"And I give you, ladies and gentlemen," Robert announced as the ship docked at the small port on the beachside. "Route 18."

I walked down the gangplank, shielding my eyes as I stared up. Multiple plateaus rose from the ground, decorated with trees and shrubs. A combination of stairs and trails led up and around the plateaus. Surrounding the island was a sandy beach, which seemed to be occupied by a few Dwebbles and Crustles.

"It might not look it, but it's a pretty big island," Robert said, putting his hands on his hip as he nodded in appreciation. "I came out here once for Professor Juniper to study the local wildlife. We stayed up there, in a house where people can rent out for a night or even a week." He pointed at the largest, centermost plateau, where I could just make out the roof of a building, surrounded by trees.

"Were we planning on staying there the night?" Alex asked. "It's still pretty early."

"Nah, we can probably find a boat to take us to Nuvema Town."

N frowned. "Won't it be quicker to let this boat take us to Nuvema Town?"

"What's life without a little adventure?" Robert asked with a smile. "Plus, I want to show these two the beauty of Unova."

"It's an island," I commented.

"It's more than just an island," Robert said. Now he was frowning at me. "It's a good place to come and relax to enjoy the sun. Plus, a lot of research is done yearly around the island."

"I've been to too many islands," I sighed, enjoying the frustration showing on Robert's face.

"I'll have you know," Robert said loudly, jabbing me in the side. "That this island was once part of the Desert Resort who knows how many hundreds of thousands of years ago."

"If you say so," I flicked his hand away. I smirked as Robert groaned.

"This is totally payback for my earlier jibe isn't it," he groaned. He glanced back at the ship, which was now departing. "Seems like we're the only ones who got off."

"Wanna know something good about islands?" Alex asked, holding out two pokeballs. "It's easier to let out our Pokemon to roam around." She opened both and her Ninetales and Frosmoth appeared, Ninetales sniffing curiously at the sand beneath her paws.

"Good idea," I nodded, throwing two of mine into the air. Arcaneis appeared and immediately dived headfirst into the sand, rolling around like a buffoon. Bisharp stood, looked around, then took off for the nearest Crustle, slamming his blades against it.

"Your Pokemon behave just fine," I sighed to Alex. "And mine..."

"Are a bad influence," Alex said as Arcaneis bowled over Ninetales, both of them beginning to roughhouse on the beach.

N smiled. "Seeing them happy is a great thing to witness."

Bisharp went flying past into the surf as a Crustle made angry clicking noises at him from further up the beach before turning its back. Splashing into the water, I helped the Steel type up. "Next time don't attack wild Pokemon just because. Sometimes they just might be stronger."

"Hurry up Zeno!" Robert yelled. He and the others were heading towards some cracked stone stairs leading up to a small trail on the plateau. "We're gonna leave you behind!"

"Let's go," I said, splashing back to the beach and running towards them with Bisharp alongside me.

"Hello, anyone home?" Robert knocked on the door to the house. It was square in shape and only one story high. It looked worn, but it appeared to be free of dust and dirt, so it must be cleaned regularly.

The door creaked as a girl with messy blonde bed hair opened it a crack, mouth open in a huge yawn. "Y-yes? Who is it?" She asked sleepily. She blinked at us, then focused in on Robert. She yelped and crashed into him with a huge. "Robert! You're finally back!"

The sound of a pokeball opening inside the house was soon followed by a pounding noise as something big ran forwards. The girl yelped and dived out of the way as an Emboar tackled Robert.

Robert laughed aloud, hugging the Emboar best he could. "Good to see you too. Don't burn me now please."

He pulled away, helping the girl to her feet. "It's been a while. How are things?"

"Pretty good," she fumbled at her pockets before turning around to dash back into the house. "Give me a sec!" She returned promptly, sporting red glasses now. She held up her hand in greeting to all of us, matched with a cheerful smile. "Hi, I'm Bianca! And this is my partner Pokemon, Emboar!" She said proudly, putting a hand on Emboar.

Once introductions had been made, Bianca ushered us inside while she prepared some tea. The dining room was just big enough to house us all at a round table with rickety chairs. There was a door that led to the small kitchen and two hallways on either side of the room that led to several rooms.

"Professor Juniper sent me out here only a week ago," Bianca explained, setting the tea on the table. "It's been pretty fun!" She pumped her fist, a fire gleaming in her eyes.

