Who I Am - Lightning99

Chapter 69:

Awkward

If Mallow had to use one word to describe the atmosphere around her friend group in the days following the festival, it would be awkward. And it was for that reason that she was, for the first time, glad that Lana and Dawn had left to train. But, as she looked at the vacant bed across the room from her, that thought quickly become obsolete.

She headed to the lobby, where the first cause of the awkwardness sat, sipping a red-coloured berry juice – tamato, if her observations were correct. It was Kiawe, and the frown creasing his forehead, making the flames on his head look hotter, was now his constant resting face.

This brand of awkwardness, Mallow understood. She hadn't asked Kiawe about it, but it had shocked her, too, when Ash had forcefully denied him and Lana permission to join in on his battle against those two creatures. Kiawe was a young man of pride and passion, so being denied so bluntly like that must have frustrated him.

As Mallow thought she might talk to him about it, the second cause of the awkwardness appeared at the stairs: Clemont and Sophocles, so deep and engrossed in conversation about their project that Mallow understood only two words. This awkwardness was much tamer and less potentially explosive than Kiawe's, but it was still difficult to talk to either of them. Mallow didn't think it was a bad thing, though. Sophocles had never had a friend his age as invested in science as he was, so she said nothing about it. Ditching Lana and Dawn's departure was still quite rude, though.

She scanned the lobby, and that was when she saw another cause of the awkwardness. Serena's group, including Serena herself, were huddled around a table in the corner. They kept glancing from their huddle to Mallow's friends, then back again. Shauna waved, so Mallow waved back, sending over what she hoped was an apologetic smile.

None of it was anybody's fault. Both parties were supporting different people in Ash and Serena's situation. She supposed supporting might not be the right word, but she and her friends had seen how upset Ash had been, and the others had likely seen the reverse. That was it; they were keeping themselves apart by an unconscious judgement that either party had hurt the other. So, staring from a distance it was, and that it would stay until Ash and Serena acted. But that…

Mallow's attention went to the stairs when Ash jumped the last three steps into the lobby. She saw him stop, his gaze lining up with Serena, and wondered, for a moment, if the way he was leaning forward suggested he would talk to her. But then he seemed to see the others around, and Ash caught up to Kiawe instead, who had started towards the door as soon as he arrived.

"Do you want to train together today?" Ash asked as they stepped through the door. "I'm thinking of having Dartrix and Stufful get some good training in, and–"

That was as much as Mallow heard before the doors closed. They rounded the side of the building, so she assumed Kiawe had agreed. She cringed at Ash's obliviousness. But then she saw Serena looking after Ash and her earlier thought, and the most significant point of awkwardness, returned.

Something had definitely happened between Ash and Serena.

Mallow could guess what it might have been. All she knew for sure was that they had talked and that, in the aftermath, she had seen Serena looking after Ash whenever he left. And she had seen Ash looking at her whenever her back was turned, contemplatively, and somewhat sadly. For now, she chose not to give in to her desire to grab them both, sit them down, and force them to talk.

Eventually, Serena's group stood and left, and Sophocles and Clemont headed to the observatory as usual. Mallow watched them go, thinking and wondering what might happen if she unveiled any of her observations. She looked then at the battlefield out the window. She saw a flash of flames, then saw Ash's Stufful faint. Kiawe folded his arms and stood straighter. It seemed, for now, his mind was clear. They changed out their Pokémon and continued, and Mallow dragged her eyes towards the stairs. She hesitated a moment, then slid out of her chair and climbed them to confront the final point of awkwardness.

This point was more her fault than it was Lillie's.

Mallow had been there during the festival. She hadn't commented on it, but she had seen Ash and Lillie. She had seen their hands interlocked, their smiles and their comfort in each other's presence. She had seen, after Ash had clearly put himself on the line in that battle, how Lillie had hugged him. And so, she knew. Maybe she knew more than they did, but she wasn't saying anything. She knew how Lillie felt, and she knew how Ash felt, but she wasn't saying anything.

She could help them all, but she wasn't saying anything.

"Mallow?" Lillie asked when she opened the door. "Is everything ok?"

"I–" Mallow closed the door and approached Lillie, smiling down at the Alolan Vulpix opposite whose head was tilted curiously. "I need to ask you something."

"Oh, ok."

Mallow didn't even hesitate this time.

