The story about the mangrove swamp and the resort is all true. That's karma right there. Rich people and organizations will trash wild areas, and then just pay the fine because they don't care. But that wild area is still gone. And no amount of money can replace what was lost – habitats can take decades, centuries, or never, to return to their original state.

The manta ray story is true too. Tourism that includes animals almost always does something bad for the animals. Even if you're just swimming around manta rays, and someone's too stupid to realize that they accidentally kicked one in the gills. It obviously hurt. The poor thing swerved away from the person that kicked them. And animal tourism can be so much more terrible. But I won't go into that here – it would take up too much space.

Polaris-Ponyta, Mia-Alolan Marowak, Marin-Primarina, Lunick-Midnight Lycanroc, Twine-Fomantis, Zetty-Rotom Dex

Chapter 14: Forces of Nature

It was hard to regain my sense of time. Had I only been in Unova for a day? Everything felt like a dream when Ben, Hari, Lillie (the human Lillie) and I boarded a boat to Ula'ula island. It was only when we disembarked that I finally started to feel normal again.

Stepping foot on the shores of Ula'ula brought a flood of nostalgia. This was the island I'd come to as a kid. "Man, I wish we could stay at the place I stayed with Mom and Dad. Except it got buried in a flood of lava a couple years ago."

"Living on an active volcano is a bundle of surprises," Ben said dryly.

"Haa," Hari murmured. "I bet a lot of Pokémon lost their homes too."

"Volcanoes built Alola," Lillie said, "but they're definitely a mixed blessing."

I nodded. "There was a mangrove forest across the bay from where we were staying. We kayaked through once. It was beautiful. Full of fish and birds. Then the rich freaks that owned the land leveled the whole forest. It was illegal, but they didn't care. They just paid the fine. They built a little mini resort for themselves. And then the lava came through and covered it all over. I'm glad they lost everything they built. Is that bad?"

Lillie gaped at me while Ben and Hari snickered.

"Let's start with some fun vacation stuff," Ben said. "Cara deserves some fun after what happened in Unova."

I groaned. "Well, at least a tropical island is a good way to recover from a chilly ice monster."

"What's on Ula'ula?" Hari asked.

I tilted my head, thinking of the cool places we'd gone. "Well, there are hot springs somewhere on the island. I bet we could find them. And there are steam vents too. Lava tubes, if you want to go into deep caves. On the other side of the island, we went swimming with Mantine. One person wasn't paying attention and kicked one Mantine in the belly with their swim fin. Poor thing. It's great to swim with wild Pokémon, but some people shouldn't be allowed in the water. What was I talking about?"

Ben smirked. "Are you getting distracted by trying to show off your knowledge of the island? Pick something already."

We all glanced at Lillie. She blinked in surprise.

"You know Alola best," Hari explained.

"Oh, I guess. I think Malie City has some really good hula performances."

"Perfect." I had another lecture tomorrow morning in Malie Garden. That meant we had the rest of today to relax. After that, we'd head up to Hokulani Observatory. Ben and Hari were excited to see the telescopes.

…

"Remember how I said that little private resort got covered in lava?" I asked.

Ben, Hari, and Lillie stood beside me. We faced the ruins of Tapu Village, stunned. This was land sacred to Tapu Bulu. Yet developers had built a big discount store here, with no regards to the island's guardian. Tapu Bulu had rampaged through, leveling the entire village. He'd been about as effective as the lava flow that covered the private resort. The Tapus guarded the island for Pokémon and humans, but also from them.

For some reason, Tapu Bulu had left the shell of the big market. Everyone had been too afraid to go back and clean anything up, so it remained a skeleton overlooking the ocean. It was the site of one of the island trials. So I left my friends behind and headed alone to the ghost-infested ruins. I'd been to a number of places that were haunted by ghost Pokémon. I was always on my guard, because ghosts were often mischievous, or hostile. But as long as you stayed aware of your surroundings and showed respect, it worked out. And because I had weak psychic powers, if I stayed focused I could sort of sense where the ghosts were hiding.

