The World Flows Through Me

by Social Coyote

Alola is a region of beauty and connection, but how much can spirituality and scenic views really fix? Moon must find out whether or not Alola can truly solve the pains life has thrown at her, or if she's beholden to fate after all. She's not the only one with something to run from however, and soon she may question whether she's running from fate, or towards it.

3. Dueling Dance

Chapter 3: Dueling Dance

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"I think one of the most fundamental concepts of our relationship with these creatures is our communication. I don't know many colleagues who haven't spoken to their pokemon like they would a younger sibling, or their own child. It is by our nature, I believe, to pack-bond with these creatures whom we coexist with, human-like in their ability to empathize and communicate. Yet not all communication is this way, even amongst us humans. There are many trainers who teach phrases and commands, clicks and whistles, to their pokemon to initiate certain behaviors or actions – why, I even knew of a young man who happened to be good friends with my grandson, and he had the strongest bond with his pokemon I had ever seen. Despite this, he never spoke a word."

~ Professor Samuel Oak, Welcome to the World of Pokemon: A Trainer's Guide ~

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All Moon could feel was the coolness of the water as it encompassed her fully, swallowing her and sucking her ever deeper like the throat of some monstrous sea pokemon. She could also feel the bed of sticks and tiny rocks that cut at her feet, as well as the larger rocks that her body kept slapping against. She supposed those would have been the teeth of the leviathan she resided in. The teeth of a giant pokemon probably shouldn't have come after the throat, and she realized the structural integrity of this analogic pokemon was poorly executed and deteriorating at a rapid rate.

That was okay, because her consciousness was as well.

She couldn't see, or breathe, or even move against the disorienting and ever whirling rapids of the river. Direction did not exist, nor did reason or purpose, or any other number of vaguely connected concepts. Even the feeling of the water against her cuts were beginning to fade, and the only real connection between her brain and the rest of her body was to continue squeezing the ball against her chest. Ball of what, exactly? She didn't know. It was simply the ball, and she would hold onto it until her brain gave out. That would probably be in the next few seconds, so she wasn't all that hung up about why she was doing it.

That was when something overtook her insides and her body reacted without her consent; it must've been some hardwired reflex because she was suddenly shuddering and shaking, something inside of her was coming out of her mouth in a manner most unpleasant. Then she was still. The darkness of the murky depths was being replaced behind her eyelids, but they felt so heavy. Heavier than they had any right to be. She wondered if she could open them, and the fact that she could even conceptualize doing so was either a wonderful or worrisome sign.

Through bleary eyes and hazy colors, Moon could somewhat make out the sight of the river below her as her feet dangled limply. Her eyes closed again, but when she forced them open she was even further above the river now. Ten feet. Fifteen feet. She was rising, steadily. Was it rising though, or was it ascending?

I died, she realized somewhere in the back of her head. I died and am rising to heaven. Alola heaven. It was probably a place where the weather was always beautiful, and the wind always carried the ocean breeze and pretty women offered you coupons with spray-on tans and plastic coconuts for bras outside of a grocery store.

Alolan heaven was starting to just sound like regular Alola. Her arms were still wrapped around the ball as she ascended, which meant that she had killed the ball too, and that made her just a little bit sad. She wanted to tell it that they were going to a mildly better place, a place where she could buy it overpriced fresh fruit and listen to bug-types buzzing in the night by the forest, and where there were absolutely no mean-ass birds. They were somewhere else. She wanted to tell it these things, but she didn't have the strength to open her eyes again, much less speak.

Then, just as she was settling into the evening sun beating on her cheeks, she felt something give out from underneath her. With a gasp and a cry, Moon rolled against grass. Real grass, the kind that made you itchy and prickly when you brushed against it, rather than heaven grass. What exactly was heaven grass?

What the hell am I talking about?

Moon forced her eyes open once more despite her exhaustion. It was a little easier than before, she had just enough willpower to keep them open and could feel little surges of energy slowly reinvigorate her as she took air into her lungs once more. Each breath slowly brought her back to reality, yet her vision remained blurry as she looked at the figure standing over her. Moon had to squint to make out the wideness of its shape, the whiteness of its… everything. Vaguely she recalled the professor asking her to keep an eye for someone like that.

"Are…" Speaking sucked. It wasn't that it was hard, it just made her chest tight and she wanted to dry-heave. "Are y-you the… the whatchamacallit… kahuna?" Moon gasped. The figure above her shifted as the colors slowly began to take shapes that weren't nearly as blotchy or wavy, and what she had once thought to be a wide body was slowly returning to the shape of a large sunhat. Blonde waves of hair flowed down and ticked Moon's nose, making her cough and sputter as the figure gave her a look of utter bewilderment.

"... What?!" Lillie asked. Her voice cracked as she spoke, and she glanced off at something that Moon could not see before turning back to her with a worried look in her eyes. Why was she worried? Moon did not want her to do that, she hated when people did that. Especially this girl. "I- no, no I'm not. Are you okay? J-just lie down, alright? You took a bad fall- well, the bridge exploded and I-"

"Did you… ever get that wiper fluid? Blinker fluid?" She cracked a smile up at the girl, hoping that she would do one back, because that seemed like the best medicine for how her body felt right now. She wanted her to smile. Instead, Lillie's eyes lowered down to Moon's stomach.

"Oh my god, Nebby! You got him!" The girl pulled the ball from Moon's grip, and at first Moon did not want to let go. Then she remembered why she had been holding it in the first place, and slowly relinquished it.

The muscles in her arms were sore now, and she let them fall to the side as Lillie held the pokemon close to her own chest, whispering softly to it like a mother to a child who had wandered off just a bit too far. Already she was inspecting it's wounds. Close by she could hear something just hiding beneath the sound of Lillie and her pokemon, something that reminded Moon of a bug zapper. Moving hurt, but something told her that it was probably good to try and regain use of her limbs sooner rather than later.

Craning her neck, Moon looked off to their right. Where the bridge had once stood at the edge of the cliff was a humanoid shape, dark and skinny amidst a myriad of bright orange plumage that shot out from its head like a bolt of lightning. Along its arms were massive shells of colored wood like ginormous buckler shields that looked as though they fit together. Whatever shape they formed, Moon could not tell. The creature, of which she could only discern as a pokemon, was staring right at her. She was staring back.

For a long moment, they held one another's gaze. Moon had never seen anything like it, nor had she beheld such raw power and emotion from a silent being who communicated only in its stare. For all the nothing that transpired between them in those moments, it felt deeply personal. Did it know what she was thinking? Was it reading her in some way? She thought so, felt it even. Then, Lillie's voice brought her attention back to the situation at hand, and she was forced to turn away.

"O-oh my goodness, you're bleeding!" The girl cried, one hand covering her mouth. Moon thought that was a silly realization since she'd been looking at the pokemon for a minute now until she realized Lillie was looking at her. "N-Nebby, please for all that is good stay right here while I get uh- oh, shoot what do I even get? Uh, alcohol wipes! Bandages? Bandages. Oh, I should've noticed you first! I'm sorry!" She reached aside where the torn duffel bag lay momentarily forgotten, picking it up and digging through it in a frantic panic.

Moon glanced down at herself as spare clothes and various toiletries were carelessly tossed aside (She had to move her head to avoid being bonked with a can of repellent.) and saw her body with proper vision. Her shirt looked fine, though she could feel the tears in the back where the spearow had raked her, and one of her shoes was torn so that her big toe stuck out. Her oxygen deprived brain assured her she looked badass.

Nothing looked or felt broken, which she summarized as being good, but the cuts and scrapes that had been washed away by the river were starting to bleed again, as was their want. Her legs in particular had suffered the worst, splattered with bruises and scratches; she wouldn't have worn shorts if she knew she'd be tossed around a river, but unfortunately those things were hard to expect. Lillie was yanking out several wipes and a box of bandages, but Moon was distracted by the sight of blood dribbling down the side of her impromptu carer's cheek from behind her ear.

Quick, show her that you are a strong and intelligent individual and get up.

Moon held up her arm beside Lillie's ear as a scratch oozed specks of blood and grinned, meeting the girl's eyes as she said, "Hehah, look at that. Twinsies." Flawless execution. The look of immense dismay Lillie wore said otherwise, and suddenly Moon's skin burned with pain as she rubbed the wipe against one of her cuts. The sudden pained gasp seemed to help Moon finally regulate her oxygen levels and realized how absolutely stupid she was being.

I was worried about dying stupid, now I am living stupid.

Moon was silent as Lillie dabbed and rubbed gently at her cuts, hating the feeling of being tended to. She had never liked it, not the laying on her back, not other people inspecting her, she just wanted to pretend that she was fine. If she pretended long enough, she might even be fine.