"You have a crush on Ash, don't you?"

Immediately, Lillie started stuttering out several responses of 'what', 'why do you think that', and 'no', all of which Mallow knew was utter rubbish because she, herself, had once thought those things.

After about a minute, Lillie stopped stuttering and stared at Mallow. There must have been something in her face – her lack of belief bleeding into her expression, perhaps – because Lillie just exhaled. She clasped her hands, then unclasped them, tapping her index fingers together. She wasn't quite meeting Mallow's gaze now.

"I-Is it that obvious?" Lillie asked.

Mallow shrugged. "I only noticed because of the festival but part of me thinks I should have seen it earlier."

"I guess it makes sense that Dawn figured it out, then…"

"You talked to Dawn about it before me?!"

"I–I'm sorry. I wanted to, but I thought…" Lillie muttered. She never finished her sentence. Instead, she looked at her lap, and Mallow realised that was probably one of the silliest comments she could have made.

"No." She sat beside Lillie on the bed, offering a side-hug. "I'm sorry. I get why you didn't tell me."

"I just…" Lillie muttered, accepting the hug readily. "I didn't want to hurt you."

"I know."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"I know," Mallow said, pulling back. "And you won't. I've gotten past it."

"You have?"

"Well, I still get flustered when he tells me I look beautiful or we're too close, but that's a natural reaction, isn't it?" Mallow said, nudging her shoulder.

Lillie giggled. "I suppose it is, yes. Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Please don't worry about that. You don't have to feel guilty for liking him just because I used to. You're free to love whoever you want."

"L-Love?!" Lillie exclaimed. Mallow smirked but ignored her.

"When I confessed, it wasn't the right time for us. For him. But now… Well, I've seen how he looks at you. I think you have a very good chance."

"W-What?!"

Mallow folded her arms, nodding. "Yep, yep, you do. I can see it. Right now, his eyes are all on you."

"Wha–" And then Lillie saw that she was barely concealing a smirk and groaning. "Mallow! Stop teasing me!"

"Sorry, sorry. I may be joking around, but I'm serious, you know. I saw how you two interacted at the festival. I saw how you looked at each other. I think he likes you."

Lillie, once again, looked at the bed. "Honestly… I am starting to think he might, too. I don't know if that makes me overconfident but the way we have been interacting lately…"

"You do?"

"It's not too overconfident, is it?"

"Not at all. I can't blame you for thinking that. Are you… Have you thought about confessing?" When Lillie didn't respond, Mallow smiled. "You want to, don't you?"

"I think part of me does, yes. But with everything going on, how Ash reacted to your confession, and Serena being here…"

"In that case, let me investigate!"

"Investigate?"

"Yep! I'll do what I did here. I'll approach Ash and get him to reveal how he feels about you, and when I know both, I can get you two together."

"Mallow…" Lillie breathed.

Mallow sighed. "Too much?"

"Umm, no, I appreciate the thought. You can figure out how he feels, if you would like, but I would like to see this through myself. I need to be confident and tell him. I need to do this on my own."

Mallow nodded. "I understand. I'll leave it to you, then. But if you need anything, just ask, ok? I'm here to talk, to help whenever you need it."

"Thank you, Mallow," Lillie said. They shared another quick hug. "Is this why you were quiet yesterday?"

"Sort of. It's complicated."

"Can I help in any way?" Lillie asked.

"Umm… I'm not sure. I'm just getting a bit frustrated by everybody being so awkward."

"Awkward?"

"You haven't noticed it?"

"No, not really. Apart from Ash and Serena."

"You really haven't noticed it? Kiawe being frustrated with Ash? Sophocles and Clemont excluding themselves in their own little bubble?"

Lillie looked pensive. "Now that you mention it…"

"Huh."

"Is that what is wrong?"

"It's just frustrating. I kinda want to give everybody a slap." When Lillie widened her eyes, Mallow rolled hers. "Not literally, just to wake them all up. I think that's going to be my goal from now on."

"To stop everybody being awkward around each other?"

"Yep!"

"Umm… Goodluck."

"Tell me about it," Mallow said. She flopped back on the bed. "Kiawe is probably a good one to start with. But how can I get him and Ash to work together to talk things out? If they're battling, that'll be all they care about."

