Hau'Oli City faced the sea, with a large beach sitting just below the concrete barrier. Hau had already rushed down to the sand, gaping at the beach. "Beach time! Yeaaahhh!"
Alex walked slowly down the sidewalk, looking wide eyed at the beach. She had never been this close to it before. Sure, there was a little bay by Professor Kukui's lab, but this was the actual sea. It looked like it could go on forever... Off in the distance, it looked like the water and the sky just merged...
"Hey... you," a woman said, making Alex stop and look up at her. The woman grinned. "You've come to Alola from someplace far off, haven't you? I can tell!" How can everyone tell that? Do I look that out of place or something? "Then let me teach you the proper way to greet someone in Alola!" She held up both hands before her and waved them both down to form a half circle. "Alola!"
"So it's like... just a wave, right? Like saying hi?" Alex asked.
The woman nodded. "You give it a try, too!" Alex nodded slowly and waved, just as she was shown. "Just like that! Alola! You'll make more friends if you say it!" Alex nodded again, feeling a little awkward. Hopefully that would make her fit in better?
Alex returned to walking down the streets, looking around the huge street. On one side was the beach, and the other was lined with a giant variety of shops. The further down, the concrete wrapped around to cut off the beach to spread out more streets and shops. She wandered further down the street. "He-e-ey, Alex!" Hau called out from behind her. "I thought I recognized the sound of those feet!" Alex looked back to find Hau running out towards her. "So what do you think? Hau'Oli is something, eh? Alola's gotta be the best place ever to live!"
"It is pretty amazing, yeah," Alex replied, feeling a little overwhelmed. The city was big and beautiful, and she had no idea what she actually wanted to do. "The beach... the city... It's all huge!"
Hau grinned and looked at the building behind Alex. "Oh yeah!" He pointed to the doors. "Hey Alex, come in here with me! I've got a good idea of something you could do!" He ran over, threw open the doors, and to the counter, with Alex following behind him. "Hey, miss," he said, addressing the girl behind the counter. "Is it true that you can get some kind of special gift if you have a Rotom Dex?"
The girl behind the counter smiled and nodded. "My goodness, you get the news fast! Hardly anyone has a Rotom Dex, but it is true that we have a special item to go with it. It's our very own Poke Finder!" She held out her hand. "Here you go!"
Alex took the little chip. "Awesome!" Hau cried, looking at the chip. "Isn't that awesome, Alex? You got a Poke Finder!"
"But what does a Poke Finder to?"
"So, like, what's a Poke Finder?" Hau asked the woman behind the counter, apparently just as clueless as Alex was. Why was he so excited about it?
"The Poke Finder is a tool that lets you take photos of Pokemon," the woman explained. "Rotom will help point out places where you'll be able to take photos, too. You just point Rotom and tap its screen." She chuckled. "Yup, it's quite simple, isn't it?"
"Man, that Rotom Dex is cool!" Hau cheered while Alex took the Rotom Dex from her bag. "It's like a whole nother partner, Alex! I mean, on top of your Pokemon partner!" Rotom was definitely helpful, but in a different way. "Oh, but I guess since it's Rotom inside... it pretty much is a Pokemon partner?" He shrugged. "Either way, you're pretty darn lucky. Meet you outside when you're done in here!" With that, Hau ran out the door. He doesn't really have a 'walk', does he?
"The photos you can snap of Pokemon with a Poke Finder..." the woman said. "They are simply too cute to resist!"
Alex added the chip and looked down at the screen. She would have to keep her eye out for Pokemon to take pictures of; Mom would definitely love to see them. Aside from the Poke Finder, most of the building looked like an information area and gift shop for tourists. There wasn't any reason to stay, so she followed after Hau.
Outside, Lillie had walked up to them. "Alexandra, Hau... Did you visit the tourist bureau? How was it?" So it was a place for tourists.
"We got her Rotom Dex upgraded! Now it can take pictures, too!" Hau grinned.
Lillie smiled. "What a wonderful helper you are, Rotom!" Lillie walked closer. Rotom suddenly flew from Alex's bag and snapped a photo of them before disappearing back into it. Lillie blinked, looking dazed by the flash.
Hau burst out laughing. "What was that for, Rotom? You little trickster!"
Alex chuckled nervously. "I guess it just wanted to try out its new ability, huh?"
"Oh! Alex, follow me!" Hau grinned. "Enough feasting for the eyes... It's time we take care of our stomachs!" With that, Hau ran down the road.
Lillie looked at Alex's bag, where Rotom was resting. "Maybe Rotom wanted to get your attention, because it wants to take photos with you."
Alex nodded. "Yeah, it would be a good idea. I can show my mom all the photos I take afterwards, and I know she'd love to see them."
Lillie tapped her chin, looking down the road Hau ran down. "I think I'll go stop by the apparel shop to do some shopping on my own..."