As I was making my way through Acerola's trial, I could tell that something was lurking just out of sight. I kept expecting it to jump out and battle, like the other trial Pokémon. But it didn't. Even when the totem came out to fight, it stayed back. But then again, fighting a huge Mimikyu with charged up powers kinda drove all other thoughts from my mind. It wasn't until we defeated the totem Mimikyu and stepped out of the trial site that I sensed it again. I stopped and turned, peering through the broken windows of the old market.

"Do you need something?" I asked. The top of a head peeked through the window, then ducked back out of sight. A yellow head, with a pair of pointed ears. I waited a few seconds, then stepped toward the broken window. "It's okay. Come on out."

I heard shuffling, but nothing else happened. I caught something in the corner of my eye, and turned to see the same face peeking out of the front door.

"Oh, a Mimikyu! Hello!"

The Mimikyu fairly wriggled with excitement. I thought I understood why. Mimikyu often had a bit of an inferiority complex, thinking they weren't cute enough. They dressed like Pikachu because they wanted people to like them. But they were also thrilled when people recognized them as they were. He tottered out of the market after me.

"You can speak to Pokémon. I heard you during your battles."

"That's right. My name's Cara."

"I'm Hachi. I wanted to join a trainer, but I didn't like that humans can't hear me. But you can!"

I nodded. "It's rough when someone doesn't understand what you're saying. Though some humans are pretty good at understanding what a Pokémon wants, even if they can't hear your words."

"Can I join your team?"

I laughed. "I actually have a free spot on my team." I sort of had six already, but Zetty was a Pokédex, and didn't count as one of my six Pokémon. "I'd love to have a Mimikyu join us."

Hachi skittered around in a sort of delighted dance.

"Welcome to the team. Hachi. When we get back, I'll introduce you to everyone."

We started walking along the beach, and Captian Acerola met us. "Congratulations on completing the trial! Oh, did you catch a Mimikyu?"

"Yes, this is Hachi. Hachi, Acerola specializes in ghost Pokémon."

"I know. She comes to the megamart a lot."

Acerola knelt to greet the Mimikyu. She knew exactly what to do to flatter the little guy. Then she turned back to me. "If you want to go any further down this road, I recommend you come back when you get to Ula-ula meadow. Beyond that is Po Town, which has been taken over by Team Skull."

I tensed. Acerola tilted her head. "You know Team Skull, huh?"

"I've had a few run-ins with them."

She nodded. "It's easier to just stay away."

"It would be easier to just get rid of them." I tried to keep the growl out of my voice. "I'm not going to sit back and watch while they cause trouble. I'm a champion."

She tilted her head, nodding. "Yes, you're probably right. Uncle Nanu is the head of police on Ula-ula. He's the one in charge of keeping Po Town in check."

I held back the question I wanted to ask. Why the heck wasn't this policeman doing something about Team Skull? But then again I knew how invasive some organizations could be. I'd had far too much experience with Team Rocket. It was hard to weed them out.

"I was talking to your friends while you were going through your trial," Acerola continued. "Lillie said she'd like to catch an Alolan Vulpix. There are some that live to the west of Tapu Village."

"Oh, Thanks!" I bid her farewell, and Hachi followed me to join my friends back at the Pokémon Center.

"Congratulations!" Lillie exclaimed, before I could say that I beat the trial. I guess it's flattering that she assumed I would win.

"Thanks! This is Hachi. He's my newest team member. Isn't he cute?" I gave them a meaningful look, wanting them to assure Hachi that he was cute and appreciated. The others agreed, kneeling around Hachi and patting his head and rubbing his cheeks. I wanted to point out that Hachi's head was actually down in what appeared to be the belly. The Pikachu head was just a costume. But Hachi seemed to be loving the attention. Only Hari thought to rub Hachi's belly, where his actual body was. Which pleased him even more. I next let out the rest of my Pokémon to welcome him. Hari's Grovyle gave his usual half-hearted greeting. He liked to pretend that he didn't care, but he always ended up hanging out with my Pokémon.