"Um, would you like totodile band-aids or togepi ones?" Lillie's voice interrupted her thoughts and she glanced over at the girl.

"Uh, give me the totodile ones. Please, and thanks…" She hastily added on the last part. It was just as she was about to offer an apology and stand up when the floating pokemon moved from its silent vigil at last. Both girls glanced over at the sudden movement, with Lillie scootied back as it approached the space between them. Its eyes bore into Moon once more, as though it demanded her attention. With its piercing blue eyes drilling into her, Moon no longer felt bold enough to stand quite yet.

Sunlight glinted off of something held between its two claws and the pokemon tossed it aside like a gambler with dice, letting it fall atop Moon's chest where it lay. She raised her head long enough to see that it had given her a strangely shaped rock that sparkled from the setting sun's rays. Without a sound or even a backwards glance at Lillie, who admittedly also looked rather intimidated by the floating beast, a surge of electricity erupted from the air around it and it rocketed into the sky at a speed fast enough to leave a cloud of dust behind. The leaves whipped and the grass blew, all the while the mysterious pokemon disappeared like a shooting star across the island.

As sudden as it had come, it was gone.

Before either girl could properly look at eachother and ask if all of that had truly happened, the bushes rustled beside them and gave them both a start. Lillie squeaked, and Moon blew through her nose extra hard as a boy crouching through the underbrush pushed branches and windswept foliage aside. He pulled a twig from his bristly ponytail of deep green hair and looked between the two of them, grinning sheepishly.

"Uh, hey there." He said with a small wave. Lillie and Moon waved back slowly; Moon recognized him as the kid who had been leaning against the sign for the Mahalo Trial. "So, I'll just be straight up with you two, I watched all that happen from the bushes. I kinda followed you in to make sure you were okay, because you looked- oh wow, that's a lot of scrapes. Dang, let me help with that." His bashful tone quickly changed to serious as he pushed through the last of the bushes.

"Ah, yes! Please." Lillie said as she hurriedly stuffed the little cosmic pokemon into her bag. She cast furtive glances between the boy and Moon before reaching down and sliding her free arm underneath Moon's shoulder, and pointing towards the boy. "Take her other arm- no, like I've done, see? Yes, okay, now let's slowly lift her up…" The boy moved into position on Moon's opposite side and began lifting her up with a small grunt, wrapping his arm under her other shoulder. Moon had the good sense to stuff the sparkling stone into her pocket, but not before the boy saw it.

"Hey uh, thank you guys, but I can probably walk. It's not as bad as it looks." She took a confident step forward only for her ankle to buckle beneath her, as Lillie and the boy's hands tightened around her. "... I have made a gross miscalculation."

"I think she hit her head." Lillie murmured with genuine concern to the boy as slowly but surely, the three of them began walking back the way they had come, leaving the broken bridge behind them. Moon wondered if she would have to pay for that, or more likely her mother would, and then she realized she didn't even know how it had happened and turned to her two rescuers for an explanation. Fear of motherly wrath could wait.

"So, uh… did I blow up the bridge with my latent psychic powers or what?" Lillie rolled her eyes beside her, and Moon suspected she was not helping dissolve the belief she had hit her head on a rock, but the boy grinned. "Okay, really though, I don't know what happened. The mean-ass birds were pecking the absolute heck out of me, and then everything went… boom. And watery." It felt good to not have to walk right now, what with all of the soreness coursing through her. She probably could have walked if she tried hard enough, letting other people take care of her really just wasn't her thing. She didn't want to cause them more trouble in carrying her, however.

The more she thought about it, the more she realized she was probably still being unintentionally rude. "Hey, thank you two. Really." She winced as her foot skidded along a dip in the path. "I think I'm like, using humor and sass to cope with everything that just happened… but I owe you both a Dr. Pelipper when we get back. That was wild…"

From her left side, the boy spoke up. "ʻAʻole pilikia, ʻaʻole pilikia. I decided to follow you in after I realized it was going to get dark soon and didn't know if anyone knew you had gone down the trail. They get wicked dark cause of all the trees blocking the sun." As if to emphasize his point he jerked his head to indicate the ever-darkening sky. "I reached you just as the bridge exploded but…" He glanced at Lillie for a second. "No idea what caused it, sister. All I saw was Tapu Koko shoot after you like a pin-missile a few seconds after the bridge went kablooey."

Lillie spoke up from her right, and it was a very soft and gentle sound, though shaky. "It's really the least I can do for you, truly. Also, that pokemon… that was… actually a Tapu? No wonder Nebby… I mean, I- goodness, th-this is all my fault. You could have died!" She still sounded shaken from the whole ordeal, but perhaps was trying to keep collected for Moon's sake since she was the one who had fallen into the river. They were trudging deeper down the path now, and the sound of pokemon chirping and traipsing through the woods was a surprisingly welcome sound. Home was getting closer.

"Eh, not like that's never happened before." Moon muttered, hoping she sounded way more cool than she felt. Or looked. Her vision and other senses were back in working order now that she had air in her lungs, and she could see the stars beginning to peek out from the evening sky above. Lillie turned to her with a look of both incredulity and concern, but the boy's face turned serious again as he glanced over Moon's head to Lillie.

"E kali, sister! You're bleeding too, from your head."

"A-ah, this? It… hurts, but I think it's just a nick. She's in far worse shape than I am."

"I can't believe the island's deity saved me, then tossed me a rock from his special collection like those guys at mall entrances who hand out their mixtapes."

The three of them continued down the path of the Mahalo Trail, as the lights from Iki Town down below grew in brightness the sky in turn retreated to darkness. Moon could hear the sounds of chanting and the beating of the drums as they got closer, and wondered how much of the ceremony she had missed. Then she realized she would have to explain to people what happened, and how she had nearly gotten herself killed by walking on a clearly decrepit bridge. She could see the headline now, "Stupid Tourist #107 dies by completely preventable measures in Alola!"

Suddenly she wasn't sure she wanted to go back to the ceremony.

Once they entered into the town proper, they immediately received strange and concerned looks from the few who noticed their arrival. Most of the crowd was focused on the wooden platform where a lineup of kids – the trial goers, Moon suspected – stood and seemed to be waiting for something with varying looks of impatience. The boy gently lowered Moon's arms and turned to her, giving her final look over.

"You good, sister? Definitely take a lie-down, you've earned it. I have to go, everyone's waiting on me and I gotta tell the kahuna about the bridge, but you take care of yourself, yeah?" He nodded to both her and Lillie, who whispered a hurried thanks in return, before running off towards the platform. Trying to not look as pitiful, Moon forced herself to stand a little straighter as they walked without a word towards the back of the crowd. The lean figure of the professor caught Moon's eye too late, and she realized that Lillie was taking her directly to him.

Professor Kukui was watching the arena with his arms crossed a small distance from the crowd, but when he glanced at Moon and Lillie he broke into a smile that was quickly replaced with a wince. "Alola! There you two are- auē Lillie, you been scrapping with a 'mon? Heh, I've been a bad influence on you-" The light from one of the bamboo torches must've reflected off of them because the professor's eyes suddenly widened at the sight of Moon, and he took on the expression one might wear while visiting the sickbed of a dear friend. Except Moon suspected the dear friend was him.

"Oh, why you gotta do this to me cousin?" Professor Kukui sighed as he knelt down and placed his fingers along her jawline, inspecting her various bruises and numerous totodile band-aids. "Your mother is going to put my skull on the front of her truck next. Auē, they're going to be finding pieces of me for generations…" Moon couldn't help but feel a spring of shame begin to well up within her again. Causing problems for other people to deal with was her specialty, it seemed.

Lillie, who was still propping her up, whispered a hasty explanation. "Ah, it was actually my fault, Professor. N-Nebby went down the trail and got stuck on a bridge. She was defending Nebby from a flock of spearow when Nebby, er- exploded. Again." She winced at that, looking off towards the dirt. "The bridge collapsed, and she f-fell in. I thought she might've- I… I think the T-Tapu saved her and it gave her uh, something." Lillie looked on the verge of shutting down, holding the brim of her hat to hide her face as the professor let her finish.

He closed his eyes, scratching at the side of his head before letting out a sigh. When he opened them, there was only relief and resolution. "Nah, not your fault. It's mine for suggesting we take Nebby to see the ruins. I should've been there to help you fend off some wild 'mon, and I'm… I'm sorry you had to step in for me, cousin." He directed the last part towards Moon, who merely shrugged. She felt like the blame lay with her just as much, but she didn't want to make the situation all about her.

