A/N: So I have midterms this week and I am so stressed. Since I'm so overwhelmed with studying for so many exams, I figured writing this chapter will help me relax a bit. Since it's almost Halloween, I'm going to be extra giving and answer some questions at the end of this chapter that some readers pm me last month. Happy Halloween everyone and please do enjoy this chapter!
Guest: Gracias! Voy a intentar actualizar siempre que puedo!
Chapter 8: Lost in the City
When they arrived at Hau'oli City, Moon found herself absorbed in her new surroundings. She realized that Hau'oli City was much larger in comparison to Iki Town. There were many buildings, streets, and cars all around with many crowds of people. She never realized that there were larger cities. She had assumed that most of the places she, Sun, and Hau would visit would be roughly the same size. She was embarrassed that she assumed this. Especially when Sun and Hau were knew about the size of the city they had just arrived at. From what they had told her, they had been at Hau'oli City countless of times.
"Oh boy, Sun! I can't wait to get a malasada! They're the best food in the world!" Hau beamed, his eyes twinkling in excitement as his mouth salivated at that thought.
The three stopped by the beach that was near the entrance of the city. Moon listened to the waves as they softly crashed against the shore, smiling fondly at the sound the waves made. It was a gentle, peaceful sound that she could never get tired of. It reminded her that there so many things that were yet to be explored by her. Now that she was on a journey with Sun and Hau, she could experience those things. The very things that were kept away from her for as long as she remember.
"Bzzzt! I cannot see how malasadas are the best food in the world." Moon heard Rotom pipe up by her. She turned away from the beach to see Rotom moving away from her towards Hau. He stopped in front of him with a big red question mark on his screen.
Moon watched this, silently agreeing with Rotom. As soon as they started to get closer to Hau'oli City, Hau started to talk nonstop and about malasadas. As she listened to Hau describe them, she found out that they were a type of food that could be bought at Hau'oli City. Although she had no idea what they looked like or tasted like, given how Hau was so excited for them, she wondered if they were as good as he claimed they were.
"You'll understand when you try them, Rotom. Trust me." Hau said as he winked at Rotom, interrupting Moon's thoughts.
She watched as Hau turned towards Sun with a wide smile. "Right, Sun?"
Sun nodded, but frowned.
"But before we do that, we should probably meet that person Professor Kukui wanted us to meet." Sun pointed out reminding Hau that they didn't come to Hau'oli City just for sightseeing.
Immediately, Hau's shoulders slumped forward. "Aww, can't we at least take a small break to relax? We just got here!"
"Well…"
Sun looked over to Moon and gave Hau's statement some thought. It would be beneficial for them to relax for awhile. Especially, since they had walked quite a bit from the Trainers School. And knowing Hau, it wouldn't do good to keep him away from malasadas for so long now that they were in Hau'oli City. After all, they were his favorite food.
"Okay," Sun decided, as he looked back to Hau. "Let's go get those malasadas then."
"Yeah!" Hau exclaimed, extending his fist into the air in excitement.
Before Sun could even tell him to calm down, Hau took off into the street and turned into another street, leaving Sun and Moon behind.
"Wait, Hau!" Sun yelled, hoping that Hau would hear him. It was obvious that he didn't.
Sighing in annoyance, Sun glanced over to Moon and told her to follow him. He took off into the direction Hau went, disappearing around the same street Hau had turned into with Rotom not too far behind. Moon moved to follow him, but when she turned into the same street, she found no sign sign of Sun and Hau waiting for her. Instead, all around her were crowds of people shopping or having conversations with each other.
Realizing that Hau and Sun were nowhere in sight and that she was alone, Moon immediately began to panic. She took off into the crowd blindlessly as her thoughts became hazy with only one goal in mind: to find Hau and Sun. She ignored the constant stares she received from people as she ran as she looked everywhere for Sun and Hau. But the more times she turned into a different street, the more she began to grow fearful that she would never find Sun and Hau. After all, she had no idea where she was in the city to begin with.
"Oof!"
Moon felt her body collide with something hard, sending her body tumbling over towards the ground. But before her body could make contact with the pavement, she felt something warm grabbed onto her wrist, pulling her forward. Moon blinked, dazed, as she looked up to see who had caught her hoping that it was either Sun or Hau. Instead, she saw a pink-haired, young man staring down at her with worry present in his warm gray eyes. She stared at him in a stupor, slowly processing what just happened. She had never seen the person that had caught her before.