Robert grinned. "I remember when I had to do the same thing here. I was all alone except for my Pokemon. It was a great way to get to know the island's Pokemon."

"Oh, I'm not alone," Bianca said, sitting across from us. "At least not entirely. There's another scientist that's stopped by occasionally. He said he had his own Pokemon research he was conducting and promised not to get in my way. Dunno what he's studying though."

"So Bianca," Alex said, getting the blonde's attention. "Were you and Robert rivals or something before?"

"Something like that," she nodded. "We competed in the Unova League together, but I lost before I could face him. After Robert lost to Alder, he decided to become Professor Juniper's assistant. Soon after she accepted me too."

"She has multiple assistants?" I asked.

"It's still only me and Rob here," Bianca waved her hand. "Was just me while he was gone." Her eyes caught on Zorua, who had just leaped onto N's lap. I could swear they suddenly filled with sparkles. "OH! So cute!" She hurried around the table, but Zorua shrank away from her.

N put a hand protectively on Zorua. "Sorry, but he has trust issues with people."

"Oh," Bianca looked crestfallen. "Alright then." She straightened her glasses and turned to Robert. "Juniper thought you might come out this way. I'll call her and have her send someone with a boat over to carry you to Nuvema. They might not come out today however."

"That's fine with us," I said. "We were planning to explore the island a bit more anyway."

Bianca's eyes lit up. "Oh, right! You all should head to the Eastern side of the island. They were training on one of the plateaus there."

"They?" N asked.

Bianca winked. "Friends of Robert and I. Don't want to spoil the surprise for him."

"I love surprises," Robert grinned. "Why, just earlier today we bumped into Alder on the ship." He gulped down the rest of his tea. "Well, we don't have all day. You wanna come along, Bianca?"

"Oh no no," she shook her head. "I still have a research paper to write up and some observing to do. I stayed up pretty late last night watching the Jellicent around the shore. It was a good full moon and they were all out."

She waved goodbye to us as we headed down a trail that led towards a bridge that connected two plateaus.

"So who was she talking about?" N asked Robert.

He frowned. "I dunno. I've met tons of people in Unova, but I may have an idea." A grin formed on his lips. "It might just be those two."

Arcaneis bounded ahead of us as we crossed another plateau, Ninetales bounding to keep up. Before they had been on the same level of speed, but since his surprise evolution, Arcaneis had become faster.

"However," I thought, watching Arcaneis wait for Ninetales to catch up before bounding ahead, matching his speed to hers. "He's taken her speed into consideration." Looking back, their friendship with one another started the same way his with Alex had. "We started as rivals," I thought, glancing at Alex. "And now look at us. I didn't deserve you, not then. But now, none of that matters."

She caught my eye. "What?" She asked with a grin.

"Nothing," I smiled.

An explosion in the distance caught us by surprise. Zorua yipped and leaped into N's arms as he held his cap to keep it blowing away from the shock wave that rippled past us. The bridge ahead of us rattled and the plateau beyond that looked to be smoking from a deep groove in the earth. Two people were running away as some sort of metallic Pokemon flew after them, a beam attack charging from its back. Another Pokemon, Samurott, put himself between the trainers and the attacking Pokemon, putting up a Protect barrier. The beam of energy collided with the barrier, deflecting it skywards.

"That's no training," I said, rushing out onto the bridge, Alex, Robert, and N close behind. Arcaneis and Ninetales rushed ahead of everyone, Bisharp leaping over our heads to join them. Arcaneis put on a burst of speed, zooming towards the purple metallic Pokemon, which appeared to be flat with a cannon on its head as it flew. Arcaneis threw back his head and blasted a Flamethrower, which it narrowly avoided. It flew around the Flamethrower, intent on the trainers it had been chasing. A Leavanny leaped at the flying Pokemon, lashing out with a long string of web, wrapping it around its middle. It rolled through the air, swinging Leavanny skywards. The webs wrapped around it stretched as limbs tore through them, the metallic Pokemon landing on the ground on two legs. Its body was like a Bug's type, but everything about it seemed cybernetic right down to its robotic red eyes. The cannon on its back began charging up again as it targeted the trainers, who were now backed up against the cliffside, unable to escape.

As it fired, Robert appeared between them, throwing out a pokeball. "Spiky Shield!"

