They met Kukui not too long afterwards.
"Ah! So you two did find her! I know you can do it!" Kukui said.
"Yeah. No problem at all." Ash said
"Anyways, now that you've beaten Ilima's trail, you know what that means, right?"
"No, what?"
"It means you can take on the kahuna here!"
"Really? I can take on Hala now?"
Kukui nodded. "So, I'll be anticipating seeing your amazing moves back in Iki town!"
"…Aright. I'll be there."
"Alright! Well until then, see you!" Kukui waved at them, and him and Lillie left. Dawn and Ash went into the pokecenter for the night.
They were eating dinner at the pokemon center. Ash just stared at his food while Dawn looked out the window.
"So… it, the kiss was an accident," Ash started.
Dawn jumped and got a deep red. "O-Of course!" Dawn said. "Oh no. Does he suspect something?" Dawn wondered.
Ash looked at the ground. "… But, did you at least, e-enjoyed it?"
Dawn got even redder and stood up and slammed the table. "Why does it matter? Just because you or I might have liked it, doesn't mean anything!" Dawn shouted.
Ash sat there quiet with a confused look.
Dawn then returned her pokemon, took their food, and went up to her room.
Ash starred at his food with a sigh.
Dawn let out her pokemon to eat on the floor and just stared out at the window. Her pokemon were so worried about her, that they couldn't eat. They all came around her. She knelt down to them.
"I… Why did that?" She sighed. "It's not like he did anything wrong." Dawn looked at them with narrowed eyes and a frown. "I wanted to… as much as I can use Nebby as an excuse..." Dawn clenched her hands. "I enjoy being with him. And that's what matters to me."
Buneary hopped on her lap and nodded.
Dawn smiled at her, and rubbed her head. "I know you get me, Buneary." She looked at all of them with a smile. "I… just hate lying to him, but, if it's to keep Nebby safe, Ash would understand, right?" They all noded. Dawn smiled. "Well, you all better eat so we can get some sleep. I'm sure Ash will want to leave bright and early tomorrow!"
The next morning, Ash and Dawn left without even getting breakfast.
"He must be really out of it, not even wanting to eat…" Dawn thought. "…Maybe I should go and apologize about last night," Dawn whispered.
Dawn walked up by Ash. "Hey Ash."
Ash didn't look at her. "Hey…"
"Listen, about last night… I was just really tired. You didn't deserve to be snapped at like that."
"It's fine… I shouldn't have even asked."
Dawn and Piplup frowned.
They arrived in Iki Town in no time at all. Kukui and Lillie where waiting for them there and came up to them when they arrived.
"I can't wait to see what moves your pokemon does after you completed your first trail," Kukui said.
"I'll leave you amazed for sure…" Ash said.
"Alright! Good luck out there Ash! Remember, Hala is no pushover!"
"Right."
Then Ash saw Hala waiting by the stage where he battled Dawn. He went up to him and Hala turned around to face him.
"Congrats on finishing your trail on Verdant Cavern!" Hala said.
"Thanks," Ash said.
"I suppose you are here to battle the kahuna?"
"Yeah."
Then they walked up the stairs to the wooden stage and started the battle.
"Hey Dawn…" Kukui said.
"What is it, Kukui?" Dawn asked.
"I've noticed Ash has been acting… odd since I meet back up with you after you two found Lillie."
Dawn looked over at Ash with a frown. She noticed that he was really struggling with Hala's mankey.
Kukui crossed his arms. "I've tried asking Lillie. While I have my suspensions that she knows something… she won't tell me anything."
Luckily, Pikachu finally took down Mankey, but looked extremely tired. Ash kept him out, regardless.
"… Can you tell me why he's been less enthusiastic lately?"
Dawn's mouth opened as Pikachu easily went down to Hala's makuhita. "I guess… he's just conflicted is all…"
"Huh?"
Dawn looked down at Piplup. "…I don't know really know." Dawn looked over at Ash as his Crabrawler went down.
"Ash… I don't think your head is clear right now. Maybe we can just call off the match and do this later," Hala said.
Ash clenched his eyes shut. "Why? Why can't I get this kiss out of my head? It… Doesn't even matter," Ash thought. Then he gasped as he realized something. How slow she was moving, and how she raised up when it happened.
"… So what will it be?" Hala asked.
"…She didn't trip," Ash whispered.
"Come on Ash! You can do it!" Dawn shouted.
Ash looked at her.
"I know you can! So snap out of it, and get serious!"
Ash grinned. "Hey, that's what I was planning on doing!"
Dawn smiled while she stared at him.
Ash sent out Dartrix.
Dawn gasped. "When did he get that pokemon?"
Her rotom dex came out. "Dartrix. The evolved form of Rowlet. It throws sharp fathers at enemies and seldom misses!"
Ash smiled as he remembered Rowlet evolving when fighting off the bird pokemon when looking for Lillie.