"I took on like, four spearow by myself with a ukulele. That's my own fault." She said. As she spoke Lillie started and handed Moon the instrument that had aided in the less than climatic battle. She nodded her thanks, stuffing it away as the professor smiled at her and went to clap a hand on her shoulder, then seemed to think better of it.

"Yeeeaah, you're a wild one, alright. What say we get you home, huh? I reckon you might've got your fill on experiencing Alola firsthand, you've earned a rest. Not to mention I need to go pick out my tombstone." He chuckled dryly and jerked his head towards his truck parked down the way. "Ready to go?" His eyes glanced back towards the platform, and Moon followed to see that some kind of argument seemed to have brewed between two of the trial-goers. With a lurch she realized one was the boy who had helped her back, and the other was the one who had lectured her.

The professor narrowed his eyes. "That's not good…" He licked his lips before shaking his head. "Kahuna's got it covered… probably a little pre-trial rivalry. Anyway, I've done my part here – you two want to head back?"

Moon thought about the reason she had walked into the trail in the first place, about being nothing more than a tourist and decided that all she had managed to learn was that spearow were mean-ass birds, and that rivers messed her up. Nothing she couldn't have already deduced. She nodded in the affirmative, trying to bite back the pang of disappointment that was competing with the shame inside of her. Lillie gripped her drum bag beside her.

"I have Nebby safely in my bag, so I'm okay to go too. O-oh, um…" Lillie looked around nervously, as though someone might overhear her before turning to Moon. "N-Nebby is my… pokemon. The one you saved. Please, please, don't tell anyone about him. He's a secret." Moon, not wanting to tell anyone about the past forty-five minutes, had no objections to this. At her nod, Lillie turned back to the professor. "We can visit the ruins another day, once the bridge has been fixed."

Moon glanced off and saw a little floating bundle of violet and blue bouncing between the legs of distracted ceremony-goers. She tapped Lillie's shoulder and pointed off towards it, eliciting an immediate response from the girl as her face contorted into utmost terror.

"Nebby, noooooooo!" She wailed softly, dropping Moon and quickly sprinting off into the crowd. Moon landed against the professor, who thankfully propped her back up with a chuckle already on his lips. Moon watched as Lillie tried to deftly weave through the crowd, murmuring apologies and clearly trying to both quickly grab her pokemon and not interrupt anyone. Moon watched, curious at how the crowd seemed completely unaware of Lillie's france searching, until the professor squeezed her shoulder and she turned back.

His eyes were no longer soft and relaxed. They were sharp, narrowed in concentration as he stared off beyond her towards the arena; when she followed his line of sight she saw that the entire crowd was now staring directly at her with various expressions of confusion and curiosity. Hundreds of eyes, all directly on her. The five kids on the platform, as well as a rather rotund man with an impressive mustache that had likely been grayed by age, bore into her as well with their stares.

I'm the center of attention! Hooray!

Wait, no, not this kind of attention!

For a few seconds there was silence, broken only by the cackling of the fires and the chirp of bug-type pokemon afar. Then, softly, the professor squeezed her shoulder again.

"I believe the kahuna would like a word with you. You need help getting up there?"

Moon felt paralyzed under the weight of the entirety of Iki Town's eyes bearing down upon her. Even Lillie, who seemed to have finally caught her pokemon, was staring at her with an equal amount of confusion and intrigue. The pain of her injuries seemed minor and insignificant now, mere accessories she wore to try and seek pity or to impress as opposed to anything else. Maybe that was how everyone saw them? Maybe that was how they all saw her.

She shook her head.

"Off you go then, nice and easy." The professor whispered. And just like that, she was walking. One step after another. The crowd that had gathered parted for her, and she could feel the curious looks of a hundred people, from simple ceremony-goers to stall owners and food vendors. The weight was almost palpable, disgustingly so. She prayed she would not trip, or accidentally limp lest they thought she was faking it. Was she limping now? Would changing her style of walking to look less limpish be noticeable? Her mind was running a mile a minute, faster and faster as her feet clapped against the dark wood of the ceremonial platform.

Here, above the crowd of people, she could not see their faces. This did not lessen the impact any, in fact it made it worse by the sheer fact that she didn't know how many people were staring at her or in what way. The five trial-goers who she recognized from earlier stood in a line, each one staring at her with varying expressions ranging from curiosity to downright indignation. None of them were smiling.

Behind them stood a man. Perhaps "man" wasn't an apt enough description however, for nothing about him seemed to imply he was a regular man. His face, hardened and weathered by age, held a firm disposition as Moon climbed the steps. His garments flowed much like the tides, a harmony of comfort and function from the white board shorts he wore to the yellow overshirt that danced with floral patterns. The sleeves had been rolled up to reveal weathered arms etched with a lifetime of toil and triumph, and with them he held taut the belly sash that looked as thick as a schooner's rigging. This was undoubtedly either the true kahuna of Melemele, or someone's very disgruntled grandfather. Possibly both.

As nervous as she was, Moon remembered the manners her mother had instilled in her when speaking to her elders in Alola.

"Alola oe e ke Kahuna o… uh, ka Aina Melemele." Moon said, meeting his eyes as hidden as they were beneath bushy eyebrows of gray. She wished she'd practiced her Alolan more. She really wished she'd been paying attention to the ceremony to figure out what the heck was going on. The kahuna seemed to stare at length before finally nodding his head, eliciting a grunt of greeting.

"Alola to you as well, young one." His voice was deep and gravelly, exactly how she'd been expecting it. "I have just been informed by my grandson here that you experienced an incident on the trail. I would much like to hear your version of it." His tone insinuated that declining wasn't really on the table, and Moon swallowed. She glanced back at the five trial-goers, and all the people watching her. Was a broken bridge and an encounter with a pokemon really worth interrupting the ceremony for?

"Uh, well, I came to the ceremony at the invitation of Professor Kukui…" She began hesitantly. She explained, with added volume at the kahuna's insistence, how she came to learn about the culture and the ceremony and how she had decided to walk the MahaloTrail to meditate. She didn't explain why she had needed the alone time. When she got to the part with Lillie, she withheld her name and described her as merely "a girl also on the trail who had lost her pokemon", since it was technically the truth.

When she described her use of the ukulele against the spearow, the boy who had originally chastised her scoffed.

"You beat up a pokemon with an instrument?" It wasn't a scoff of disbelief, but one of disapproval. Which was fair, in the sense that pokemon were very important to the people of Alola. Heck, if a tirtouga was crossing the street her mother would straight up just turn the truck off and wait for it to pass. What wasn't fair though, was that it was either the spearow or Lillie. Did a girl deserve to get hurt just to preserve one mean ass bird? The kahuna, however, glared at the boy, and motioned for Moon to continue.

When she reached the part of the bridge falling beneath her weight (Only somewhat of a lie.) and falling into the river, there was a definite change of tone. People shifted behind her. The girl in the trial lineup gaped at her. When she recounted being lifted out of the water by a mysterious pokemon, the kahuna stopped her.

"Please, describe it, if you will. The pokemon." He asked, holding up a large hand. Moon thought back to it; it was a bit blurry now since she had been waterlogged and disoriented.

"Uh, a black body. Orange spiky hair, looked like a punk rock mohawk that got crossbred with a torchic. It had these…" She motioned to her arms vaguely. "They were like giant shields on its arms, looked like they were made of wood. Sharp blue eyes, the kind that look right through you." There was a round of muttering and whispers at the mention of the Tapu. Moon felt her nerves frayed beyond belief. She had no idea what was happening, but recalled earlier that evening when the professor had warned her about how she spoke about the Tapus of Alola.

The same Tapu that she had described as a punk rock torchic in front of an entire town built upon tradition.

Well darn.

She looked around at the curious and somewhat skeptical faces of the audience, and her eyes landed on the boy who had helped her: the kahuna's grandson. He raised his eyebrows and nodded at her, and she squinted at him. What was that supposed to mean? He stared at her more intently and nodded at her - no, not at her. At her shorts.

The stone!

Moon reached into her pocket and pulled out the bizarre shining stone, the light of the bonfire and torches glinted off it as she held it up for the kahuna to see, and suddenly there was the sound of many people gasping and whispering in unison that spread amongst the people like a growing roar. The trial goers whispered furtively amongst themselves while the kahuna's grandson smirked. There was even one boy in the crowd, younger than her, who put his fist over his mouth and let out an, "Ooooooh!"

The kahuna raised his hand once more, this time above his head, and the crowd went silent. She wished she understood what was going on, wished to look to the back of the crowd where Professor Kukui would surely have some kind of explanation or advice he could convey through looks alone, but the kahuna silently demanded her full attention. He lowered his hand and held it out to Moon, who obediently dropped the stone in his hand. Did they think she stole it?