The pink-haired man released her hand as he politely apologized to Moon.
"My apologizes. I should have looked where I was going. I do hope you're not hurt?"
Moon slowly shook her head. The man smiled in relief as he spoke once more.
"That is good. I am Captain Ilima. And you are?"
"Moon…" Moon answered quietly.
Something flashed in the man's eyes, as if he recognized Moon's name. Moon noticed this, but did not make any effort to ask why he recognized her name. There were other things she needed to do. She had to find Sun and Hau first. She was worried that she would not find them.
"Are you here by yourself, Moon?" Moon heard Ilima say.
She turned towards him and shook her head. "No, I-I came here with my friends and I became separated from them."
"I see…" Ilima murmured to himself.
"Well then, how about I help you find your friends? I too am looking for some people. I have a feeling we might find both whom we're looking for if we stay together."
Moon stared at Ilima, confused. While she didn't want to refuse Ilima's offer, it was weird that he wanted to help her. They barely had just met, let alone introduced their names to each other, and yet, he wanted to help her.
Moon blinked and looked over to the maze of streets that were near them as she thought quietly. She wanted to refuse, but knew she couldn't. She was lost and had no idea where she was. If she had any chance of finding Sun and Hau, her best chance would be to look for them with Ilima. She hoped that he knew his way around the city.
"I would appreciate your help," Moon finally said as she looked back at Ilima in gratitude after so much time of thinking in silence. "Thank you."
Ilima simply nodded with a smile. "Now then, where do you think your friends have gone to?"
"They went to get malasadas, I think." Moon answered quietly.
Ilima placed his hand under his chin as he quietly thought about Moon's answer. "Hmm… Malasadas…"
He smiled as he dropped his hand back to his side. "If they are getting malasadas, then the only place to get them is the Malasada Shop."
"Malasada Shop?" Moon questioned, raising an eyebrow at the name.
Ilima nodded. "It's actually not too far away from here. Let's head there together."
Moon nodded and allowed Ilima to lead her away. Together, they walked towards a street Moon did not remember turning into and passed through it into a different street. As they walked, Moon found herself gazing at all the different buildings that surrounded her. Many of them displayed things at their windows that Moon assumed that people could buy. Other buildings that Moon observed were wider and taller houses. She wondered if large amount of people live in the houses. The one building that struck her the most was a tall building that seemed to stretched towards the blue sky. Moon stared at it with awe. She had no idea how people could build such tall buildings, but the size of them was interesting to observe.
"And we're here."
Moon looked away from the tall building she had been looking at and looked towards the place she and Ilima had stopped at. It was a small building that had pictures of a Pokémon on the windows and on the sign near the entrance. Moon stared at the shop puzzled. She wondered why Hau wanted to come to such a small shop.
"Shall we go in?" Ilima asked, noticing how quiet Moon was.
Moon nodded and together, she and Ilima walked inside the building. When they entered, Moon was struck by a succulent smell. She chose to ignore how the smell made her mouth watered and instead look around her new surroundings. She and Ilima were now in a small room. In front of them were two woman standing behind glass counters with food being displayed inside them. In the other side of the room were small booths. Moon noticed that there were people sitting in the booths eating the food with their Pokémon. Both them and their Pokemon looked unbelievably happy as they enjoyed their food.
However, there were no sign of Sun and Hau inside the shop.
"Do you see your friends?" Moon heard Ilima asked.
She shook her head with sorrow at is question and looked away from the booths towards to Ilima. "They're not here."
"Well then, let's confirm if they had come here." Ilima spoke, causing Moon to gaze at him in shock.
He walked towards the ladies in the counter and spoke once more.
"Greetings. Did you have any noticeable customers come in?"
Both of the woman looked at each other for a second and looked back at Ilima and nodded.
"Yes, we did. Two boys actually with a floating Pokédex." One of the woman said.
"But they immediately left before purchasing anything. I think one of them said that they left their friend behind." The second woman added.