Dartrix came in fast with Peck, while Makuhita retaliated with Arm Thrust. Dartrix used Razor Leaf and hit Makuhita hard. Makuhita get in a Sand Attack before it got knocked out with another Peck. Hala sent out Crabrawler last. Crabrawler started things off strong with the Z-Move, All Out Pummeling and hit Dartrix hard. Dartrix came in with a Peck, but missed and got hit by Crabrawler's Power-Up Punch. Dartrix used Razor Leaf, but most of it missed. Crabrawler came after Dartrix with Pursuit, and Dartrix used this time to come after it full force with Peck, and hit. Crabrawler tried another Power-Up Punch, but Dartrix dodged it, and hit him with Tackle. Crabrawler tried Power-Up Punch again, but Dartrix did a spin dodge and hit with Razor Leaf. Crabrawler hit the ground and struggled to get up, so Dartrix came and finished it off with Peck. Hala returned his last pokemon.
"Great job, Dartrix!" Ash shouted.
Dartrix happily hooted at him.
Hala smirked. "Now, this is the Ash I expected!"
A loud "Ta pukoko ko!" filled the air.
"Even Tapu Koko enjoyed the battle!"
Ash smiled at the sky.
"Take this Z Crystal, Ash. It allows you to share your power with your pokemon!" Hala gave Ash the Fightinium Z.
"Thank you so much!"
"To be able to use this move, you must move exactly so." Hala got into a stance, and started punching rapidly, then stomped one foot in front and stopped.
"Got it!"
"Now you have cleared all the trails on Melelmele Island."
"Man, it still feels like I started this challenge yesterday!"
"I wish you luck as you continue on your challenge!"
"Thanks!"
Ash went to Dawn to show her the Z Crystal. Dawn stared at him with a smile. She still doesn't understand what got him back to his normal self, but she was extremely glad he was back. Ash put up a hand, and Dawn smiled and gave him a high five. Ash intertwined their fingers and quickly pulled her up to his face and kissed her on the lips. Dawn's eyes got wide and became extremely red. Then Ash pulled away with an innocent smile. "Opps, I tripped!"
Dawn didn't know what to say, but seeing him, she couldn't be mad. She finally calmed down enough to say, "alright… you got me."
They both laughed.
Everyone started moving, when suddenly there was a loud "moo!" sound and Tauros came running to Dawn and Ash.
"Woah, Tauros!" Hala shouted.
Hala then got an idea and turned to Ash and Dawn.
"Hey, how about I set up my Tauros so you can ride it wherever you like?"
"That'd be awesome!" Ash shouted.
"That's great! I'm sure he'd like to see the Island Challenge, too!"
Dawn walked over and petted Tauros. "And we are very appreciative of Tauros coming along to help us!"
Tauros happily mooed.
"I'll get everything you'll need to rid him," Hala said.
Ash and Dawn went to change into riding gear that Hala gave them, and when they came back, they saw that Tauros had a big saddle on him. Then Hala came over to Ash.
"Here, you should have this, too!" Hala gave ash a ride pager.
"Go ahead and hop on Tauros!"
"Alright!" Ash got on Tauros. "This is so cool! You should try it too, Dawn!"
"Sure." Dawn walked up to Ash and Tauros. Ash held out a hand to her, and she took it. Then Ash pulled her up in front, and held onto the handles in front.
Dawn blushed, as she was nice and secure in Ash's arms.
"I bet the world looks a bit different from atop of a mighty Tauros, eh?" Hala asked.
"Yeah!" Ash shouted.
"Pokemon in Alola lend us their strength and let us ride on them."
"That's so cool!"
"About that Ride Pager, it lets you summon a ride pokemon. Just use that whenever you need Tauros. Why don't you have a ride around on Tauros? I'm sure you'll be charmed by Tauros!"
"Yeah! Sounds great!"
"Well to continue your challenge, you'll need to ride back to the marine in Hau'oli City!" Kukui said.
"Alright! I'll be there!"
"Well, better get that boat cleaned up then! Come with me to help, Lillie!" Kukui and Hala then left.
Lillie walked up to Ash and Dawn. "Um… can I speak to you, Dawn for a moment?"
"Yeah," Dawn said. She then got down from Tauros and followed Lillie away from Ash.
"I'd like to ask you a favor," Lillie said.
"What is it?" Dawn asked.
"Well, Nebby's home… is actually real far away from here."
Dawn frowned. "Oh no…"
"I… want to help it get home. Nebby, it saved my life once before when I got into trouble. Now I want to save it!"
Dawn nodded. "That makes sense!"
"I don't think there's not much I can do to help it, because I'm not a trainer. But… you and Ash are real trainers. And if I could go with you…" Then Lillie looked on the ground. "I shouldn't ask a near stranger to do such things…"
"No way! I want to help Nebby too!"
Lillie smiled. "Thank you so much! I didn't know what else I could do!"
"But… you still want to keep it a secret from Ash?"
"Yeah…"
Dawn frowned. She hoped for a different answer, even though she expected that answer. "I'll go tell Ash… without letting him know about Nebby."
"Thank you, Dawn!"
