The next morning, Dawn called her mom to tell her about her vacation.
"… And look who I bumped into mom!" Dawn shouted.
Ash moved in front of the screen and waved. "Hey Johanna! How's it going?"
"Ash! It's good to see you again!" Johanna said.
Pikachu hopped up in front of the screen with a, "Pii ka!"
Johanna giggled. "Good to see you too, Pikachu!"
"I bumped into him while I was here in Alola, mom!" Dawn said.
"I'm so glad you bumped into him again! He was a big help when you traveled in Sinnoh, and after he left it's like you couldn't stop talking about him!"
Dawn blushed. "O-oh, come on mom! No need to exaggerate!"
Johanna laughed.
"But you know, Dawn has been a huge help to me too!" Ash shouted.
"Oh really?"
"Yeah! She came up with these great moves, and helped me get a tactic down! They really helped me with a lot of battles I struggled with!" Ash grinned at Dawn.
Dawn looked at him with a smile and a small blush. "Ash…" Dawn thought.
"It seems someone is behind you is waiting to talk to you two!" Johanna said.
Both of them turned around and saw Lillie.
"Oh! Hi Lillie!" Ash shouted.
"Hi… sorry to intrude on the conversation but, Kukui told me to bring him you two. But, I can wait to finish your conversation," Lillie said.
"Don't worry Lillie! We are almost done here," Dawn said.
"Lillie, are you Ash's and Dawn's friend? I'm so proud of you Dawn! Just making friends everywhere you go! And she's a cute friend, like just like Ash and my Dawn is!"
Lillie gave a surprised look. "M-Me? Oh, thank you! It's very nice to meet you!"
Johanna smiled. "Nice to meet you too, dear! Well, I should get going! Take care Dawn!"
"I will! Bye mom!" Dawn said.
The screen then turned black.
"You… have a really nice mother, right?" Lillie asked.
"Yeah! She's extremely nice!" Ash shouted.
Dawn smiled a bit. "I guess…"
"Well, we should get going!" Lillie then left the pokecenter, and Dawn and Ash followed close behind her.

Lillie told the two that Kukui's lab is on the beach on the end of the path they were on, so Ash excitedly ran ahead to see what he'd want them for. Lillie gave him a weird look, while Dawn sighed. Dawn took this as the perfect opportunity to talk to Lillie about telling the truth about Nebby.
"So… Ash is really nice too, huh?" Dawn asked.
"He does seem… really caring," Lillie said. She remembered when Ash asked her if her 'brother' Nebby was okay.
"And he doesn't seem like a guy that would never even think about harming any pokemon, right?"
Lillie remembered when Ash chose the friendly Rowlet that came to him. "Yeah."
"So… What's the harm of telling him the truth about Nebby?" Dawn asked.
Lillie stared at the ground with an uneasy look, and started talking in a low tone. "Nebby… I mean Cosmog, is a rare pokemon that came from someplace faraway."
Dawn stared at the bag. "Wow, really?"
"Yes. He has strange power that once saved me. But… there are people that want that power for themselves."
Dawn then was reminded of team rocket, and gave an angry look. "Of course…"
"So… It's just better if I don't talk about him or let out who Nebby is as much as I can… You never know, if other people around that might hear will try and take him."
"I-I see…"
"So… Please Dawn. Don't mention Nebby to anyone!"
Dawn gave a sad look. She didn't want to keep lying to Ash, but it looked as though she had no choice. "…Okay."

All three of them arrived at Kukui's house, and shouting and a bunch of ruckus could be heard coming from it.
"Uhh… What's going on?" Ash asked.
"Come on Rockruff! I'm ready! Show me what you got!" Kukui shouted.
Barking could be heard, then a loud smacks could be heard.
"Oh no… Here they go again," Lillie said.
"What?" Dawn asked.
"The professor… Never stops researching moves. Even when he's inside the lab."
"Wow! What dedication!" Ash shouted.
Lillie sighed. "We are going to have to patch the roof again… And that lab coat I got cleaned will be in shreds. I can't mend clothes, so he'll just have to buy a new one."
Ash frowned. "Wow. Seems like being an assistant could be frustrating work…" Ash commented.
"Well, it's the least I can do for him… after he generously took me in and let me impose for a three whole months and counting!"
Dawn smiled. "While he may be a bit crazy, he seems like an extremely generous man!" Dawn said.
"Of course! Well, we better go in before he causes any more damage…"
Dawn and Ash both agreed, and they all ran inside.