"I might follow up with you after Hau," Alex said, putting a hand on her stomach. "I am actually pretty hungry right now." Lillie nodded and walked off.
"Yo trainer, look what you've got!" a man called out to her. Alex turned around to see him approach her. "You lucky kid! If you've got a Poke Finder, then I guess I'll give you a little tip." He turned to face a concrete wall. "See that spot where the wall is cracked?" It was a pretty big crack, so it was hard to miss. "That's a photo spot right there." As if it heard, Rotom flew out of her bag and dashed towards the wall. "Look at that! Your Rotom there is trying to tell you, too! Go over and give him a tap!"
"Ah, sure..." Alex walked over to Rotom and looked at the screen. She could now see through the crack, and a Pikachu was sitting there. "There's Pikachu here in Alola too, huh?" She tapped the screen, taking a few pictures of it. "Mom will totally love these." Rotom returned to her bag and she continued to walk down the road.
Though she planned on meeting Hau first to get something to eat, she came across Lillie first, who was looking at the displays at a clothing shop. "Hey there, Lillie."
"Oh, Alexandra." Lillie turned to face her. "Tell me, do you pick out all your own clothes?"
Alex blinked. That was a rather odd question. "Of course I do." Isn't it normal to do that at our age anyway?
"Of course..." Lillie mumbled and looked down. "Most people do, don't they..." Alex frowned. Oh no, did I make her upset? Lillie looked back up. "I... I've always worn the clothes that my mother wanted me to wear. I don't really know what kind of thing that would suit me... Oh!" She shook her head. "But that's not why I stopped you. I meant to give you these, Alexandra. I received them inside the apparel shop." She held out a small metal case and a little purse. "I didn't even buy anything, but they said I was the 99,999th customer to visit the store... but I already have the same set, so I thought that maybe you might... want them?"
What are these going to be? Alex took the items held out and peeked inside. The metal case and colored contacts and the purse held make up. That made sense that an apparel shop would give out those kinds of things. "Ah, that's pretty cool! Thank you, Lillie," she said, putting the things into her bag.
Lillie gave her a small smile. "It looks like we have something in common now, don't we, Alexandra?" Oh no, she's just being so cute again... Alex smiled and nodded, then Lillie wandered off. Out of curiosity, Alex went into the store.
The first thing she laid her eyes on made her laugh: one of those button up shirts covered in flowers. She had seen some people wear them, but for some reason, being in Alola, made it funnier. Everyone makes me feel like I stick out like a sore thumb. She walked up to one of the shirts and picked up a green one. Wouldn't it be funny to just look like a tacky tourist? For some reason, the idea made her laugh, so she bought the shirt and changed into it. "There, now it's even more obvious!" she said, looking at herself in the mirror.
At the end of the street was another Pokemon Center. Alex looked over curiously; Ilima was standing outside it, putting a sticker onto the wall. "Um..." she walked over to him, honestly wondering what on earth he was doing.
He heard her approach and turned to face her. "Greets. Captain Ilima here." Yeah, you're the pretty one that I can't honestly tell if you're a boy or a girl. He smiled lightly. "So you've spotted me sticking up one of these lovely stickers, have you?"
Alex nodded. "Yeah, it's super shiny and hard to miss. What is it?"
"If young trial-goers collect these stickers as they travel and follow the path they indicate, they will naturally progress along their island challenge!" Ilima paused, as if searching for the right words. "Really, if I had to describe them, I would say these stickers really save trial-goers like you." Oh, so they're like... guide posts. Or... something like that. She looked back to Ilima. I wonder if that's another responsibility of the captains... To put up these stickers and make sure the trial-goers don't get lost?
Ilima shook his head. "But I cannot let my guard down... Those Team Skull thugs have far too much time on their hands, and they're always trying to get in the way of trainers on their island challenges. I have to keep on eye on them to be sure they don't take down my stickers."
"Wow, that sounds like a lot of work..." These captains sound like super busy people...
Ilima looked up the road. "I've actually just had a report that Team Skull was seen making trouble around town. I suppose I should go have a look." He looked back to Alex and the light smile returned. "Well then, young Alexandra, I hope you'll have a delightful time running about to search out and collect Totem stickers!" With that, he left.
Alex watched him leave, then looked to the sticker. Putting these up must take so much time... and there's just some people trying to purposely take them down to mess with trial-goers? Sounds pretty petty. She shrugged, pulled the sticker from the wall, and put it in her bag.
The road split to left and right at the corner of the Pokemon center, and a big building that looked like a mansion right across from it. Alex went down the left road, walked to the end of that sidewalk, and saw Hau down the road. That's must be where the food is!
