Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, Gamefreak and Nintendo do.
Anyways, sorry for the long wait, I've been dealing with finals all of last week, so I was busy. But now I'm on Christmas break! Yay! Also, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed this story. It really means a lot to me :) So without further ado, here is chapter 2!
Sil and Lillie walked back through Mahalo Trail to get to Iki Town, talking as they walked along the path. "So… do you live around here?" Sil said, awkwardly. "Yes." Lillie responded. "I live with the professor in his lab." This comment earned a raised eyebrow and very quizzical look from Sil. "Wait… no! It's not like that! I swear!" Lillie cried out, flustered. "The professor was just kind enough to take me in, because I'm going through some rough stuff right now." Lillie's face was redder than a tamato berry by this point. "Well… if you say so." Sil responded, his stoic expression returning.
After Lillie recomposed herself, she returned the question. "So, did you move to Alola recently? Or are you just visiting?"
"I didn't move here, but I'll be in Alola for a while. I heard about the island challenge, and I was hoping I could participate in it." Sil responded. "So, you must be a Pokémon trainer then." Lillie said. "Well… I suppose you could say that…" Sil responded, albeit, a bit awkwardly. Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, a Pokémon came rolling out of the brush and landed in the middle of the path. It had light brown fur, with a wide yellow stripe on its back. It showed off its very sharp teeth, and stared menacingly at the duo.
Startled, Lillie jumped back and cowered behind Sil, hanging on to his back. 'The professor wasn't kidding when he said that Lillie was afraid of Pokémon, huh?' Sil thought. "Don't worry there isn't anything to be afraid of, Lillie." Sil said, hoping to calm her down. "I- I know…" Lillie fumbled out, nervousness apparent in her voice. Sil slowly grabbed a blue oran berry out of his pocket, one that he had casually swiped off of a tree earlier, and set it down in front of the Pokémon. The Pokémon carefully walked over to the berry, and then quickly picked up the berry in its mouth. It then darted back into the forest, clutching the berry in its mouth.
"It's gone now, Lillie." Sil said. "R- Right!" Lillie stuttered, awkwardly letting go of Sil's back. Sil simply stared at her for a moment, and then a small but noticeable smile appeared on his face. "You know, Pokémon aren't that scary." Sil stated reassuringly. "I- I know…" Lillie replied. "By the way, what was that Pokémon?" Sil asked. "That was a Pokémon called Yungoos. I read that they love they search for and eat food, and that their teeth are extremely sharp, so it likes to use biting attacks." Lillie replied.
"Seems interesting. We should keep moving on, though. The professor's probably still worried." Sil said. Lillie merely nodded as they continued on towards Iki Town.
When they made it to the clearing, they saw professor Kukui, who, when he noticed them, waved them over with a big smile on his face. "I see you found Lillie! I'm glad that she's ok!" he said. "Looks like you two already met, but just in case; Sil, this is Lillie, my assistant! Lillie, this is Silvius, but he prefers Sil! He's a Pokémon trainer from the Hoenn region. Take good care of him!" Upon that last comment, a faint shade of pink appeared on Lillie's face. "O- Of course!" she replied. Then turning to Sil, she said, "It's nice to meet you…" "Likewise." Sil replied.
The three of them then noticed that a group of townspeople forming a crowd for some reason. Various shouts could be heard from the crowd like, "The kahuna's back!" and, "The guardian's chosen one is back!" A large man then began to walk through the crowd. He had very dark skin, and light gray, almost white, hair, tied up in a short ponytail. A gray mustache adorned his face, and he wore a yellow robe, a blue shirt, white shorts, and some sandals. He also had a white belt tied around his waist. Even though he was visibly overweight and looked a little old, he exuded an aura of vitality and strength.
The old man walked up to the professor, and asked, "Have I missed something?" Professor Kukui then responded, "Naw, but where'd you go off to kahuna? I thought we were meeting here."
"I am kahuna of this island after all." The kahuna stated matter-of-factly. "Whenever there is a problem on the island, it is my duty to resolve it. For some reason I saw Tapu Koko flying about." Lillie nodded and then replied to the kahuna, "Oh, um… Yes, Kahuna Hala… Nebby was being attacked by Spearow on the Plank bridge when this boy helped protect it… But then the bridge collapsed, and I thought both of them would fall into the ravine… And that was when the island's guardian deity swooped in to save both of them!"
"Woo! That's not something you hear every day!" Kukui interjected. "Ho!" Hala said, letting out a hearty laugh, "Although it's said to protect us, Tapu Koko is a rather fickle creature. Yet, our guardian was moved to save you." Hala said while motioning to Sil. "Boy, what's your name?" he asked.