The kahuna looked at the stone intently, inspecting it in the torchlight and flipping it over in his hands. The entire town seemed to wait with baited breath, Moon included, until finally he slipped the stone into his pocket.

"Young Kukui!" He boomed, and when Moon turned she saw the professor standing with one hand on his hip. She couldn't see his expression. "How many pokemon did you bring for the trial goers?"

"Eight!" The professor called back through cupped hands. "Good litters this year, had enough to give them some options if they wanted." This answer seemed to satisfy the kahuna who nodded, and raised his hands into the air.

"Everyone!" His deep voice echoed across the clearing, with no need for a megaphone. "As it seems my grandson, Hau here, was telling the truth, we may continue on with the ceremony! However I am both surprised and pleased to announce a sixth contender for the island trials! Give this young lady the love of her people!" And upon his command the entire town erupted into a deafening roar that seemed to shake the very trees that surrounded them. The drums kicked into a rhythmic beat and the chanting grew once more as many in the crowd joined in unison.

Moon looked around at the cheering people, the overwhelming applause and the celebratory music that encapsulated her, and decided that she had not been this confused since she thought she was heading to Alolan heaven nearly an hour ago. Although it might not have been that long, Moon was sure the two instances were far too close together for her comfort, and looked around for any kind explanation. The kahuna's grandson, Hau, walked over and gave her a high-five that she weakly returned.

"Chee-hoo, sister!" He exclaimed, but Moon could offer no thanks, not when she was still so unsure. Had there been a mistake? Wasn't she a thief, or a bird beater, or a bridge breaker? Something other than a participant in the trials, surely? She wasn't the only one who seemed put off by this change of events; the boy who had lectured her when asked about learning about Alola stomped over, finger pointed squarely towards Moon's chest.

"What kine rubbish dat, huh?! Since when we start lettin' haoles just walk up and play with our traditions?" The boy glared angrily between them, and Moon had never felt more unsure and more uncomfortable in her entire life. She glanced at Hau, but the other boy pressed on. "Bruh, she ain't one of us, dunno nottin' 'bout our spirits o' our culture, man!"

Moon sheepishly whispered beside her. "Did he say I'm from Hau'oli? That means 'happy', doesn't it?" The tone didn't quite match the words, but Moon was trying her best with her grasp on Alolan and accents failing her deeply.

"Uh, no." Hau whispered back lightly. "No he… did not. Mind if I handle this for you, sister?" The other boy looked like he was about to go into another rant at Moon, who was starting to feel the pressure of the stares and listening ears from the nearest crowd members, when Hau stepped in front of her.

"She's not kanaka-"

"Hey, cut dat out, Elio!" Hau barked, his voice matching Elio's in intensity. "I knew soon as you told us you was gonna 'put da haole in her place' that you was gonna start acting mad irraz. She been showin' our virtues mo' in one night den you da whole week, brudda!" This seemed to strike a nerve with Elio, who squared his shoulders and glared at Hau. Some of the crowd behind Moon had taken notice despite the din of the ceremonial music, as had the other trial goers. Moon looked at the kahuna, but he seemed completely distracted by the night sky.

"I got mo' spirit inside me-"

"Eh bruh, stop with all da 'spirit' talk, yeah?" Hau interjected again. "She tryin' to learn da culture, an' you blockin' her man. You blockin' her! You like talking 'bout 'communion wit pokemon'? She almost kicked da bucket tryin' to save somebody else's 'mon, while you been chuckin' rocks at Nani's charjabug most da night!" Now Hau was the one with squared shoulders as more eyes turned to face them. "So what if she whack one spearow with a ukulele? Mo' 'warrior spirit' in lookin' out fo' someone den jus' gripin' focuz dey ain't like you, eh?"

Elio looked between Hau and Moon, who really wished she was still drowning in a river at that moment, his eyes ablaze with anger and embarrassment. Despite this, Moon felt a rush of gratitude towards Hau for standing up for her, even though he had known her for no time at all. It had been ages since someone had been such a friend to her as to stick up for her, or since she had had a true friend at all. She realized, with a pang, that she had nobody to blame but herself for that.

A fourth of the crowd, the other trial goers, and finally kahuna were all staring at Elio. He took a step back from them, looking around at the others as the fire in his eyes started to simmer. "I not- I'm not trying for a scrap, I jus'... she's not keikani. She's a Tapu must've made a mistake, brother." Elio said, his voice dying. "That's all I'm saying, yeah?" Suddenly a large meaty hand placed itself on Elio's entire shoulder. Everyone looked, Elio slower than the rest, to see the scrunched face of the kahuna towering behind him, staring down like a watchful deity at him.

Despite the way he had chastised her, Moon could not help but feel pity for the boy under the immense weight of the kahuna's gaze, and when he finally spoke, his low and gravelly voice was like the quiet roar of a bubbling volcano.

"So, you think the Tapu made a mistake, do you?" He asked calmly. It was the calm just before the raging storm of a typhoon, and everyone knew it. "Think you know more than Tapu Koko, who roams this land with hundreds of years of wisdom and experience, do you?" Elio stared up at the kahuna in utter terror, his intimidating demeanor all but dwindled to cinder and ash.

"N-no, Kahuna Hala-"

"Well, let us go inform our island's deity that you disagree!" Hala ordered, and Moon saw his hand squeeze Elio's arm all the more. "You can inform him of your experienced opinion in such matters, since he did not run it by you first, yes? I know for a fact your father would not mind one bit, young Elio!" The fear that flashed in Elio's eyes was so palpable that Moon herself was terrified for him, to meet this venerable deity of Melemele and face his judgment. Then she remembered that she had already met it, and found herself grateful she had done so beforehand.

Elio shook his head fervently, looking back to his fellows for assistance but none lent it to him. Clearly, this was no empty threat. When they turned back to the kahuna, the storm seemed to have tempered somewhat as the older man released him and instead gave him a hearty pat on the shoulder. When he turned back to the crowd, his voice still boomed with the authority of his position, but the volcano had once more gone dormant. For now.

"It would seem a reminder is in order, for those of us who have let old biases and animosity fester in their hearts." The kahuna announced, walking away from the trail goers and off of the platform. Hau nudged Moon, nodding for her to follow as they joined the lineup with the others. Elio did not look at them. The kahuna returned with pokeballs gathered in his arms, and the drums picked up in rhythm as if to add to the suspense. "Bitterness that is passed down from generation to generation… cannot cultivate a united people. This goes for pokemon as well."

With a mighty throw, all eight of the pokeballs were flung into the air In a flash of colors and light, the pokeballs exploded like little fireworks as eight creatures leapt from their homes onto the platform below. Moon gaped as they all landed with grace and ease, as though each one had practiced their landings in unison for a perfect finish, their little cries echoing out across the now silent crowd. Knowing the professor, they probably had.

"Iki Town is a town where our traditions have been passed down for generations. Kiana Akela." The kahuna nodded to the girl on the furthest left, and she stepped forward to look out amongst the pokemon sitting and waiting before her. Moon watched as she bit her lip in consideration before finally walking towards a pikipek and leaning down to it with her hand out. The pikipek hopped forward, cocked its head at her a few times as though considering her instead, and then fluttered onto the edge of her hand as she held it up with a relieved smile.

The crowd let out an overwhelming cheer as Kiana returned to her spot at the end, and the kahuna smiled his encouragement. "For much time now we have held the beginning ceremony of the island trials, honoring and welcoming the souls of our children as they become men and women of the island. Elio Mako." The kahuna nodded at Elio, who approached without hesitation and knelt before a rockruff, stroking its head and giving it a brief smile before snapping his fingers for it to follow him back to his spot. The crowd's cheer rose up once more.

The next two trial goers stepped forward as the kahuna called them forward, picking a grubbin and a black rattata respectively as the kahuna continued his speech. "This is not just a representation of childhood to adulthood however, it is a sign the island itself accepts us unto it. The Tapu bestows us with their approval, and it is our duty and honor to return that approval with trust and kuleana – responsibility to the people, to the island. Hau Kaleohano."

Moon whispered a quick wish of luck to Hau, who threw her a quick shaka before stepping forward a bit too eagerly and tripping over his shoes. Moon winced with pity as he got back up and flashed an embarrassed smile up at the kahuna, who returned it with a pointed look that seemed to be a common exchange between the two judging by the quiet laughter that swept gently through the crowd.

Hau scanned the pokemon for only a moment before leaning down and picking up a black and red cat that Moon didn't recognize. He held it up only for it to hiss and swipe at him, clambering across his arms and finally settling down on his shoulder. He gave a chuckle as he gingerly scratched the top of its head, the crowd roaring with applause once more as he returned beside Moon and beamed brighter than any of the surrounding torches at her.