Moon felt her stomach somersault at hearing what the woman said, as the sorrow she had been feeling began to wash away and be replaced with happiness. Sun and Hau had been here. And they were looking for her now. She had thought that maybe after so much time, they had forgotten her, but now she knew it was wrong for her to think of that. Sun and Hau wouldn't abandon her. She made a promise with them to go on this journey together with them. There was no way they were going to leave her behind and leave without her to anywhere.
From the corner of his eye, Ilima noticed Moon's renewed determination. It was as if a fire that had almost been extinguished had suddenly become lit inside of her. From his first meeting with her, he knew there something special about Moon. It was clear more than ever that she was more than the reserved girl he initially met. And if he was right, her battling skills would meet the criteria to move forward.
"I see. Thank you." Ilima told the women, choosing to push his thoughts away about Moon and continue helping her. He smiled in gratitude at them and turned towards Moon.
"If your friends are out in the city looking for you, then let's look out there as well. I am sure we will meet up soon."
"Right," Moon said, nodding with renewed confidence.
Ilima was a bit surprised by the change of her personality, but said nothing about it. If anything, he wanted to know the heights where the female Trainer that stood in front of could reach. Moon was definitely a Trainer he had to keep an eye on.
The two exited out of the Malasada Shop and walked towards the street to the left of the shop. As they walked, Moon kept her focus on her surroundings making sure to not miss anything. Ilima watched her as she do this with a slight smile. He could tell that Moon cared much about the friends she was looking for. He wondered if it was the same for her Pokemon.
Eventually, the two walked to a street that led to a port. They both stopped as Moon gazed at the cerulean, crystal clear water that surrounded the port. The gentle breeze gusted the waves back and forth calmly, as each ripple reflected the sunlight into a beautiful mosaic of colors. Moon gazed at the waves with a serene smile enjoying the beautiful canvas in front of her. She was always fascinated by the sheer beauty of the ocean.
"Do you see your friends?"
Moon blinked and turned away from the ocean to Ilima, slightly embarrassed that she had been captivated by the ocean yet again. After taking a quick look around her surroundings, she shook her head to Ilima and answered no to his question. Sun and Hau still were nowhere to be seen.
"I see. Your friends may have went back to the place where you were separated from. Do you know where that may be?"
Moon furrowed her eyebrows as she quietly processed Ilima's question. The last place she had been with Sun and Hau before they got separated was…
She widened her eyes realizing what that place was. The place that she should have remembered in the first place. She smiled as she turned to Ilima with her answer.
"We became separated right by the beach."
Ilima nodded, pleased that Moon remembered. "Then let's head there. Your friends may be there waiting for you."
Moon nodded and made to take a step, but stopped when a familiar voice could be heard nearby.
'Yo, yo, yo, check it! Look who it is! The girl who interrupted our fun last time!"
Moon frowned and turned along with Ilima to see two male Team Skull grunts walking towards them. She instantly recognized them. They were the same grunts that had hurt Hau and her with their Pokemon.
"We're going to make you pay for what you did!" the second male grunt said.
He took out his Pokéball and released a Salandit from it, the same one that had sent Moon falling off the cliff. She stared at it with fearful eyes, until she saw a hand reaching out in front of her. She looked away from the gleaming Salandit to see Ilima staring calming at the Team Skulls grunts.
"I suggest that you two leave. I won't stand for those who bring harm to others."
"Oh yeah?!" the first grunt seethed. He took out his Pokeball and released his Pokémon, a Pokémon that Moon had never seen before. She stared at it as the first grunt pointed at her and Ilima.
"Yo, let's check these fools! Let's show them that they can't get away mocking Team Skull!"
"Oh my… How terrifying…" Ilima mused. He turned to Moon with an amused expression. "Moon, let's battle together against these two."
Moon widened her eyes at Ilima's statement. Reluctantly, she nodded her head to fight with him. She was afraid to fight the people that stood in front of her that had hurt her and Hua, but she knew she had to fight. She had faith in her Pokémon and faith that Ilima would help make the two Team Skull pay for what they did.
"Mikio, please help!" Moon yelled, sending out her Rowlet out of his Pokéball.
She watched as Rowlet appeared out of the shining light and landed on the ground, softly cooing at Moon. She nodded at him and turned and watched as Ilima sent his own Pokémon out for the battle. She had never seen the Pokémon that he had called out, but Moon could tell that it was exceptionally strong.
"Salandit, use dragon rage on Yungoos!"