Once inside, there was some damage to the walls, floors, and Kukui himself. But other than that, the place looked very nice. Kukui was in front of the door, and noticed the three when they came in.
"Hey Ash and Dawn! Thanks for getting them for me, Lillie!" Kukui said. He walked over to them.
"Of course. I am your assistant, so I should help you however I can, right?" Lillie said.
"Rockruff's moves were amazing and I was making great work for my research. Anyways, can I see your pokedexes?" Kukui asked.
Dawn and Ash both replied, "sure!" Then they gave their pokedexes to them.
"So, you two like my place?"
"Yeah! It looks amazing!" Ash shouted.
"Thanks. But that's not what I called you here for. Here! I finally got these!"
"It?" Dawn asked.
"Yes! You see, there are these pokemon inside the pokedexes called Rotom!"
"Wow, really?" Ash shouted.
"Yeah! So you know Rotom can take resident up in machines, right?"
"Yeah! I've seen it happen before!"
"Awesome, right? So, we take that amazing skill of Rotom to work… we got the next generation of pokedexes! But it's only complete once we get these Rotom in these pokedexes designed for their bodies! A new way for pokemon and people to communicate!"
"Awesome!"
"So now, I just need to upgrade your pokedexes with the parts I just got…" Kukui quickly put the parts in their pokedexes, and their pokedexes sprung to life with a face resembling a Rotom on them.
"Hey you Rotoms, take good care of these two!" Kukui said.
They both floated to their owner.
"Hiya!" one said to Ash.
"Hey! Nice to meet you Rotomdex!" Ash said.
"Nice to meet you too!"
"Hello!" Dawn said to her Rotomdex.
"Hi! Please don't get too rough with me!" it replied.
"I would never even think of that!"
"Yeah! So you see now that you can communicate with your pokedexes!"
They both nodded.
"It looks like they taken a liken to you two!"
"So… how exactly will this help us?" Dawn asked.
"You two don't really know how to navigate around Alola. So I programmed them to specially to help you navigate around!"
"Wow! This well really help! Thanks professor!" Ash shouted.
"No problem! To see where you're at, just look at the rotom dex, and to get the Town Map, just tap his screen."
"I don't know. Do you think you can handle reading a map, Ash?" Dawn teased. She remembered how he had Brock help him with navigation, until he decided to be a doctor. And then had Cilan do it in Isshu.
"Hey! Of course I can!" Ash shouted.
"Anyways, there are some important things you two should know about the island challenge!" Kukui said.
Ash and Dawn gave their full attention to him.
"The island challenge is a chance to be the strongest trainer in Alola – the island challenge champion!"
"Awesome!" Ash shouted.
"It's an adventure for you and your pokemon!"
Dawn narrowed her eyes. "Well, that's nothing new for us!"
"There are four main islands that make up Alola, and a kuhuna on all of them. To be recognized as worthy by them, you must complete seven trials."
"Wow… That's quite a lot," Dawn said.
"You two! I'd like it if you were to give it a shot! The battled you two displayed greatly showed perfect usage of your pkoemon's moves in a unique way! I think you two have talent for that!"
"Wow! Really?" Ash shouted.
"Yeah! So, will you do it?"
"Of course!" Ash shouted.
Dawn was looking down at the ground with a frown and narrowed eyes.
"I'm really interested in seeing your more of pokemon's moves, and even with those you meet along the way here. So I hope you both give it a shot! Here, take these!" Kukui gave them some amulets.
"What are these?" Ash asked.
"Everybody doing the challenge here gets one of these island challenge amulets!
"Alright!" Ash then clipped it on his bag.
"Okay, get going you two!"
"Right!" Ash was about to bolt out the door.
"For trainers school!"
"What?" Ash shouted.
"That's where you shall begin the island challenge!"
"Alright…"
"Hey Lillie! How about you travel with these two to help them around, until they get used to their Rotoms?"
"Of course!"
After that, they all said their goodbyes to Kukui and headed out on their adventure.

"The island challenge… so that's how the people of Alola connect with the world," Lillie said.
"It is very unique journey to do, but… I'm not sure if I want to really do it," Dawn said. Dawn looked down at the amulet she got.
"I understand how you feel, Dawn."
"Really?"
"Of course! I am fine with helping out, but I'd never really want to do the challenge myself!"
"Hey Dawn! Don't sweet it! You said that you'd just like to watch me, and that's totally fine with me!" Ash said.
Dawn formed a small smile. "Yeah, but…" She looked at her Z-ring. "Will I be able to do what Tapu Koko needs me to do?"
Ash stopped and faced her with a reassuring smile. "Of course! Just because you won't have Z-moves, doesn't make you useless at all, Dawn!"
Lillie smiled. "He's right! I mean, you protected Nebby without any pokemon by your side, so…"
"Wait, Dawn you did that?"
Lillie gasped realizing her mistake.
"That's so amazing!"
Dawn grinned. "Your right. Thanks, you two."