Lillie hummed to herself. "Ash did tell me yesterday that he doesn't know who the next trial captain is. Since you and Kiawe are trial captains too, do you know who they are?"

"We do, yes. What are you getting at?"

"You could tell Ash to talk to Kiawe about it. You could have them work together to prepare for the trial," Lillie said.

"Huh. That's actually a good–" Mallow sat up abruptly. "I've just had a great idea. Lillie, thank you!"

"Umm. What did I do?" Lillie asked as Mallow grabbed her in another hug.

"Are you up for a bit of travelling?" Mallow asked.

"I suppose so? Why?"

"Great! Tell Ash, too!"

"Yes, but Mallow–"

Mallow jumped to her feet. "Make sure you pack some clothes and necessities for tomorrow. I need to make a call!"

With that, Mallow dashed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

The idea was perfect.

"It's as I said," Kanoa said from the edge of the houseboat, "one of Popplio's strengths, specifically, is that it can learn Icy Wind naturally, which covers one of their natural weaknesses. Your Popplio is at a higher power level than one might usually learn it, and it's not the strongest move, but it is versatile. Add in its effect of lowering the opponent's speed, and it'll surely help you in battle."

Lana, who was standing on a Lapras' back and facing down Kanoa's Brionne in the fading dusk light, nodded.

"But Icy Wind is difficult to learn, especially out here in Alola. Since the water and air is so warm, it's difficult to cool down the Water-Type moves to a sufficient level. As such, you need to teach Popplio how to lower its temperature itself – that's what we have been doing. So, when I give the word, Brionne will freeze the water around Popplio again. Let's make this last attempt a good one!"

"Understood. Begin!" Lana called out, stepping around Lapras' neck to better see the situation.

"Ok. Brionne, Ice Beam," Kanoa said. Brionne did as said: she used Ice Beam around Popplio, moving it inwards until a platform of ice remained behind, onto which Popplio jumped and waited.

"Popplio, breathe in the cool air," Lana said, watching Popplio rise onto her tail and spread her arms wide. She inhaled deeply in, and then breathed out. Lana saw a puff of chilled air fade into the darkness and called out, "Use Icy Wind!"

Popplio sucked in another breath, this one long and slow. She dipped her head back, then breathed out, unleashing a noticeable gust of wind. However, much like her other attempts, there was only one or two small chunks of ice within it. When Popplio let the move fade away, panting, Kanoa started clapping. Lana, on the other hand, dropped her shoulders.

"Nice work, both of you! Come on back!" Kanoa said, coaxing the pair of them back from the ocean. He helped Lana up onto the boat, returning Lapras as Popplio and Brionne bounced up onto the deck.

"We didn't get the move to work, though," Lana said.

Kanoa shook his head. "That's not a problem. We've only been at it for a day. You can't expect to see results so quickly."

"I guess not, no."

"You still did great today."

"Are you sure? I feel like I wasn't on it."

"Do you think? Well, I'm going to go check on Ida and Dawn around the other side. Do you want to join me?"

"I'll wait here," Lana said. "It's a nice night."

"That it is," Kanoa said. He clapped her on the back and rounded the boat to the other side.

Lana sat on the edge of the boat, letting her legs dangle in the water, and there she sat as the sun sank lower and lower, hiding behind the horizon. And she simply looked out at the sea, as she did whenever she could.

Whether during the day or night, Lana found that watching and listening to the sea leisurely breeze along cleared her mind. It soon became the latter, dark enough that most of the water was reduced to a black that twinkled every so often, but she could still hear it. It was still there, and it was still connecting her to the rest of Alola, to Ula'Ula Island, to Mallow. That was probably why she didn't feel like they were apart. Not really. Although Mallow and Lillie calling her the other day to tell her and Dawn about Lillie's Vulpix helped, too.

She hoped, in some strange way, that she was connected to the other regions, too. To Sinnoh, perhaps, and its chilly seas and frozen lakes; to Hoenn, perhaps, the region of the land and sea; and to Kanto. To her pen pal.

Lana picked up her phone from where she had rested it earlier and scrolled below her chat with Mallow, to where a message she had sent had gone unread for more than a few weeks now.

"You're looking unusually thoughtful tonight," Dawn said, appearing in the nearby doorway.

"Are you saying I usually don't think?"

Dawn laughed.

"How did training go?"