"Rattata, use bite on that Rowlet!"
Moon quickly shook her thoughts away and gave a command to Mikio. She had to focus on the battle.
"Mikio, surround yourself with leafage!"
Mikio hooted in response to Moon's command. He rotated himself as he released a barrage of leaves, completing engulfing himself inside the vortex of leaves. Both Rattata and Salandit stopped from attacking and stared at the vortex of leaves surprised as the two grunts gawked at Moon in shock at what she told her Pokémon to do. Nearby Moon, Ilima smiled, amused at the scene before him. Moon was definitely a splendid trainer. He turned away from her and gave his Pokémon a command.
"Yungoos, use yawn!"
Yungoos dashed forward to the two still Pokémon. Before the two grunts could command their Pokémon to attack again, Yungoos opened its mouth and released a loud yawn at Salandit and Rattata. The two grunts laughed after Yungoos had finished its attack and returned to Ilima's side.
"Ha! Is that the best you can do?! Check this!" The second grunt taunted. He pointed his finger at the vortex of leaves that Moon's Rowlet surrounded itself in as he gave Salandit a command.
"Use flamethrower, Salandit!"
Moon widened her eyes and opened her mouth to tell Mikio to escape, but a stream of fire quickly came into view from Salandit's mouth and immediately enveloped the green vortex of leaves. She heard Mikio cry out in pain and moved out of the chaos of burning leaves as he fell onto the ground. She watched as he slowly stood up, but winced at each movement he made. Moon had a sinking feeling that Mikio was badly hurt.
"Yo, yo, yo, time to finish this! Salandit, use dragon rage!" the second grunt commanded as he sneered at the injured Rowlet.
"Use assurance, Rattata!" the first grunt commanded, joining in the fun.
Moon bit into her bottom lip and moved to get Mikio out of there, but she felt a hand grabbed onto her wrist, stopping her from doing so. She turned away from the battle at Ilima, confused at why he was preventing her from protecting her Pokémon. But one look at his eyes told her that everything would be fine. Mikio would be okay.
"Hey, hey, hey! What gives!? Salandit, get up!"
"You too, Rattata! This is no time to be sleeping!"
Moon looked away from Ilima and back at the battlefield, seeing that both Salandit and Rattata were laying down on the ground asleep. She stared at them confused. She wondered when they had fallen asleep and why they were even asleep in the first place.
"Yawn is a move that lulls the Pokemon into falling asleep after a while after it is used," Moon heard Ilima say as she turned back to him.
His mouth formed into an amused smiled as he placed a hand on his hip. "Now then, let's end this battle, shall we? Moon, let's have your Rowlet and my Yungoos attack together."
Moon gaped at Ilima, but quickly shook her shock away. She nodded towards him as she turned back to Mikio, who stared back at her in determination. Despite the fact he was heavily injured from the flames that had overpowered him, she could tell that Mikio was still raring to fight once more. And so was she.
"Mikio, use leafage!"
"Yungoos, use take down!"
Mikio hooted and released another torrent of green leaves at the two asleep Pokémon. They were completely engulfed by them and immediately woke up from the attack the leaves dealt to their bodies. But before they could regain their bearings, Yungoos dashed towards them with speed and slammed its body into them full force, sending the two Pokémon crashing into the grunts. The grunts held onto their now fainted Pokémon and glared back at Moon with rage burning in their eyes.
"Yo, we ain't letting this go! We'll make you wish that you had never messed with Team Skull!"
Both of the grunts returned their Pokémon back into their Pokéballs and turned and ran away. Moon watched them leave in silence as she wondered if they would really show up again. It was clear more than ever now that they were out to hurt her and her friends. But she still had no idea what Team Skull even was and why the people in that group would even try to hurt others. It was immoral that they took joy in that.
"Coo…"
"Mikio!" Moon called out, suddenly remembering that her Rowlet was hurt. She ran forward to Mikio as she picked him up into her arms, assessing his injuries. She sucked in her breath when she noticed the small burns on Mikio's body. Mikio had been burned.
"Here, use this." Moon heard Ilima say behind her.
She turned away from Mikio to Ilima, seeing that he was holding out a small green spray bottle towards her. She hesitantly took it into her hands and stared at it, confused on what to do with it. Ilima noticed and softly smiled as he explained to Moon what he gave to her.
