Chapter 20

The sun rises, and my alarm goes off. I shut it off, hop right out of the bed and immediately head into the shower to clean myself up. A quick 5 minutes, and I'm already done shaving, cleaning, and grooming. I get dressed in my own familiar clothing, a nice red and black flannel button-up shirt, some dark blue jeans, a navy blue undershirt, and my Z Bracelet. Before I could do anything else, I wake up Quil and kiss his cheek. "Quuuuuiiil, it's time to head on out to the Hau'oli International Airport!" All I hear is a groan, and then he grabs my pillow and places it on his face. His voice gets muffled. "I can fly on my own… I'll meet you there…" I chuckle and shake my head.
"You need to come with me in the Pokeball, or else they won't let you on the flight."
"But that doesn't make sense…"
"Rules are rules, my love. Come on. Get up." He reluctantly rises out of bed, puts my pillow back, and stretches his wings out. With a loud yawn, he gets right out of bed and hugs me. I hug him back and smile. "Hun, we don't have time to waste. I'll transform you back to your normal form, and we'll be on our way to Mistralton. Okay?"
"Okay… I can't believe this day came by so fast." I do my dance, tap the Z Crystal, and he turns back to normal.
"Yeah, I can't either. Everyone else is back to normal, right?"
"Yeah, they're ready."
"Then off to the airport we go." I grab his Pokeball, and off he goes into it. I take in a deep breath, collect myself a bit, and then grab everyone else. First and foremost, I need to talk to Lurantis again. She's off meditating in the garden. And I can smell something oddly sweet. She's been tending to the garden exceedingly well. "Lurantis? Could you come here for a second?"
"Yes, Ethan. Be right there." She stands up and walks toward me.

"So, as we agreed, you'll take care of the house while I'm gone, right?"
"Yes, that is correct."

"And you'll also take care of Hayner and Nokto, right?"
"Correct as well."
"And if Nokto gets out of your control?"
"I… You did not brief me on that."
"Listen, right now he's in some really shady territory. Don't hesitate to use Solar Blade to… I don't know, just don't let him do something that could harm you, Hayner, or any of us. Even while we're gone."
"Are you sure, Ethan?"
"I'm not. But I have to plan for every possible contingency. So just teach him a lesson if he's getting out of hand or threatens someone."
"I understand. Is that all?"
"As far as I know, yes it is." I ponder for a moment. Oh yeah, my parents! I mean, they might not come home when I'm gone, but I have to prepare for some sort of surprise visit. "One more thing, actually. If my parents come home while I'm gone, get everyone back in their pokeballs. And stay put until I come home. Okay?"
"Yes, I understand. Best of luck to you and the six, Ethan."

"Thank you, you too." We both give ourselves a sweet smile and a reassuring nod. I grab my luggage and head out toward the Hau'oli International Airport. Soon enough, I get to customs and go through the metal detector. I take everything off, and head on through. And it… Beeps? Why could it be beeping? I took everything out of my pockets and anything metallic. I step back and look puzzled. Oh, wait! The Pokemon translator. That's right. I slide it out of my ear and place it into the little plastic box. I pass through the metal detector, and I take everything back. I slide the Pokemon translator back into my ear and sigh. I head into the gate, and into the plane, I go. A long 5 hours flight ensues…

And finally, we all land in Mistralton City. And boy, what a sight it is. A town next to an airport, and a gym next to it too! I've never really tried gym battles. Maybe I should try one sometime. As I look around at the gates, I see the Galar Region arrivals and departures are totally empty. Looks like nobody's appreciating the rules against certain Pokemon. What kind of monster would ban species of Pokemon in a certain region? I've also heard about things called Dynamxing. Pokemon growing to an insane size and having their moves powered up. Sounds like worse Mega Evolution to me. But anyway, enough of that. Out of the plane, and into Unova! Walking out of the airport, the breeze instantly hits me. It's way too cold here! I wrap myself around my arms and shiver. I guess I'm way too used to tropical climates. But this is insane! I bring out Quil, and he even starts shivering too. "Y-yeah, cold, r-r-right?" I say through my chattering teeth.
"Th-this is Unova?"

