The winding road of Route 4 lead Alex to the entrance to Paniola Town, an area full of barn like building and dirt streets. She saw a windmill not too far, and the smell of hay was heavy in the air. It made her think of the Miltank farm she read about in Johto... "Are there Miltank farms here, too?" she wondered to herself while she walked towards the Pokemon Center that was down the road.
Half way to the Center, Hau turned a corner and ran towards her with Brionne happily at his side. "Hey, Alex! Glad I ran into you..." he said when he reached her, "so we can see who's stronger now! I got a Z-Power ring from my gramps, too, after making it through his grand trial!"
Alex smiled. "Ah, you did? Awesome!"
A huge grin spread across Hau's face and he started bouncing excitedly. "Having a battle in a place like Paniola Town feels like we're in a real old fashioned Western showdown or something, right? This is so cool!" Alex glanced around the town. Now that he mentioned it, he seemed right. "Though if we're real honorable cowboys, we've gotta make sure our teams are healthy first." He healed her Pokemon. "Awrite, team!" Hau said excitedly. "Brionne and Pikachu and everybody, you oughta all be bursting with energy after eating a pile of my mom's special pancakes, so let's show this newbie what Alola's got!"
Alex huffed and took a Pokeball from her bag. "Newbie? I'll show you!"
Hau put his hands behind his head. "Ma-a-an, that was some kinda battle! Brionne and everybody all look like they had a blast, too!" Brionne cried out happily at his feet. Alex nodded and smiled. It seemed her Pokemon seemed to feel the same way. "You know, Pokemon battles are just, like, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But you're only really a loser if you don't have any fun while you're at it, right?"
Alex nodded. "Yeah, I couldn't agree more with that one."
"Anyway, I'm heading off to Paniola Ranch!" With that, Hau ran off, Brionne bouncing after him.
While exploring the town, Alex saw the back of a pair of Team Skull members, surrounding something. Alex narrowed her eyes and walked over. They couldn't be up to any good.
"Yo, yo, Vulpix! Gimme that Bottle Cap!" the boy Team Skull member barked, cornering an Alolan Vulpix. The Vulpix backed up, closer to the rock wall behind it.
"Please, stop!" cried a woman close to the scene.
Alex squared her shoulders and glared at the pair. The boy turned and saw her. "Whatchu lookin' at?! What's this Pokemon need a nice Bottle Cap for? I'm just gonna put it to better use, that's all!"
"It could be for its owner. You don't need it that bad, either!" Alex barked back. The boy ignored her, and the pair resumed harassing the Vulpix.
The woman looked desperately to Alex. "You there... Do you think you could help?"
Alex snorted. "You don't even have to ask." She tapped the boy on the shoulder again.
He turned again, looking annoyed. "You want a piece of me?! I'll show you what happens when you mess with Team Skull!"
The boy growled and glared at the Vulpix, angrily jabbing a finger at it. "It's all your fault- just 'cause you wouldn't hand over that Bottle Cap!" The Vulpix cowered at the gesture. Alex growled and stood between it and the Team Skull member. "Yo, you got lucky, Vulpix! Don't count on people to help you next time!" With that, the pair ran off.
The woman sighed in relief. "Oh thank goodness..." She knelt down. "Everything's going to be all right now..." The Vulpix looked timidly between Alex and the woman, then bolted away. "Oh dear, what's wrong?" the woman asked, watching the Vulpix run off. She stood up and sighed. "It'd make this old lady happy if you'd come back tomorrow, too," she said to Alex.
Alex nodded, somberly watching the Pokemon disappear from sight. "Yeah, I will... I want to make sure that poor thing is okay." She sighed, and continued wandering around the town.
There wasn't much in the town itself, but behind it, a huge ranch spread out. Fields of tall, dry grass and fences surrounded the dirt road.
While Alex was walking down the road, one of the farmer men stood outside his gate. He looked at her and waved. "Oh! You've got to be a trial-goer, right? Well, you've got a good sense of timing?"
Alex cocked her head to the side curiously. "What do you mean?"
"The captain's actually here now, so come on!" He walked through the gate into the field. Alex followed after him, spotting Mallow.
A Miltank rushed over to Mallow that was close to the gate. Mallow looked over and waved, a big smile on her face. "Thanks for stopping by! The Moomoo Milk from Paniola Ranch is the best. It's so rinch and creamy when you use it in white sauce and other things... Mmm! The taste can't even be described!"
Alex nodded. She couldn't help but agree; Moomoo Milk was amazing, she could only imagine how it must taste fresh.
"Oh, by the way!" Mallow continued. "Since I was lucky enough to run into you here, I'll do you a little favor." She asked for Alex's Ride Pager, did something with it, and returned it. "See, Stoutland can sniff out items for you that are buried in the dirt where you can't even see them! Get up and try it! There's all kinds of stuff lying around waiting for you to find it. And Stoutland will bark louder and louder the closer it gets to some item buried in the ground! If you go all the way down Route 5, you'll come out on Brooklet Hill. My friend Lana is up there, so say hi to her for me if you see her!" Mallow smiled and ran out of the field. Alex shrugged, pet one of the Miltanks, and left the fenced area.
Further up the road was a building. Alex went to the sign that was posted in front of it. "'Pokemon Nursery'?" she mumbled. "'Find some Pokemon Eggs'... Is this where my first egg came from then?" Afterwards, she went inside.
The girl behind the counter waved to Alex when she came inside. Curious about the place, Alex came to the counter. "So... is this like... a Pokemon Day Care?"
"I heard that other regions have these 'Pokemon Day Care' places... Apparently you can leave Pokemon there, and they'll raise your Pokemon for you. We've got nurseries here in Alola, but all we do is hold on to your Pokemon for you. We don't help them get stronger or learn any moves, but I'd guess we're easier on your wallet!" the girl explained. "Oh, and there is something else! If you leave two Pokemon together at the nursery, you sometimes end up finding an egg! Since we're talking about it, do you want one of the eggs I found here at the nursery recently?"
Alex blinked, surprised by the question. Was this just a normal thing these... nursery workers did? Since this was a farm area, she supposed there was quite a few Pokemon being bred... "Sure, I'll happily take it," Alex said with a kind smile.
The girl nodded and walked through the open doors behind her, then came back with a Pokemon egg in her hands. "Thanks for taking it off my hands!" she said, handing it over to Alex. "And don't go trying to crack it just because you can't wait to see what's inside! Though I've never heard of a Pokemon egg cracking except when it's ready to hatch. If you carry a Pokemon egg around with you, it will hatch into a Pokemon. I bet it must feel pretty happy being surrounded by your team, even before it's born."
Alex looked down at the egg in her arms and smiled. "I wonder what you will be?" she asked while she left the building.
A little down the road from the nursery was a road blocked by a couple of Sudowoodos. Alex looked curiously and approached the boy near them. "Why are they just standing here? What's going on?"
"These Sudowoodo have seemed kinda down ever since Lana beat them, but they're blocking the path and now no one can go through. Seems like they're so petrified of Lana now that they don't even want to see another Waterium Z after she smacked down on them with that Water type Z-Power of hers!"
"Oh." So these Pokemon were sulking and decided that they would be an onstruction of the road. She sighed, turned, and headed the opposite direction.