"We must remember that this responsibility is not delegated solely to the kanaka of our islands, no matter how pridefully we may think otherwise." The kahuna had stopped pacing now, and had turned to stare directly at Moon. With a jolt she realized that everyone else had too, unfortunately. "The kama'aina share it too, for they are just as much sons and daughters of Alola as any. Mahina Kanoa." How he knew her full name, she did not know. She saw eyebrows raise from the crowd as he announced her name; Elio was looking between her and the kahuna in bewilderment.

Everyone was waiting. Everyone was staring, craning their necks to see what the new addition to the lineup would pick. The unexpected arrival. That was her.

It was as if the past ten minutes had been a television show; easy to step back and spectate despite her closeness to the events, but now she was the actress. Now she was a part of the show, and everyone else was the spectator. She took a deep breath, and then another, staring out into the crowd as she stepped forward with shaking legs. Falling into a river had somehow been easier than this. As if on cue, the soreness of her injuries came back and she forced herself not to limp.

This was all really happening. She was getting a pokemon.

Before her were three remaining pokemon: a small bundle of brown and green feathers that stared up at her with curiosity, a slippery little pokemon with blubbery blue skin that watched her with big awestruck eyes, and a pichu. The pichu was familiar, but that was precisely why she didn't think she wanted it. Alola was about the unfamiliar for her after all. She passed it over and looked at the other two, cocking her head at the ball of feathers. It cocked its head back with a vacant expression. Maybe that one, as Moon could appreciate a pokemon who looked as lost as she felt.

Then she looked down at the middle one. This pokemon was… goofy. She knew this was a big serious moment she had managed to find herself in, but there was no other way to describe it. Its eyes were so big that it almost looked cross-eyed, staring around as opposed to what was in front of it. She picked it up and squinted at it scrutinizingly, from its little earflaps to the tiny black whispers protruding from its ridiculously long snout. This pokemon was nothing short of an absolute doofus.

She hugged it to her chest, smiling as it let out a happy little "Bwark bwark!" at her. This was the one for her, without a doubt. She walked back to her place beside Hau as the crowd cheered for her, and she was pretty sure she could see Professor Kukui smiling from his place beside Lillie at the back of the crowd. The kahuna nodded to her and turned back to the crowd, arms raised in the air as their audience gave one last shout of celebration for the trail goers in unison. As the kahuna spoke to the crowd once more, Moon leaned over to Hau.

"Hey, what's kanaka and kama'aina mean?" She whispered. Normally she could get by on what Alolan words she didn't have memorized using context clues or a quick peek at her phone when nobody was looking, but that didn't quite apply here.

"Hm? Ah, kanaka refers to locals who have, like, full on native Alolan ancestry. Kama'aina is anyone who lives in Alola – regardless of who your family is, or what you look like." He whispered back, keeping an eye on his grandfather. "Like I said sister, the spirit is more important than the form." He smiled and gave her a wink before nodding towards the front, where the kahuna had turned back towards them.

"... which means that before we partake in the glorious feast that has been prepared, we must follow the tradition of working up an appetite." The kahuna's face lost some of its scrunched solemness, and something Moon might've mistaken for enthusiasm took its place instead. The other trial goers seemed to know what this meant, because they all straightened up at once. The crowd hooted and called out some of their names, with Hau's and Elio's being the loudest. Moon looked around, wondering if one of them was going to have to start running laps when the kahuna's eyes fell on her, inspecting her. Then the kahuna grinned, and Moon felt a primal fear run through her at the sight.

"I think the choice is obvious, as we have some high tempers running amongst our new trial goers tonight. Perhaps letting them blow off a little steam will help temper a respectful rivalry… young Elio, young Mahina." He nodded to the both of them and the others immediately took their leave of the platform, with Hau giving her a gentle punch in the shoulder that made Moon wince as she wondered where on earth everyone was going. The other trial goers joined the crowd in front, leaving just Moon, Elio, and the kahuna.

Kahuna Hala spoke to Elio briefly in Alolan, and nodded before stepping over to Moon.

"I understand you've sustained many a bruise from what transpired on the trail." He whispered to her, his voice surprisingly gentle as he leaned over to her. "I understand that a lot has been thrown upon you this evening, but to not offer you this opportunity would go against our sacred traditions. If you do not feel up to this, be it this duel or the trials altogether, you are free to refuse them." He paused to look away for only a moment, and when he looked back to her she saw only the concern of a grandfather. "There is no shame in taking care of oneself, child."

Moon met his eyes, and she wondered how much he knew. He knew her full name, which meant that either the professor had informed him he was bringing a guest, or that he knew her mother. Or maybe as kahuna he made it a priority to know the names of his people, down to the newest resident. Did he know about her family? About her father? About her? The lingering silence after his urging seemed to indicate some level of knowledge, and it was that realization that made her sure of her decision.

"I'll do it." She told him simply. The kahuna was silent for a moment before nodding at her and standing straight once more. There was no pressure to consider her choice more carefully; he had offered, and she had chosen. She thought she saw the slightest upturn at the corners of his mouth as he walked past her, but she couldn't be sure. The kahuna stepped off the stage, leaving Moon and Elio to stand on opposing sides of the platform – now fully realized for its true purpose: an arena.

Elio stared at Moon, and Moon at him. He scratched at his head and sighed, barely audible over the pounding of the drums as their tempo increased for the coming battle. It struck Moon that she was about to have a pokemon battle, an actual live battle between her and someone else with pokemon that neither had ever met before. The night was early, but the day had whizzed by at an unbelievable pace. Hadn't she been at the beach early this afternoon, hoping to have Alola's culture given to her? Now she was recovering from a spearow attack, had fallen into a river, been saved by a deity pokemon, been recommended by said pokemon for the island trials, and was now battling some stuck-up kid who thought she was a tourist.

So that was pretty cool.

"Hey, sister." Elio called from across the arena, his rockruff at his feet. Moon looked up to him. "I'm… I didn't know- ah, forget it. I recognize your fighting spirit, yeah? I wanna prove I'm still worthy of one after acting like a… well, a faka." He dropped down into a stance with bent knees, as though he planned to go hand-to-hand with her himself, and forced a grin. "No goin' easy though, whether you a tourist or not. We scrappin'." The rocky little dog seemed to pick up on his new master's intent, and began growling at Moon.

Moon squeezed her new pokemon to her chest like a stuffed plush toy, wishing she shared his confidence. In Kanto, the Indigo League Gyms would broadcast the day's matches at noon and eight at night, usually right on time for supper to be finished. Her mother would lean over the sofa and watch some of the more interesting ones with her, but usually it was just mild evening entertainment. She had never really sat down and studied how trainers moved, or how they ordered their pokemon. Television and watching fights from the playground after school didn't really prepare her for this.

In a saying befitting of Alola, she would have to sink or swim real fast.

"I want an honorable duel here!" The kahuna shouted from the sidelines. Moon realized the battle was about to begin and set her pokemon down as it waddled forward, its little flippers slapping at the wood below. "No lethal moves, no trainer-aimed attacks, and no trainer-on-pokemon interferences." That last one felt a little personal after striking a home run on a spearow. "Ready yourselves. Stand true! Hoʻomaka!"

"E neʻe i mua!" Elio shouted, and his rockruff rushed forward in an instant. Moon had barely opened her mouth before the pooch had rammed its head into her little doofus, toppling it into a backflip. "Hoʻi! Nahu!" The rockruff dashed backwards suddenly, its little paws skidding along the ground before springing forward once more. Did he think she was going to attack immediately afterwards? Should she have? When it clamped its teeth down onto her poor pokemon's snout, causing it to cry out and flail its body desperately, she realized her shock was allowing it to suffer. She needed to act.

"Uh, move! Get it off, smack it or something!" She called out to it. She didn't even know what her little blue pile of blubber was called. Elio called his rockruff back once more, and as her pokemon whimpered and patted its nose she saw it was about to be charged at once more. "Hey, hey! Run! Slap it with your tail!" She could still win this. She may not have had any experience, or knew the names of any techniques, but nobody was going to beat the snot out of her brand new pokemon pal.

"Hema a'ākau!" Elio called out, and the rockruff zipped left. Her pokemon had started to turn tail at her command, but now was headed for the rockruff as it tried to spin and give it a slippery slap with its flippers. Her expression fell further as the rockruff zigged out of the way, catching her pokemon right in its blindspot mid-spin. She had given it conflicting directions and confused it. "Poʻo kuʻi!" The rockruff practically headbutted it, knocking it way off balance and sending it tumbling right into her feet with a low whine that made her feel absolutely awful.

Except for Elio, apparently. Elio beat the snot out of her brand new pokemon pal.

