To anyone who read the original first chapter: there has been a big change. The trainer name was changed to Tsuki, as her previous name is now the name of the main character of the original story I'm writing. Also, a couple other small details were changed because of a decision I made regarding much later in the story.

That said, the disclaimer is the same: I do not own pokemon. If I did, the protagonists of the main series games would never have gone back to being eleven years old.

Tsuki's mom was such a warm and gentle person, I felt right at home, even though she had yet to say a word to me. Something about her made you feel secure and at peace, almost as if on the door there was a sign saying 'Abandon all problems, ye who enter here'. It was a strange feeling, but not an unwelcome one.

Me and Tsuki had reached her home in just a few minutes of walking, and as soon as her mother had noticed the cut on her arm she had gone to get a first aid kit and got to disinfect it, all the while gently scolding her for being reckless, and about taking after her brother.

As her mother was putting a bandage around the now clean wound, something soft and warm brushed my leg. I looked down and found a small brown pokémon, with white fur around its neck, a fluffy tail with a white pointy tip and pointy ears. It looked up at me and made a happy sound, its black eyes shining.

"What species is this?" I asked, more thinking out loud than actually seeking a reply.

"That's my eevee," replied Tsuki "I got it as my first pokémon from my brother, back in Kanto"

"I see" I said, then remembered: "the professor had told me you didn't have any pokémon! He thought you would need to get one from the Kahuna."

"The dear professor didn't actually ask" she replied "Had he asked, I would have told him I already had a pokémon." She looked slightly annoyed by it.

Her mother finished making sure the bandage was properly in its place, and turned towards me.

"Well," she said "now that your latest injury is taken care of, what do you say you introduce your new friend to me?"

"Sure" said Tsuki, walking to stand beside me "Mom, this is Lilie. Lilie, my Mom, Serena."

"Nice to meet you" I said.

"Likewise sweetie" she replied "I must say, you really are cute!"

"And on that note" said Tsuki "we shall take our leave now. Bye Mom!"

Before I had a chance to say anything, she grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the house.

"Sorry about that" she said while walking back towards the village "my mother doesn't have a filter between her brain and her mouth".

"I thought she was nice" I replied "And she clearly care a lot about you".

"I know, but still..." Tsuki said, slightly shaking her head.

When we got back to Iki town we found a pretty big welcoming party. While we had missed the professor and the Kahuna when we had passed trough on our way to Tsuki's house, they were now all there and waiting for us.

"Ah, Tsuki!" exclaimed the professor when he spotted us "I see you have found my assistant!"

"What kept you?" asked the Kahuna "We have waited for you for at least half an hour now".

"Sorry" said Tsuki "I got into an accident with some spearows and we went to my house to get a wound treated". She showed them her bandaged arm.

"Are you alright?" asked the professor "If you don't feel up to this, we can do this some other time"

"It's just a small cut, nothing to worry about" replied the girl "What we should probably talk about though, it's how I already have a pokémon"

"You do? But, it would be better to get a starter from this region now that you live here, wouldn't it? Come come! Kahuna Hala, if you would..."

As he was talking, the professor had put his hand around Tsuki's shoulders, trying to steer her towards the platform in the middle of the village, but the blonde twisted away from him, obviously annoyed.

"I don't need a new starter!" She declared; "My eevee was a gift from my brother! I'm not trading him for some other pokémon just because you say I should!"

"But...".

"Kukui, leave the girl alone!" chastised Kahuna Hala; "if she has a pokémon, she doesn't need one from me. That's not just her opinion, it's how our tradition works".

Hala then turned to Tsuki, walking up to her.

"I like your style girl!" he declared; "Now, if you already have a pokémon, please show it to me. It's just for tradition, but the Kahuna is supposed to approve of the first pokémon of all trainers on their island".

Tsuki seemed to study him for a bit, then smirked and released eevee from his pokéball. The Kahuna studied the little brown pokemon, the patted his head and declared: "A fine pokemon! Welcome to our island, young Tsuki!".

A couple hours later, me and Tsuki were walking back to her house, with eevee trailing after us.

"The Kahuna seems nice" said Tsuki; "the professor on the other hand is so pushy! How can you stand to work for him?"

I lowered my head. I didn't know how to answer: on one hand I owed the professor a lot, as he had given me a place to stay without asking anything in exchange. Even being his assistant had been my idea, a way for me to repay his kindness. But on the other hand, prof. Kukui was stubborn to the point of not even listening to others. More than once he had completely ignored the advice and opinions of everyone around him. There was a reason he and his wife were separated after all.

"You don't need to answer if it's hard for you to talk about, you know?" said Tsuki, tearing me away from my inner monologue.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It was obvious that something was troubling you" she replied; "Your eyes were downcast, your whole body language was screaming 'please don't notice me' and you slowed down just enough to be a step behind me. As I had just asked you something rather judgmental about what is essentially your boss, I felt it was pretty obvious my question was the reason".

"I'm sorry" I said; "I didn't mean to...".

"It's cool" was her answer; "if it's hard for you to say, you don't need to tell me. You barely know me after all".

I didn't know what to say, so I ended up just casting my eyes downward again, disappointed in myself for making things awkward… again.

However, while I was feeling sorry for myself, Nebby decided it was a good time to try and get out of the bag.

With a cry, it jumped out of the bag, just to be promptly caught in midair by Tuski and shoved back in.

"You will stay in there until we get to my house!" ordered the blonde; "once we're there, you can run around the place a bit".

"Oh, I don't want to bother you! The laboratory is just down to the beach..." I tried to say, but she interrupted me by making puppy eyes at me.

"Please? I would really love to have my new friend keep me company for a bit".

I swear, her eyes were actually sparkling. I should have said no, the professor would need me to make dinner… but I couldn't. Not when she looked at me like that.

"Okay, just for a bit then" I said.

In a split second, her entire demeanor changed and the sparkling puppy eyes were gone, substituted by a victorious smirk and eyes full of happiness.

"Great, let's go!" she yelled, as she grabbed my arm and pulled me along.

I couldn't help it, I ended up laughing all the way to her house, her passionate joy infectious.