"Y-yep! N-now we have to go to Driftveil city and talk to their Gym leader. S-so time for a classic adventure, eh?"
"J-just keep me in the Pokeball, I hate cold climates…" Before I could do so, it seems we start getting an audience. Kids and teens start crowding us and smiling. I raise my eyebrow and try to listen to their rambling. "WOOOOAH! What pokemon is that?! Where are you from? Why are you cold, it's super warm today! Are you a really cool Pokemon trainer? Can I see your badges? What typing is that Pokemon? Can we see the rest of your Pokemon?" Yeesh, I'm starting to feel overwhelmed… I stutter on my own words and slowly start backing away. Soon enough, the crowd settles down, and someone starts cutting through the crowd. And boy, she sticks out. She crosses her arms, smiles in my direction, and greets me. "Well, hiya! I'm Skyla, the gym leader for Msitralton. You must be from Alola, right?" Wow, the gym leader herself!
"That's right! I'm the champion of Alola, and I'm here for the Pokemon World Tournament." The crowd exclaims in excitement and curiosity. I blush and chuckle. And Skyla shakes my hand. "I can take you on a private jet to Driftveil, Gym Leader's treat to the champion!" I gave her an excited, ear to ear smile. I nodded quickly and chuckled.
"That'd be great! Thank you so much!"
"Then follow me to the runway, you and your Pokemon!" Quil and I follow her happily. She invites us onto her plane and prepares everything. Soon enough, we take off, and I look out of the window. Unova… A big metropolis-like region. This is definitely my place to live. Oh, I almost forgot- "Skyla, you think you can take me to meet Professor Juniper first?"

"Hm? The 'ol Professor? Sure, I think we have some time. Looks like we're off to Nuvema town first. Let me contact Clay… Aaaand…" She clicks a few buttons, presses a few buttons on her Xtransceiver, and a little musical chime plays. Clay's image shows up. A video call on your watch, cool! His voice sounds super low and gravelly. In fact, it basically booms as both of them talk. "SKYLA! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"

"Y-yeah, Clay! Just needed to mention that leave a spot for the next contestant on the Pokemon World Tournament! The champion of Alola wants to sign up!"
"THE CHAMPION OF WHATCHAMAWHOZIT?!"

"U-uhh, Alola? The region of four isla-"
"OH YEAH! NO PROBLEM, SKYLA!"

"Clay, you don't have to yell, I can hear you just f-"
"OOP, I HAVE TO GO, GREAT TO SEE YOU SKYLA!" The Xtransceiver hangs up, and Skyla lets out a heavy sigh. I couldn't help but chuckle between breaths. "Yeah, we got your spot saved for the tournament. And we're nearly at Nuvema town, strap in!"
"Yes, ma'am!" I put on my seatbelt, and help Quil to put on his. We land, and I sigh. We take off our seatbelts again, and we're out of the plane. Skylar taps my shoulder before we head off. "I'll be here whenever you're ready, m'kay?"
"Got it. I won't be long."

I head off into the small town. Only 3 houses and the professor's lab… Quaint. I go to the biggest building, the one with the orange roof, and walk in. There, I see a woman in a bright orange outfit and a green beret with blonde hair. "Um, Professor Juniper?" She seems to almost jump up as she quickly turns around. She blushes and shakes her head. "O-oh, nononono! I'm the assistant to the professor! My name is Bianca. It's a pleasure! And you are?"
"I'm Ethan; Champion of Alola." She gasps and claps her hands together.

"Ah! So you require an immediate talk with the Professor."
"Please, that would be awesome." She nods and walks to the other room. Quil and I look at each other. I smile. "Boy, she's adorable, isn't she?"

"Ethan, come on, I'm like, right here?"
"O-oh, I can't say that stuff around you…?" My cheeks turned deep red.
"Okay, I will admit, she is cute. But you belong to me, m'kay?"

"Pffft, of course, I do, Bird Boy." Another quick minute passes, and Professor Juniper comes up to me and shakes my hand. "It's quite the pleasure, Champion of Alola!"
"Likewise, Professor. I'm glad I'm finally in a warm house…"
"Yeah, it gets cold here, but don't worry. Bianca, would you leave us alone for a minute?" She nods and goes into the other room. I take in a deep breath, and immediately announce what I wanted to say. "Professor Juniper, all of the Pokemon that are with me have evolved into Anthropomorphic Pokemon."