When Hachi was done meeting everyone, I turned to Lillie. "Acerola told me there are wild Alolan Vulpix nearby. Are you ready for your first Pokémon?"

Lillie gave a small gasp, managing to look both nervous and excited. She nodded.

As we walked, I explained my plan. 'Some Pokémon are nervous around humans. I thought I'd send Mia in first to scout the area, and talk to some of the Vulpix. Tell them we're coming, so they're prepared. And if there are any aggressive Pokémon around, we'll go somewhere else. I'd like you to get your first Pokémon peacefully. And a dominant Ninetales may not like us messing with any of their Vulpix."

"But," Lillie said, looking confused. "You can talk to Pokémon. I thought they liked you."

"Well, they appreciate that I can understand them. But that doesn't do any good if they run away or attack before I can talk to them. Mia's very charming, so I think she'll do a good job. And since she's not much bigger than the Vulpix, she won't be intimidating."

Mia was walking alongside us. She was the only Pokémon I had out, so we'd be less conspicuous to the wild Pokémon. She grinned up at me, ready for the job.

Lillie looked a bit dazed. "There's so much to know about Pokémon."

"You can start learning about Vulpix," Hari offered. "And see how far you want to go from there."

"You don't need to learn about all of them if you don't want," Ben said. "I get a lot of information from Cara – I don't know everything myself. Everyone has their specialties."

Zetty popped out of my backpack. "I can tellzzz you all about Vulpix! What do you wantzzz to know?"

As Lillie chatted with Zetty, I went over the plan with Mia once more. We stopped at the side of the road and Mia marched off into the bushes. I followed her through telepathy. After a few minutes, she found a pack of Vulpix. A few of them shied away from her, since she smelled like humans. But many stayed to investigate. Mia explained that some humans wanted to visit. The humans wouldn't start any trouble. They had snacks to share, and one human was hoping that a Vulpix might want to be her Pokémon. I could hear the words Mia used as she told them about Lillie.

"She's kinda insecure, so she needs someone strong to look after her."

I snorted and quickly covered my mouth when Lillie shot me a confused glance. She couldn't hear it, of course. And I wasn't about to tell her. I returned my attention to Mia. Some of the Vulpix weren't remotely interested. But others were curious and just wanted to see humans closer. A couple even seemed to be considering the offer. About half a dozen of them followed Mia. A couple minutes later, they emerged from the bushes.

Nebby floated over, excited to have some friends to play with. The Vulpix hung back, startled by this strange Pokémon. Then one by one they crept forward to investigate. Before long, Nebby was bouncing around and playing with them. Mia joined in, and I let out Hachi to play too. Even Hari joined in. Being raised by Pokémon, he was excellent at blending in with them. He tussled with the Vulpix, rolling them around and pretend-growling. One of the Vulpix came up and let me scratch him behind the ears. Lillie sat, enchanted by their games. I handed her a few Poké beans.

"Move slow at first," I whispered.

Lillie nodded, looking a bit apprehensive. She stood up, and all the Vulpix paused, turning to look at her. Lillie froze, and I nodded encouragement. Lillie gulped, then scattered a few Poké beans around. Once again we watched the Vulpix pick up the courage to come closer, drawn by the treats. Lillie knelt and held out a bean. Eventually she was feeding them by hand. Hari introduced her to the Vulpix, and Lillie took the cue, introducing herself. When the Vulpix were done playing, they wandered off one-by-one to nap. But one of them stayed behind, curling up on Lillie's lap and falling asleep.

Lillie looked at us, wide-eyed. Ben gave her the thumbs up. "See? One of them chose you."