"This is a medicine that will heal your Rowlet from his burns. You must spray it directly onto Rowlet's burns."
Mikio nodded in understanding and turned towards Mikio. Slowly, she held the bottle up over the small burns on Rowlet's body and sprayed the medicine onto them. She felt Mikio wince in pain, but immediately became relaxed after several seconds. Smiling in relief that the medicine was working, Moon sprayed more onto the burns she had missed. Each spray made Mikio coo softly, but Moon could tell he was healing. Her Pokémon was no longer in pain from his burns.
When she was finally finished spraying the medicine onto Mikio's burns, Moon turned away from her sleeping Pokémon to Ilima and properly thanked him for his help. She was surprised that he was happy to help her. She didn't expect that from him.
"I must admit," Ilima said as he returned his Yungoos back to his Pokéball, "you and your Pokémon make quite an interesting team. I can tell you and your Rowlet have a strong bond."
"A strong bond…" Moon murmured to herself as she looked down at her sleeping Pokemon. Since meeting Mikio, she had come to see Mikio more than her partner. After all the lessons about Pokémon battles she received from Sun and Hau, she had learned how to trust Mikio and listen to his voice. Mikio was her first Pokémon that she befriended. She supposed it was natural for her to have a strong bond with him.
But despite that, she was afraid. She was afraid that Mikio would come to hate her for allowing him to get hurt. It was her fault that he had gotten burned from the Salandit for not telling Mikio to move out of danger fast enough. Because of that, she wondered if she was even good enough to be Mikio's trainer.
"Moon!"
Moon lifted her head, recognizing the familiar voice that called out to her from behind. She turned to see Sun and Hau waving at her as they ran towards her with Rotom floating next them.
She stared at them with a small smile as they moved closer to her each second. When they were finally near to her, she found herself immediately enveloped in a tight hug as she heard Sun and Hau apologize to her.
"We're so sorry, Moon! We didn't mean to leave you behind!" Hau said as he and Sun released Moon from their hug.
"I should have made sure you were next to me. I'm sorry, Moon." Sun said, bowing his head.
Moon stared at the two as her mouth slowly formed into a smile. She slowly shook her head as she spoke.
"It's okay. It was my fault as well. Thank you for finding me."
"So were you here this whole time Moon? How did you get here?" Hau asked as he looked around. He stopped once his gaze fell onto Ilima. He and Sun both narrowed their eyes on him in suspicion as they moved closer to Moon.
"Who is that, Moon?" Sun asked.
Moon opened her mouth to speak, but Ilima cut her off.
"My apologizes. How rude of me not to introduce myself. I am Captain Ilima, the Trial Captain of Melemele Island's Verdant Cavern, which is where you three will be taking your first Trial at."
A/N: It's question time. Below are questions are things that readers have asked me that I haven't answered yet. Read at your own risk. Hehe~
Q: Will Moon be shipped with either Sun or Hau?
A: No, she will not. She sees them somewhat as her new family. Besides, I'm not too big on romance (bad at writing it). But you'll find out later why exactly I haven't had any plans for Moon to get together will either of the boys.
Q: Why does Hau seem much more stronger in battles than in compared to how he was in the games?
A: Something happened to Hau when he was a child that made him determined enough to want to become stronger. He does still want to have fun with his Pokémon, but as you can see, it's less than how he was in the games.
Q: Why was Sun hesitant that Moon should be called 'Moon'?
A: Let's just say that the name 'Moon' is extremely important to him and his mother.
Q: Are you going to take the new Pokémon games in consideration in this story when they come out?
A: I might. I haven't decided yet. And given how I'm basing this story on watching walkthroughs and reading summaries, it might be difficult, but we shall see.
Q: Roughly how long will this story will be?
A: Yikes, that it a good question. Sadly, I don't have an answer for it. Because of my slow updates, it's safe to say it's going to be awhile before I can even hope to complete this story.
And that's all the questions I will be answering. If you enjoyed this, don't be hesitant to ask me more questions. I will answer them (if they don't ask for too much spoilers) in future chapters. As always, thanks for reading and please do review. They make me update a tad bit faster.
Current Teams:
Moon: Mikio (Rowlet)
Sun: Kuro (Litten)
Hau: Azura (Popplio), Maui (Pichu)