"It was ok. You?"

"Mine went well," Dawn said. She kicked off her sandals and sat beside Lana, dangling her feet in the water. She sighed, her shoulders relaxing.

"This is nice. Doing this in Sinnoh would give me frostbite," Dawn said.

"Gotta love the tropics."

"So, what's up? Thinking about Lillie and her Vulpix?"

"It's amazing, isn't it?"

Dawn nodded. "Yep, it is. She's been working so hard. I'm not her parent or anything, but I'm proud of her."

"You don't have to be a parent to be proud," Lana said. "Now all she needs to do is tell Ash how she feels, and she'll be all good."

Dawn laughed again. "It's so obvious, isn't it?"

"I'm not surprised Ash hasn't noticed, though."

"Given the situation," Dawn said. "Is that what's bothering you?"

"What, Ash and Lillie? Yes. Yes, it is. Very much so. Get on with it already."

And yet again, Dawn laughed. "No, not that. I mean for you."

Lana frowned. "You're being very cryptic today."

"I don't want to pry unnecessarily."

"I doubt that," Lana said, and she showed Dawn her messages.

"Ah, you've been left on read."

"That's bad, right?"

Dawn shrugged. "Not necessarily. Maybe she's busy, you never know. Try not to get wrapped up in it. You wouldn't if Poké-gears didn't exist, would you? You'd just wait until you see each other in person."

"Curse technology and its mind-altering ways."

"Yeah, but those cute Litten videos you have in Alola are amazing," Dawn said.

Lana laughed. "Mallow said the same thing the first time she saw one."

"Do you miss her already?"

"No, but I am worried for her. She seemed a bit lost when I left."

"Ugh, tell me about it. We left Ash in a tough situation, too. I can only hope he's not completely breaking down right now."

"Do you miss him?"

"Hmm… I thought I would, but Ida said something while teaching me today. We were practising a hula-style dance, and she took me through the basics. Did you know that wavy hand movements have more than one meaning? They can mean the waves themselves, the swaying trees, and even human emotions. She said you have to feel the sea while dancing. You have to connect with it because, like emotions, it connects everything," Dawn explained.

Lana nodded, her eyes never leaving Dawn.

"I don't know. Maybe I've become pseudo-Alolan. You guys don't seem bothered by too much out here. What I mean is that it just made me feel relaxed. Like I could tell everything was ok even from out here."

"I feel the same," Lana said. "I think that's why I love Water-Type Pokémon so much. Even if I'm not the most social person, their habitat connects us all, so they do too. Maybe I'm just desperate for some sort of connection."

"Aren't we all, though? In some ways?" When Lana didn't reply, Dawn placed a hand on her shoulder. "You and your pen pal seem pretty close."

"Who knows?" Lana said, standing up.

"Does she have a name?"

"Let's get some sleep. I can't wait to win our practise spar tomorrow."

"Hey, it's not a battle! We're practising our moves!"

"I'll still win," Lana said, disappearing inside with a smirk.

"There," James said with a poorly concealed huff. He placed a thick wad of papers onto Officer Nanu's desk, then stood back, arms crossed. "I have looked over and filed all of the reports concerning the Malie Garden incident, and I've replied to the media outlets asking for information. They will run a news story on it as soon as possible."

"Oh ho?" Nanu asked, leaning back in his chair. "I didn't expect you to actually do it."

"When I'm committed to doing something, I will always see it through, especially if it is something somebody has asked of me," James said.

Nanu squinted at him for a long moment. Then, he looked away, thrust his hands into his pockets, and stared at the wall.

"Right," he said. "Well, we've got nothin' more to do here now."

"We?" James asked.

"You're free to go."

James nodded. "Very well, sir. Thank you." He packed away his things, coaxed Jessie and Meowth with him from where they were slouched half on a settee and half on the ground, and then stepped out onto the evening path. As he breathed in, savouring the delightful cool in the air, Jessie expelled all of her breath.

"This sucks," she said. "Why are we doing all of his work?!"

"Those Alolan Meowth are glaring at me, I swear," Meowth added.

"Yes, well, we will be paid for our work, so it is worth it," James said. "Besides, it is only a cover, remember?"

"Oh?!" Jessie said, slinging her arm around James' shoulders. "What for, my scheming friend?"

