how that sounded, but—"
He gave up and groaned loudly when the boy backed out and shut the door again, verging on hysterical laughter. "I am just making friends left and right. I am so damn popular!" he snorted sarcastically to himself.
Once he scrubbed the burning out of his arms for the most part again, Elio's shoulders sagged and he wandered out of the bathroom. One could imagine his chagrin when he spotted Lillie seated at a bench near the entrance of the school. She was hunched over and staring into her bag, and so, failed to notice his approach. Deciding he was grateful for that, he scurried past her and out the door.
Nobody had quite made him feel like the clown he was like she had in a very long time… and part of him knew he would snap at her if he tried to talk to her in his hurt. He felt a familiar, painful bolt of shame as he privately concluded that he didn't want to snap at her, even with what she had done in mind. He just felt… betrayed and wanted to go back to that budding playfulness she had reserved for him before. A piece of him wanted to hope it could be salvaged, even…
Finding Selene and Ilima still on the blacktop outside, Elio weakly called, "Hey… I'm doin' better…"
"Right," Selene half-whispered at him, distractedly staring at Ilima. When she finally managed to tear her eyes away, she swallowed hard and Elio thought her eyes might bore into his soul. Then, in Kantonian, she asked him, "Elio, can we… can we please go home for a little while? We… need to talk. You, me, Mom, Dad, we all need to talk."
"Couldn't agree more," Elio responded in kind.
Ilima dipped his head to the both of them, and then started to walk back into the school. "Hau headed back to Iki Town," he called, "and I'll probably send Lillie back to Kukui for the evening, if going home is what you two want to do. I imagine you probably don't want to see Lillie again, anyway…" he trailed off as he disappeared inside.
"This place is fucked," Selene hissed at him once Ilima was out of earshot, eyes wide. "I—I mean, I know how that sounds, I just—you will not believe what he just told me! I can't even believe what he just told me and I'm even more freaked out that it makes sense! 'Cause I saw one of the Tapus, at the Plank Bridge, so…"
Right… Selene had told him about his run-in with Tapu Koko at the Plank Bridge, up Mahalo Trail, just behind Iki Town. He had doubted her story at first, her having told it to him when Lillie was leading them to Kukui's lab, but Lillie had made some snarky comment about how him knowing about Nebby wasn't an issue and had showed him the little space cloud pokémon. That felt so far away, even though it had been just that morning… He shook his head. "Yeah, well," Elio grunted, feeling a wave of numbness at her overwhelming words, "I'm not too thrilled about discount Team Rocket, either. Thought we were away from all that."
"Yeah, they're part of what I've gotta talk to you about," Selene defeatedly sighed. "Well, uh… Let's head back home, I guess…"
Elio reached for the Poké Ball in his pocket, and then tossed it. Upon materializing from the redness, his Litten tilted its head at him, and then looked around curiously. Seeming a little disappointed, it sulked over to him and rubbed against his legs. Remembering something Ilima had said, Elio felt another pang of guilt. Litten and its evolutions were apparently known for their lust for battle, something Elio had so little of. Let them choose, he said, he thought mutinously as he recalled Kahuna Hala's speech prior to them getting their respective starting pokémon, they're your partners, he said… Tiredly, he fended off the annoyed thoughts. "Yeah," Elio croaked, "let's go."
Seeming to get the idea, Selene released her Rowlet as well, and the pokémon perched on her shoulder proudly. Scratching it in an attempt at a loving gesture despite her vexed state (which the Rowlet seemed to enjoy anyway), Selene started to walk ahead, and Elio followed in short order.
He was already dreading whatever their confrontation at home might bring. Although he didn't feel as if he or Selene had anything to fear from their parents, that was sort of what made him dread it. Their potential reactions to learning he had been Maced or to what he had learned about the Skull Gang, or to whatever Selene had learned about Captain Ilima, were what worried him. He couldn't quite place his finger on it, but Alola was just so… different, and somehow, he felt like their parents rallying defensively to help him or Selene could have undesirable consequences.
He supposed he could talk to Selene first before they confronted their parents at all…
Yo this chapter was fighting back. I wrote it yesterday morning but have been agonizing over it and revising it ever since lol. I finally was over it and just decided okay, here, y'all can have it now. I hope it made sense to some degree lol.