This, Moon realized, was both an absolutely genius and undeniably sneaky strategy that she had to give him credit for. Moon's Alolan was obviously limited and rocky, and even if she had decent experience with battling, she'd be at a disadvantage since she couldn't understand her opponent's callouts and therefore couldn't order an appropriate counter until it was too late. This was beside the fact that Moon suspected he'd probably practiced with a pokemon before, even if it wasn't his, just from his quick and efficient orders.

Did all pokemon just know Alolan? How were they so good at understanding regular commands, much less ones in other languages? Questions for Kukui, she decided. Elio was watching hre intently, his rockruff still baring its teeth in preparation for another attack. Yet he wasn't pressing the offensive, he merely stood there and watched her through his intense gaze. It hit her that he was actually giving her the opportunity to step down, to admit defeat rather than be humiliated further. How considerate.

Her hesitation hadn't gone unnoticed by the crowd, who had participated audibly by cheering or groaning sympathetically. The sound of Elio's name rose up through the crowd above the drums, and she even thought she heard her name once or twice as she looked around. She saw the excited faces of the town watching her expectantly, the stern face of the kahuna below her, the grimacing Hau who was trying to look at her with encouragement. Far in the back the professor watched with a passive expression, and beside him stood Lillie, her hands cupped around her mouth as she called out towards her.

That's when Moon realized she had heard her name from the crowd; Lillie had been cheering for her. It felt surprisingly nice that Lillie knew her name already despite how hurriedly they had met at the bridge (She would later remember how the professor had in fact introduced them that very afternoon.) and that she was actively supporting her. Then she realized that Lillie wasn't cheering for her, she was calling out to her to get her attention. The moment Moon's eyes met hers, Lillie immediately made a desperate strumming motion, flapping her hand back and forth wildly. Moon stared at her blankly.

Lillie shook her head in frustration and made a swinging motion like a bat, and then strummed wildly again. There was no way she was actually suggesting Moon use her ukulele to bash Elio, was she? As much as she admired the tenacity, and as tempting as the opportunity was, the kahuna had been clear on that type of strategy being mildly frowned upon. But then she heard the drums surrounding the clearing, truly heard them, and listened to the beat that they had been upholding the entire battle.

What is that, common-time? Gotta be… yeah, I can feel it now. Bump, bump, bump, bump. The beat wasn't just from the drums though. She looked down and saw her little blue friend had risen once more and was facing out towards the rockruff as though it knew neither of them could step down, and its backflippers were still slapping against the wood. Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! It was matching the beat, perfectly slapping its tail to the rhythm. Moon's hand settled on the head of her ukulele.

"Hey, Mahina." Elio called over to her. "You done? No shame in giving in- man, what'chu doing now?" Moon whipped out her ukulele and held it to her chest, tapping her foot to match her pokemon. She had an idea, a really stupid and otherwise embarrassing idea. A Moon idea. She strummed the ukulele once, then twice. She could hear the crowd slowly simmer their cheers as they looked to her, hearing her as she strummed a single chord over and over to the beat. Smack! Stomp! Strum! Bump! Smack! Stomp! Strum! Bump!

What was it Hau had told her when she had first met him at the Mahalo Trail? There is no wrong way to connect to Alola. Music is a pretty good one though. She was finally picking up the good vibes Hau had hoped for her. She didn't know if this would work, and the only reason she was doing it was because she didn't want to walk down the stairs with her head down. She would get her butt whooped her way, and she would have fun doing it if nothing else. She grinned at Elio, still strumming to the drums alongside her pokemon as a silent answer to his question. He shrugged, urging his rockruff onwards.

"Nahu!" The rockruff glanced back at its new master, as though it too was mildly put off by the chain of events set before it, but it rushed back into the fray regardless. Moon watched its little paws propel itself towards her. No time to think up a melody, she'd just have to roll with it the Alolan way. The rockruff was halfway there. This was either about to be the coolest moment of her life, or the most disappointing.

If this works, I will sacrifice the fattest grumpig I can find to the Tapu.

Moon struck down a different set of chords, and sang the first words that came to mind. "Slide down, hit those claws! Knock him off his fluffy paws!" Her little goober of a pokemon reacted instantly this time, propelling itself forward, sliding along the wooden platform, and barreling through the rockruff's paws like bowling pins before sending it toppling over snout first with a small "Arouf?!" There was a small ripple of gasps behind her, and she allowed her grin to showcase the explosion of glee going off inside her, but the song could not stop for the audience's reaction – she had to keep up with the tempo or it'd all fall apart.

"Smack smack, double back! Let him taste his own attack!" With her vocals her pokemon turned, slapping the rockruff twice on its back with a satisfying Clap! that was by no means gentle. Just as she had predicted, the rockruff turned and tried to nip its attacker in retaliation, but her little guy had spun back along the floor like the slippery seal it was, just out of harm's way. The swap in expressions between Moon and Elio was so satisfying to her. Now she was the one smirking at catching the other off guard, and he was the one trying to salvage the situation.

"Auē! Nahu- no, chase it! It's getting away! Nahu,ʻoki! " And so it was, sliding along its belly backwards as the rockruff torpedoed after it once more, swiping and biting but always coming up just shy of contact. Moon continued strumming away, keeping her foot in beat with her pokemon. Words, words, she needed words.

"Slide back, play keep-away! We can do this night and day, the song goes on and so do we, so give that pupper no reprieve! Oh smack him off, keep ducking- right! Let's show Iki we can fight!" The lyrics weren't profound, nor was the rapid melody she was strumming out to the battle, but she was singing, fully and truly, for the first time in weeks. All of her pokemon's attacks were to the beat, and the poor little rockruff just couldn't get the hang of it. She found herself bending her knees and nodding along, stepping around the arena to not let the rockruff block her view.

She didn't really know what she was doing, she didn't really have a grand plan, she just knew her pokemon had already suffered some strong blows and likely couldn't take much more. So doing quick smacks and tackles only to duck out of the way and wear the other little guy down made sense, right? Only once more did it manage to land a bite on her dancer's nose, but four quick strums and four quick smacks later did it release and let out a pained whine. Elio looked just as distraught as his pokemon; his secret tactic had been for her to be unable to guess his attacks, but now he could not guess hers.

The crowd was letting out cheers for the both of them now, and Moon felt a thrill she had never really experienced before as both pokemon swiped in and out, dancing back and forth in bites and smacks. This was her song, their dance, a performance for all of Iki Town and the two of them were the conductors. Was that the professor's voice she heard cheering for her? She didn't know, she just knew the song that poured from her heart, because that was all that mattered. Not her injuries, not what people thought about her, not her fate, just the song. Always the song.

It had started to look like an even match, but Moon was hoping that her little song and dance might give her the advantage to win. Both pokemon looked exhausted, and even she had garnered a sweat under the brim of her hat when the rockruff rammed its head right into her pokemon's own, sending it tumbling across the platform for what felt like the hundredth time. She winced as it raised its battered little head and swayed, and she felt her fingers go slack as it pulled itself forward with one last push before finally collapsing to the platform.

The battle was over.

Moon shut her eyes and sighed; she hadn't really expected to win, but the faint hope had been just enough to tantalize her. She glanced over at Elio who was staring down at the arena and shaking his head, hands on his hips as he took a weary breath. Her eyes followed his own. His rockruff, panting and whimpering, lay against the wood with its eyes closed, too tired to carry on either. The drums had stopped as well as Moon looked at Elio, and Elio to Moon.

"Well!" The kahuna's voice suddenly rang out, startling the both of them as he climbed the platform once more. The weight of his voice and the manner in which he carried himself made Moon instinctively think that she was in trouble, but the kahuna looked far from disappointed. He had the face of a man who'd been given a full course meal when he ordered an appetizer, so much so that Moon expected him to lick his fingers as he took the both of them in and turned back to the crowd.

"These two have certainly given their best for us, and to try and name a winner would be an insult to the other's efforts. Take a look, Iki Town! The pride of our islands: the next generation of Trial Captains and Kahunas! If there is any doubt in a single one of you that our children don't carry the spirits of the island within them, that they are the chosen of our blessed Tapu guardians, I want you to remember this day!" He held his hand out to them then, not just Moon and Elio, but Hau, Kiana, and the rest as the entirety of Iki Town lent them their combined excitement and pride.

A tie. She could live with that, especially when she had almost considered herself a showcase for the other kids' natural capabilities. Moon tried to let it wash off of her so as to not get a big head, but she failed, smiling and looking at the crowd of Alola's people. Her people.

She wished her mom had been there for it.