Chesnaught threw up its arms, a huge green spiky shield forming into existence just in time. The beam of metallic energy blasted against it. Chesnaught gritted his teeth as his feet were driven back, but he held his ground until the beam dissipated.

Robert grinned as he looked back at the two trainers. "I'm glad I made it in time."

The Bug Pokemon made an angry metallic chittering noise, its cannon charging up again. Then the charge stopped as it had to leap upwards to avoid Ninetales' blast of fire. It transformed back into its flying form, dodging Bisharp's slash, and zoomed away and disappeared behind a distant plateau.

The guy with the dark grey baggy pants and blue coat fell to the ground as Leavanny hobbled over to him. "Dang't Robert, it took you this long to get here? We were almost killed."

"Ignore him," the girl with the blue shorts and black waistcoat over a white shirt said as she leaned against Samurott, groaning in pain. "He's just mad that he wasn't able to beat that thing."

Both trainers had brown hair, the guy's tucked away beneath his red and white cap while the girl's hair flowed out from behind her white and pink cap.

"What was that Pokemon?" I asked as the rest of us came over.

"Beats me," the guy shook his head. "We were just training when that thing came out of nowhere and started blasting. Thanks for the assist." He stood, wiping his hands on his pants before holding it out for us to shake. "I'm Hilbert. And this is my sister-."

"Hilda," the girl said, raising her hand, but she stayed leaning against her Pokemon, looking exhausted. "'Sup. We ran quite a bit from that thing."

"Hold on," Robert swung off his pack and rifled through it. "I know I got a couple Full Restores in here somewhere. Won't help you two, but your Pokemon look like they need it."

"Get a couple for Serperior and Musharna," Hilbert said, sitting back on the ground, taking off his cap to wipe his forehead. "They were taken out first." He held out a pokeball and Hilda fumbled for one of hers.

"Here," I said, holding out my hand. Hilbert hesitated slightly, then dropped the pokeball into my hand. Alex received Hilda's and we each grabbed a Full Restore from Robert.

I opened the pokeball and a fainted Serperior appeared, body laid out along the grass. He was bruised and had a couple scorch marks. I sprayed the potion along his body, making sure to spray the wounded parts thoroughly. Serperior sighed as his bruises began to disappear and his eyes flickered open. Red serpent eyes regarded me before Hilbert said, "It's alright, Serperior. They helped us."

Alex finished spraying Musharna and the Psychic type floated out of her arms towards Hilda, who held the Pokemon to her chest.

Robert rummaged through his bag again after healing Samurott and Leavanny, producing bandages and a spray. "Not miracle workers like they are for Pokemon, but they should help." He helped Hilda first, spraying the bruises on her arms and legs while bandaging a couple small cuts. He then did the same for Hilbert, who looked at our group.

"So," he said once Robert was finished, fitting his cap back on. "Who are you all?"

"Ah, right," Robert cleared his throat. "These are my friends. The same ones I told you about before, minus N here. Though he isn't any less of a friend. And Hilbert and Hilda here are the friends I traveled with back when I journeyed through Unova."

"They're the ones from Alola?" Hilda guessed. She stood, stretched and winced, then smiled at us. "Robert told us about you both. We even watched your battles in the Alolan League."

"I thought you both looked familiar," Hilbert said to Alex and I. He then switched his gaze to Arcaneis, who had just padded up beside me. His eyes widened. "What is that!?" He gazed at my Pokemon with awe. "He's... strong looking."

Hilda laughed, swinging an arm around her brother. "If you haven't noticed, my brother here is the serious type, but he gets all lovey-dovey for strong Pokemon."

Hilbert's face reddened and he pushed her away. "S-shut up!" He coughed into his fist. "Facing strong Pokemon is the best way to train. That's all." He stared past us at the plateau the strange metallic Pokemon had disappeared. "Do you think it'll be back?"

"Hm, I was wondering that too."

We all whirled around as a man in a white lab coat approached us. A streak of blue hair hung around his blonde head as he smiled behind half moon glasses as he tucked what looked like a stack of reports into his coat pocket. He brought his white gloved hands together. "It looked to be an extraordinary thing, that Pokémon. I would love the chance to study it."

"And who are you?" I asked suspiciously. He looked nice enough, but I had a bad feeling about him.

"Oh, excuse me," he said apologetically as he slid his hands into his coat pockets. "I am a scientist. My name is Colress."