"You can call me Sil." Sil responded back. "Well, Sil my boy, I think this is cause to celebrate!" Hala exclaimed loudly. Kukui then interjected, "Sil was planning on taking the island challenge here in Alola, but he needs a starter Pokémon. Do you think you could set him up with one, kahuna?" After saying this, he gave a friendly wink towards Sil. "Of course! Now that I remember, Kukui mentioned something about a trainer that wanted to take on the island challenge." Hala said, "Well, let's go! Come on out, my Pokémon! Let's have a look at you!" As he said this, he threw three Pokéballs into the air, and out of them came the three starter Pokémon of the Alola region.
The first was an owl Pokémon, Rowlet. It was circular in shape, and was light-brown in color. It also had a green leaf on its chest, resembling a bow tie. The second was a cat Pokémon Litten. It had black fur, with red whiskers and red stripes on its legs. The last one was a sea lion, Popplio. It was blue in color, and a pink nose that resembled a clown's.
"Which Pokémon will you choose? The grass Pokémon Rowlet, the fire Pokémon Litten, or the water Pokémon, Popplio?" Hala asked. Sil responded with no hesitation. "I choose the grass Pokémon, Rowlet."
"Alright!" the kahuna said, returning Litten and Popplio to their Pokéballs. "However, we have a tradition in Alola. Only once both of you have chosen each other can you truly call each other partners." Sil then began to walk up to Rowlet and crouched down to be closer to eye level with the owl Pokémon. "What do you say, Rowlet? Wanna go on an adventure with me?" Sil asked, a faint smile appearing on his face. Rowlet simply stared at Sil. Its face was emotionless, not unlike the usually demeanor of Sil, himself. After about 10 seconds of staring at eachother, Rowlet made a soft 'Koo' sound, and jumped into Sil's arms, smiling. Sil lifted Rowlet up gently in his arms, smiling back at Rowlet. "I look forward to journeying with you." Sil said to Rowlet. "Koo- koo!" Rowlet replied.
Lillie then began to speak, "I think you chose a wonderful Pokémon! Please take very good care of it." Sil simply nodded back to Lillie. "Pew! Pew!" Nebby added. "Hey! When did you get out of the bag? I know the professor and Kahuna Hala can protect you, but you should still stay in the bag out of sight." Lillie said as Nebby reluctantly returned to the bag.
As Sil set Rowlet back down on the ground, Hala handed over Rowlet's Pokéball. "Thank you, kahuna." Sil replied. "Don't mention it, my boy!" Hala replied. Then Professor Kukui began to speak, "I got a present for you too!" After saying this, he got a red device out and handed it to Sil. "It's a Pokédex!" the professor said, "This should help you on your island challenge!"
Sil briefly examined it, noting the odd shape of it. "Thanks professor." Sil replied, "Hm… This one is certainly different than the ones from Hoenn." He quickly used the Pokédex to check his new Pokémon Rowlet. The Pokédex entry read, 'It glides silently to sneak up on its unsuspecting targets. It will then proceed to attacking with a barrage of kicks." Upon examining his Rowlet, the Pokédex read that the Pokémon was male, and had the grass starter Pokémon ability: overgrow. Rowlet also knew three moves: tackle, leafage, and growl.
"Oh, I almost forgot." Sil said, pulling out the sparkling stone that Tapu Koko had dropped for him. He showed the stone to Kahuna Hala, "Tapu Koko dropped this after saving us. Does this have any special meaning?" The kahuna quickly examined the stone, instantly recognizing it. "So it even deigned to give you a stone…" Hala muttered under his breath. Hala then began to speak directly to Sil, "Perhaps you are in Alola, because this is where you are meant to be. Allow me to borrow this stone for now. But worry not, I will return it to you tomorrow evening. Speaking of tomorrow evening, would you do us the honor of participating in our festival? Iki Town will be holding a festival tomorrow evening, and we'd have you participate in a ceremonial Pokémon battle as an offering to Tapu Koko."
"Uh… sure, I guess?" Sil replied cautiously. He was curious as to why they were involving him in their ceremony, even though he was an outsider. "Well, we're gonna go do some training then." Sil said, motioning over to Rowlet, who agreed with a nod. "I'll meet all of you here tomorrow evening then." he said as him and his partner walked back to route 1. As they walked away however, Lillie frantically, but nervously tried to stop them. "W- wait!" she said.
Sil and Rowlet turned back to hear what Lillie had to say. "U- um…" Lillie began, "I was wondering if you'd want to have some dinner with me tonight. I could show you to a really good restaurant in Hau'oli City. It's the least I can do to repay you for saving Nebby." A faint blush appeared on her cheeks as she asked Sil.
"Sure. That would be great." he said, in his usual stoic tone. However, on the inside, he was quite nervous. This was the first time a girl had asked him out. Actually, no. Banish that thought. There was no way this was a date. She was simply repaying him for helping Nebby, that's all.