"Now, seeing these young ones give it their all has bolstered this kahuna's appetite. I've no doubt such a devout participation on our part has earned us a good meal." There was some scattered good natured laughter at the joke, and one by one the trial goers walked off of the platform to a final bout of applause, their pokemon in hand. "To the next generation of trial goers, let this be your first meal as true members of our island, and our community. And, as my grandson is so fond of saying, enjoy the grinds."

Moon hopped off the platform and began to slip off the crowd as they all dispersed to their respective families, but was stopped as a hand caught her shoulder. She turned and saw Elio with Hau right behind him, the former giving her a serious look and the other beaming from ear to ear. Elio sighed and ran a hand through his hair, though he would not meet her eyes.

"I was wrong 'bout you. You're one weird wahine, but… you're no tourist, you're Alolan through and through, sister. Kinda like Hau." He nudged the smiling boy behind him, who had begun to lean over his shoulder. "Just cause you're kama'aina doesn't mean we ain't got beef though, yeah? Next time we scrap, it ain't gonna be no tie, that's for sure."

Moon looked back at him. She didn't know exactly how the trials worked, but she knew they weren't necessarily a race, so chances are if she did participate they may not even see each other again for a long while, if at all. They were just stepping stones for one another on the beginnings of their journey, and it was up to her how she stepped off of that stone. With a grudge, or as rivals.

Moon patted the head of her ukulele with one hand, now safely sticking out of her bag, while holding her pokemon with the other. "You're right, it won't. I'll make sure to practice your eulogy to sing for the next time we fight." She smirked at him, and he nodded with the faintest hints of respect towards her before turning and walking into the crowd. Hau quickly took his place, giving Moon a high-five that she gladly reciprocated as the fiery red cat on his shoulder hissed at them both.

"Sister, I don't think anyone has ever fought like that before! They're gonna be talking about this for a long time!" He shook his head, but his smile never faltered. "Man, you showed the rest of us up without even trying! I knew the Tapu picked you for a reason other than falling off of bridges! Oh- right, this is yours. You left it up there." He pulled a pokeball out of his pocket and tapped it against her tuckered out pokemon, a small flare of light absorbing it in a second and leaving her hand free to take the ball. Moon smiled.

"Hey, thanks Hau. For everything." She said. Hau just patted her arm gently, giving her a shaka before turning to follow the direction Elio had taken – likely towards the mass of tables where the feast was.

"We're all o'hana here, sister. I'll see you 'round the island, but first I gotta chow down! Grandpa was right, watching you fight made me half-starved! Hold up, is that…" He stopped dead, sniffing the air. "Malasadas? Oh skip being a trainer, gimme that good stuff!" In a flash as quick as the pokeball he was gone, disappearing into the crowd as two figures wiggled through the mass of chatting crowd members. One taller than the other, with an open chest lab coat, and the smaller with a wide brimmed hat and a duffel bag, the latter's hand clamped tight over the zipper.

"Cheeeee-hoooo, cousin! I've not seen a trial-duel like that in my entire life! Leilani's daughter through and through, haha!" Professor Kukui cheered as he slapped Moon's back. Moon winced, trying not to look as crippled as she felt by it. "Got me so fired up watching that, Lillie had to stop me from running into the woods and tackling the nearest sudowoodo, yeah?"

"Yeah, please don't."

Lillie was frowning at her bag, but as she turned to Moon she gave her a small smile of relief that seemed to magically take away the pain of her bruises.

"I'm glad you figured out what I was trying to tell you. Popplio is very musically intuitive from the time it hatches, and its entire - no, bad Nebby! Stay in the bag! – line has a very deep connection to harmonies and rhythm." Lillie told her as the bag jostled under her grip. Moon couldn't help but smile at pokeball in her hand; she had really lucked out in her choice of pokemon. "I didn't expect you to sing its attacks out, though. I just thought the music would help it focus."

"Go figure. How'd you know that, anyway?" Moon asked as she tucked the ball in her pocket. She'd have to give her new little fella a long rest. Lillie's lips curled into a pout, as she put a hand on her hip.

"I'm staying at a pokemon laboratory, I learned about all these pokemon whether I wanted to or not." She glanced at the professor who was beaming at the both of them and added in a hushed tone, "Also he kept showcasing it by playing reggae at random intervals to make the popplio dance. On max volume. Professor Burnet almost killed him."

"Ah, enough about that! You got yourself a pokemon now, cousin!" The professor said rather hurriedly. "You've survived a bad fall, met a deity pokemon, and even got roped into the island trials… oh god, Leilani is gonna kill me. Uh, well, you gotta give it a new name of course! Can't do that on an empty stomach, and I reckon the both of you earned yourself some good kau kau! You kids hungry?" He grinned at them both, nodding his head towards the crowd surrounding the sets of tables that had been laid out.

Lillie looked a little hesitant, and gave a shrug. "I could eat, if that's alright." She said in her usual quiet tone. Moon, on the other hand, was famished. Not with any normal hunger either, but with the hunger of a fourteen year old girl who had done a month's work of exciting activity in a single day in the middle of summer. The most terrifying kind of hunger. She grinned at the professor and Lillie, opening her bag so that they could see past the ukulele that poked out of the zipper.

Inside, topped with various colored lids, was an unreasonable amount of plastic tupperware.

---

The rest of the evening was peaceful, though the music and chants of Iki Town never seemed to die out for good, they never rose above a quiet lull of background noise as Moon ate, drank, and otherwise enjoyed her time in Iki Town. The kahuna came by and informed her that if she chose to take on the trials, she would be given a full rundown of what was expected of her and where to go in Hau'oli City one week from the day. Popplio, however, was legally hers no matter what she chose next.

The truck ride home was peaceful as well, with Moon enjoying a light doze after the day's events until the professor decided to call her mother..

"What do you mean she blew up a bridge?!" The voice of Moon's mother rang hoarsely through the speakers of Professor Kukui's phone, causing him to nearly commit a fender bender. He quickly disconnected his wireless from the radio where it had been, but her mother's unbridled fury was still loud enough to elicit a physical response.

"Honestly, Lei, that makes it sound way worse than it is." Kukui responded with a wince, rubbing his ear. "Moon was helping out a girl who was being attacked by some spearow, and when they ganged up on her pokemon, Moon went in and protected it. It woulda died if she hadn't, sister. Kid's got mad mojo, like you did." Lillie shrank in the seat beside Moon, both of whom were sitting behind Kukui, the duffel bag safely tucked under her feet. "It's just… well, the pokemon tried to help, and the energy it discharged broke the bridge and they ended up hitting the river-"

"SHE WAS ON THE BRIDGE WHEN IT EXPLODED?!"

"Aaah, shoot, yeah. Okay so, it wasn't like that-"

"ARE YOU TRYING TO TELL ME MY DAUGHTER IS STUPID ENOUGH TO SHIELD A VOLTORB, KUKUI?! SO HELP ME FOR EVERY INJURY SHE HAS I WILL BOIL ONE OF YOUR-"

"Lei, no! She- she's fine, honest!" A rather fearful Kukui held the phone over his shoulder towards the back seat. "Moon, tell your mother you're all good, yeah? Please?" Moon, who was sipping on a Dr. Pelipper, smiled and leaned forward to speak into the phone.

"Yeah, I took a prewwy bad fall, losh about six of my teef fwom the wocks. It all went bwack wonsh the basculin got me though-" The phone was yanked away as Kukui turned to spare her a look that was a mixture of betrayal and a death stare, while Moon stuck her tongue out and grinned. She was pretty sure the roar that followed from within the professor's phone would've sent the biggest of arcanines running scared.

"KUKUI!"

"She's lying, sister. Having a nice little joke at my expense, I swear on my marriage she's only got twelve band-aids max, maybe thirteen, my assistant carried her back-"

"Yeah, the docs shay I onwy got a year weft to wive-"

"MAHINA KANOA THAT ISN'T FUNNY AND YOU KNOW IT!" Her mother shouted as Kukui held the phone over his shoulder once more, likely glad to not be the central target any longer. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, GOING ON AN OLD BRIDGE LIKE THAT? I DON'T CARE WHOSE POKEMON YOU WERE SAVING, YOU BETTER START ACTING LIKE YOU GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOUR LIFE OR-"

"Ah I'm fine, Mom." Moon chuckled as she leaned against the driver's seat, putting her face closer to the phone. "Frankly, me falling was probably the least exciting thing that happened tonight, so there's no reason for you to focus so much on that." She could practically hear the gears turning on the other end of the phone and she decided to spare her mother from asking the obvious question. "I got a pokemon! Uh, and a boy called me a 'haole', so-"

"Did you kick his ass?"

"Kinda."