Hau noticed her at the corner before she could even move. "Howzit, Alex!" he called out, waving to her. "If you're looking for good eats, you've found 'em!" Alex rushed over to him, her stomach starting to growl. He grinned when she reached him. "Plus, malasadas make your Pokemon like you. And affectionate Pokemon are better in battle!" Alex tilted her head to the side. I suppose that makes sense... The friendly your Pokemon is to you, the easier they can follow you in battle. Maybe even their intuition gets better? "Who could resist giving their Pokemon a few malasadas, eh? They're so cute!" Alex imagined Rowlet happily pecking away at it, Yungoos chomping it down, and she couldn't help but smile.
"Yo, yo, yo, check it! Whenever, wherever we meet you, Team Skull don't even greet you!" Alex frowned at the weak attempt of a rap. She wasn't any good at it, but she knew when it sounded bad.
Two men dressed in the same black tank top and baggy pants approached, both wearing handkerchiefs over their faces and skull necklaces. They both struck an odd pose. "Yo, you wanna throw us a bone and hand over those island challenge amulets to us now?"
Alex wrinkled her nose. "Why would I want to do that?"
"Oooh, so you're part of that Team Skull, huh?" Hau asked. "All you guys ever do is steal Totem stickers and people's Pokemon and get in the way of other people's island challenges!"
Oh that's right, Hau would know about this, Alex thought. Being the Kahuna's grandson, he probably hears a lot about the problems going on in Melemele.
The first Team Skull guy moved his arms and hands around in weird gestures. "You know! We hate the island challenge, yo! And every kid fool enough to try it!"
"But why though?" Alex asked bluntly.
"Yo, let's check these fools," the other Skull guy said. Were they asking for a battle, then?
"Alex, come on!" Hau said in a surprisingly stern voice. "Let's teach these Team Skull jerks not to get in the way of anybody's island challenge!"
A Zubat. All he had was a Zubat, and he was talking so big... Alex sighed. It was like trying to hike through Mt. Moon... Zubats are more of an annoyance than a threat.
"No fair! I was playing a different game!" the grunt cried after he was defeated
His partner started doing his weird hand gestures again, "Let's get out of this port, B! Nobody has to know about this!" B? Like... A and B? Seriously? "We don't need your wack little amulets anyway! Wouldn't even take 'em if you gave 'em to us!" With that, the two in black ran away.
Alex narrowed her eyes. "Wow... That was pretty... lame. When I heard about thugs, I was expecting something more... imposing."
Hau sighed. "Those Team Skull jerks really must have too much time on their hands, yeah?" Alex nodded, then shook her head. That battle was so lame... "But keeping other people from doing their island challenges isn't gonna just make it like they managed to finish theirs, you know?" So... was Team Skull just full of people who failed their challenges, and so they're taking out their own failures out on other people? Hau's expression returned to his regular upbeat self. "I already went to the Marina and screamed out over the ocean, 'Watch out, world! Someday I'm gonna beat even my old gramps in an all-out serious battle!'"
Alex smiled warmly. "That sounds like a great goal, Hau. I have no doubt that you can do!"
"Maybe I'll go try to find some more Totem stickers next. See you around!" He waved and ran off, as he usually did.
"What a lovely battle you showed us there, against Team Skull." Ilima appeared from around a corner. "My thanks to you and your Pokemon. Why don't I heal your team to express my gratitude?"
"Sure, it was... much easier than I thought it was going to be," Alex said, releasing the Pokemon and letting the Captain heal them, despite hardly getting scratched.
"I must admit, I've been wondering about you since I saw you at the Trainer's School," Ilima continued while Alex returned her Pokemon to their balls. "Professor Kukui brought you along, and you and your Pokemon seemed to defeat our teacher so effortlessly!" People keep saying how I'm such a great trainer... but why? Aren't I just... average? Ilima smiled again and nodded. "Very well then! Allow me to see if you're ready for my trial!"
"What? In... battle?" Ilima nodded. She stared blankly at him for a moment, as if his request wasn't getting through his head. "Um... y-yeah."
Ilima closed his eyes and took in a breath. "Behold the magnificent Pokemon of the one and only Captain Ilima!" he said, throwing open his eyes.
Ilima was definitely more of a challenge than that Team Skull guy. That Smeargle was something to be weary of; she had a hard time conquering that. "Yes! You have emerged victorious!" Ilima said, looking almost satisfied in his defeat. "You- or should I say you and your Pokemon- make quite the interesting team!" His smile had more warmth to it. "I do hope you'll come to Verdant Cavern and attempt the trial- the trial of Ilima!"
Alex nodded and clenched her fists excitedly. "Yes! I would love to take it on!" she cried, feeling more confidence well up inside her.
"You can get there from Route 2... That Rotom Dex of yours will show you the way." Ilima gave her a small wave. "I bid you Alola!" and then left.
"My first trial..." She felt giddy again. She took Rotom from her bag and looked at the screen. "Okay, show me how to get there!" She froze, then looked up when her stomach growled, reminding her why she even came down this road. "Heh... Right... Food..."