"Great!" Lillie exclaimed ecstatically. "Do you know where the professor's lab is?" she asked. Sil simply nodded. "Ok, can you meet me there around 6:00 then?" Lillie asked. "6:00. Got it." Sil responded, checking his watch. It was 12:00 noon in Alola time. That gave him about six hours until he had to be at the professor's place to meet Lillie.
Just as he was about to walk away again to train with Rowlet, a random guy walked up to Sil, smiling happily. He appeared to be around Sil's age, so probably 15 or 16 years old. He had almost the exact same dark skin tone as Kahuna Hala, and had dark black hair, tied up in a ponytail. He wore a black shirt, with some yellow swim trunks, and had an orange backpack on. "Hey! You and me! Let's have a Pokémon battle!" he exclaimed happily. "Hahahaha!" Kahuna Hala interrupted, "Where's that fire, boy? And what kind of Pokémon battle would it be where you don't even give a name first, eh?"
The random guy simply replied, "Fair enough, my name's Hau, and my partner is Popplio. Your Rowlet looks really cool, too!" "Thanks?" Sil responded, "My name is Sil, and we accept your challenge." Sil said, grinning. "Alright!" Hau exclaimed.
"Come on out, Popplio!" Hau said as he let his blue sea lion Pokémon out of his Pokéball. Before sending Rowlet on to the field though, Sil quickly checked the Pokédex on Popplio. The Pokédex entry read, 'It can create bubbles of water with its nose, and it uses these water bubbles to attack opponents.' Upon examining Hau's Popplio, the Pokédex read that the Pokémon was a female. "Alright, Rowlet, let's go!" Sil commanded as Rowlet waddled forward.
Hau started off the first command in the battle, "Popplio, water gun!" Popplio used the water gun attack, spraying a concentrated burst of water at Rowlet's direction. "Rowlet, dodge by rolling to the side!" Sil commanded. Rowlet rolled to the side, using his circular body shape to his advantage, completely dodging the attack. "Alright Popplio, use water gun again!" Popplio repeated the attack, and Rowlet effortlessly dodged the attack again by rolling to the side. "Now, Rowlet, counter with leafage!" Rowlet then tossed a barrage of leaves at Popplio. Immediately, Hau began to panic, causing Popplio to panic as well. "Uh- Popplio, dodge!" Hau said. But it was too late; Popplio had no time to dodge and took the super-effective attack directly.
Popplio cried out, as it had taken a lot of damage from that attack. "Oh no! Popplio!" Hau exclaimed. "Now, Rowlet! Fly up into the air!" Sil commanded. Rowlet did as so, flying high into the air, "Now come down with a tackle attack!" Sil said. Rowlet used gravity to his advantage, and plummeted down, nosediving directly into Popplio, clearly knocking out the sea lion Pokémon. "Popplio, no!" Hau cried out as he ran over to his Pokémon to comfort it. Hau gently picked up Popplio in his arms, petting her on the head. "You did great out there Popplio." Hau said, comforting the Pokémon.
Sil and Rowlet then began to walk over to Hau, and Sil pulled an oran berry out of his pocket. "Here." Sil said as he handed the berry over to Hau. "This will help your Pokémon feel better." "Thanks." Hau responded, accepting the oran berry and immediately feeding it to his Popplio. Popplio soon began to feel better, and made various happy "Bwork!" noises, letting Hau now that she was feeling better. "Anyway, that was a great battle!" Hau said, "That gave me chicken skin! Your Rowlet was amazing!" Rowlet made a happy "Koo!" sound due to the praise he was receiving. "Rowlet was amazing out there." Sil said softly as he gently patted Rowlet's head. "Of course, Popplio did great out there too." Sil added.
Lillie then began to speak, "Are both of your Pokémon alright? I hate to see Pokémon in pain." Rowlet and Popplio simply smiled back at Lillie, Rowlet replying with a happy "Koo!" and Popplio responding with a bright "Bwork! Bwork!" relieving Lillie's worries.
Hala began to speak as well, "You know Hau, this trainer here is going to be your opponent in during tomorrow evening's festival." "Really?!" Hau replied, "I guess Popplio and I are just gonna have to get stronger by tomorrow then! Popplio and I are gonna go train then! See ya later!" Hau waved goodbye as he ran back on to route 1.
"We should be off too." Sil said, "I'll see you, Lillie, at 6:00 then." Upon that last comment, a faint, but noticeable, shade of pink appeared on Lille's face. Lillie simply nodded, and Sil waved goodbye as he and Rowlet walked back towards route 1. Although his facial expression didn't show it, he was excited for tonight's date- I mean, dinner, with Lillie.
So... yeah... this is chapter 2. I'll probably get chapter 3 done within the next 3-5 days. And again, please review this and tell me how I did, and if there is anything I could improve on. Thanks for reading!