"Good girl. I didn't move our happy asses back home just for some punk to call my girl a haole like she's some doe-eyed tourist, but stop changing the subject! No, you tell Hala that if he tries and makes me pay for his old broken bridge I will sue his entire town for letting my baby on A DILAPIDATED BRIDGE, KUKUI WHAT THE-"

Kukui yanked the phone back and shook his head, holding the phone horizontally in front of him as he spoke delicately into the receiver. "Leilani. Tapu Koko rescued her… and he gave her a stone. A sparkling one." The line went dead quiet so suddenly that for a second Moon thought that perhaps the signal had dropped, but they had driven through no tunnels. The open road lay before them, with the outskirts of Hau'oli less than ten minutes away. Deciding to capitalize on this, Moon leaned forward again.

"I'm still breathing, Mom." She said, her voice gentle and now devoid of her playful tone. "Really, I just got some bruises. It wasn't like it was a highway bridge over a creek some seventy feet up." She blew a strand of black hair from the front of her face, smiling despite the fact her mother could not see her. "Also I've got a pound of leftovers I'm bringing home." The phone went silent for another few seconds until a familiar sigh echoed from the speaker.

"Just get back to the house."

Click.

Moon smiled and leaned back in her seat, glancing over at Lillie who had seemingly tried to turn invisible by leaning into the corner during the whole ordeal. The professor shook his head and tossed the phone into the passenger seat, giving Moon one last look before turning back to the road.

"I take you to a ceremony, land you a sweet pokemon, and this is how you repay me, cousin?" He asked as they pulled into Hau'oli City proper. Moon slugged his shoulder playfully from the back seat, feeling a bit bad now that she had thought about it. She did tend to worry other people an awful lot. "An early grave?"

"Sorry, Professor. Really, I was trying to soften the blow. Mom knows if I'm still cracking jokes, everything is alright." She promised. The Professor shook his head once more and Moon, realizing she had gone too far once again, placed a hand gently on his shoulder. "Hey, really, I'm sorry. And thank you, for all of tonight… you even let me stay so I could enjoy myself after dropping into the river. It meant a lot to me."

The professor turned back towards her as they came to a red light, and gave her a tired smile that she knew didn't have anything to do with the evening's events, unfortunately. "I know it did, cousin. I know it did."

When they pulled up the driveway to Moon's house, her mother was waiting for them on the steps to the front porch, still in her red jumpsuit and covered in splotches of oil with her arms crossed. Always a dangerous sign. Moon hopped out of the truck first, hoping to spare the professor from becoming another stain on her mother's jumpsuit by placating her.

She brought her bag forward to show off the spoils of the feast, but her mother was on her in an instant, wrapping her in a hug so tight that somehow all of her bruises were affected by the impact and she was forced to admit defeat.

"You can't keep doing this to me, Mahina…" Her mother sighed, holding her close. "I let you out of my sight for one evening, and you're blowing up bridges like some kind of eco-terrorist. You're going to give me a heart attack." Moon reached up slowly and rubbed at her mother's back, feeling the jokes and playful quips that they usually exchange with one another fall flat in this situation. She returned the embrace.

"I'm sorry, Mom." She whispered, and she truly meant it.

Her mother let out another breath, either of relief or of exhaustion, before raising up and regaining the ferocity of a worried mother as she turned on Professor Kukui, who had walked up behind Moon.

"And just who in the high hells was it that was just so important, that my daughter had to plunge into a river?" She barked. Moon turned to see the professor open his mouth to explain, but the voice that spoke was not his. It was much higher, and came from directly behind him.

"It was my fault, ma'am." Lillie said. Everyone turned to see she had silently followed out after Moon, and was standing with both hands tightly gripping the strap to her duffel that she carried over her shoulder. Her voice barely rose above a whisper, but there was no hesitation behind it. "I was careless with my pokemon, and I asked your daughter for help when a group of pokemon attacked both it, and myself. Without her selfless actions, I-I would have lost the thing I hold most dear." She bowed her head low, not unlike the traditional style that was done in Kanto, without another word.

Moon watched as her mother's eyes bulged, and she saw that although proper antibiotics and pressure had been applied, there was no stopping the tiny chunk of ear that was missing, nor the dried blood that had stuck to the side of Lillie's neck. A quick, unspoken conversation took place between the professor and Moon's mother through glances and expressions, and when it was done the tone of her mother's voice had changed considerably when she next spoke.

"There's no need for all that, Lillie. It is Lillie, isn't it?" Moon recognized her mother's tone, she had heard it many times before as a young child whenever she had fallen or come home crying because of something someone had done at school. It was a comforting tone. A mother's tone. "I'm not mad at you or anyone, really. I was just worried that the thing I hold dear had gotten hurt… so I apologize if my yelling startled you. We're a very loud family, but we mean well. Thank you for carrying her back, and mending her up. I wish she'd let more friends like you into her life."

"Wha- Mom!"

But Moon's mother paid her no mind, instead bowing her head towards Lillie. This must've been quite different from what Lillie had been expecting, because she pulled the brim of hat down low and murmured something unintelligible that sounded like, "Your food tastes nice." before turning around and climbing into the passenger seat of the professor's truck. Moon's mother raised her head, turned back to Moon, and motioned towards the house.

"Head on inside, love. I have to talk to Kukui for a second- no, I am not mad at him either, I was just being a mom." She gave Moon a look that offered no room for disagreement, and deciding she had tested her mother's patience enough for one day, agreed to head in. The fact that she felt completely drained helped such matters. "You can tell me about everything that happened here soon, okay? Don't let Meowth see your pokemon yet, or he'll have a fit."

"Alright. Goodnight Professor Kukui, and thanks again." She raised a hand to the professor, who smiled and waved back.

"Anytime, cousin. Get some rest, and make sure that popplio gets some rest too, yeah?"

She stepped inside, turning as she closed the door and pausing just before it shut to see Lillie in the seat of the truck busy tangling with what was likely her bag. She looked up and raised a hand, and Moon felt herself wave back before shutting the door with an audible click!

She could hear the professor and her mother talking with one another as she leaned down to pet Meowth, depositing her tupperware on the table and the soda can in the trash. Their voices weren't loud, but they had made the mistake of not trying to keep them down either. Even with her overwhelming exhaustion the urge to listen in was more than Moon could bear, and so she deposited her things slowly, as she strained to hear.

"Lei, I'm sorry for letting her outta my sight. I didn't want to hover – you told me she hates being watched after being in-"

"I'm not mad, dammit, I know you'd sooner die before you let something willingly happen to my daughter. It's what you said about being chosen to take the trial- Kukui, she can't-"

"She can. I know you're worried, and you have every right to be. But think about what this would mean for her? Physically and mentally!"

Moon sighed and headed for her room, deciding that a conversation like that would probably take a good twenty to thirty minutes. Her interest was no longer piqued, and she kicked off her shoes as the pleasant air-conditioned room welcomed her, tossing her bag in a chair and changing out of her mud-stained, sweat soaked shirt. She placed her new pokeball gently on the desk beside her bed, and crossed her hands behind her head as her hat fell to the side. The sound of bug-types in the woods convincing her to close her eyes while she waited.

It had been a busy day, after all.

Just as her eyes were closing, well aware that sleep was likely going to take her, she forced them awake to look over at her desk. She reached over and grabbed the pokeball, holding it to her chest as she rolled over into a more comfortable position, and she wondered about a lot of things. The Tapu, the stone, the trials, the people she had met and the pokemon she had seen. She wondered about Hau, and Lillie, and even the kahuna as she pulled a blanket over her shoulder, and some silly part of her wondered if her pokemon could hear her through its ball.

Did it want a lullaby, like she did?

"Yeah, we're here in Alola," She sang softly, "And you helped me sing my song. It's because of you that we got through, and proved that lameass wrong, in Aloooola… Alooooolaa." She let out a small cough, settling deeper into the covers. Her lullaby was so good it was working on herself. "I don't care if you're strong, long as we get along, and you don't tick off my… mom." She smiled to herself, clutching the pokeball close as her lullaby ended, and she drifted off to sleep.

What she did not know was that when one song ended, another one would begin. It did not matter whether her mother, the professor, or all the residents of Alola wanted it to or not. Sometimes it wasn't a single song either, as in the midst of that starry night many songs began their introductions. One song sprouted up in the confines of Po' Town on Ula'Ula Island, as a young boy in a hoodie wrapped a cloth around his fist with a dagger in hand so as to keep it taut.

A woman in a laboratory out in the middle of the ocean grinned as an otherworldly symphony began in her heart, the beeping on the monitors acting as the beat to her newfound melody.

And there, right in the outskirts of Hau'oli City, a song that the people of Alola had never heard before was just starting to beat, even though its occupant was already fast asleep, and would not feel its beat in her heart for many months more.

For with every song, it must begin, and with every song so too must it eventually end.