James nodded to his left, and the duo followed him down the path. "Now that I've cleared up our work schedule, we're going to start researching Team Skull."

"Oh. Is that it?" Jessie asked.

"Well, what else would you be doing?"

"Sunbathing?"

"In the evening?"

"Fine, moonbathing, then."

James stopped and turned to her. "Jessie, I know you're having a harder time coming to terms with not being villains anymore than I am, but this is important to me. We need to know what is going on with Team Skull. I don't want to see these young people take the wrong path. So please, are you with me?"

Jessie, without missing a moment, straightened up and flipped her long hair over her shoulder. "Who said anything about me not helping?" As she sashayed forward, James couldn't not sigh.

When they reached their intended destination, James ushered the group behind a patch of trees. They peeked around it, but all that was in front of them was a tall, grey stone wall with mossy patches.

"So, this is it, then?" Meowth asked, looking up at the wall. "Team Skull's hideout?"

"Yes," James said.

"What's the plan, then?" Jessie asked.

"Huh. That's a new one outta you," Meowth said.

"Shut it."

James chuckled. "I'm not sure. We need to see what's happening inside before anything else. But the wall is quite tall."

"It's moments like these that I wish we had our old, unlimited budget," Meowth said.

"We still have our skills. Come on. We'll manage," James said, skirting around his team and into the forest.

Thirty minutes passed while they searched the forest, picking up random oddities that James decided would be useful. When they left the treeline, they carried a handcrafted wooden ladder with them that looked expertly made – in reality, it was more hastily built than it looked, and stuck together with some of Yanmega's string. They rounded the side of the wall to where there was a bit of raised land, then propped the ladder against it. Meowth climbed first, James followed, and Jessie was last. Meowth hopped onto the top of the wall while James and Jessie squeezed onto the top step together, peeking over it.

There was a town on the other side, and if James were asked to describe it in one word, he would use dark. It was nightfall already, but where the route outside was lit by the unimpeded moon, this wasn't. The town was one long street with houses on either side and a mansion at the end. The pathways and grass patches were filled with chipped stones, fallen leaves, and dim, barely glowing lampposts.

Several people wearing black outfits roamed about. James could see some practising graffiti on a wall and a group huddled around a rundown car, laughing. Then there was a pair walking through the town towards the gate. It was a man and a woman, their hair white and purple, and they looked different in how they carried themselves – more casual, less forced thuggishness. A group of grunts was tailing them.

When they stopped at the door, James could just barely hear their voices.

"You know what to do," the man said, folding his arms. "Tell 'em to bother 'em as much as possible. Rile 'em up. I want him to be pissed at me before we fight."

"You sure?" the woman asked. "Rumour has it he fought off those invaders."

"Heh. I coulda done it easy."

"I don't doubt you."

"Just get it done."

The woman coaxed the group closer. "Let's move out. We've got a job."

The door creaked open slowly, and the group disappeared through it.

James commanded Jessie down the ladder. They clambered to the ground as fast as they could, stashed the ladder down the side of the cliff, but when they rounded the corner, the group was gone.

"Should we hunt 'em down?" Jessie asked. 'Shouldn't be too hard.'

"No," James said, "let's get some sleep. We've learned enough."

"We have, eh?" Meowth asked as they started back towards the station.

"I think so. From what it looked like, many of the Team Skull grunts seemed to be enjoying what they were doing. But living in a place like that…"

"Can't be good for them," Jessie said. "What do you wanna do?"

"I think we need to talk to some of them. Figure out what they want, why they're there."

"How do you suppose we get that close?" Meowth asked.

"How else?" Jessie asked with a smirk.

James was content to head back to their room for the night. They had gathered some helpful information. He would think about their next steps some more and then go to bed.

At least, that was what he thought before he heard a voice leak out through the Police Station's window.

"Why are you here?"

Jessie yanked him and Meowth closer, ducking beneath the window.

"Can I not visit an old friend?" a strangely familiar male voice asked.

"That's stretching it," Nanu said.

"I suppose we do have a lot of history."

"What are you doing here?"

"I thought I would inform you as to the nature of the incident in Malie Garden. We found traces of Ultra Wormhole energy present at the site."

Nanu grunted. "What of it?"

"I believe we can finally return and finish the case we started."

"Leave me outta it."

"It won't be the same this time," the man said.

"Don't tell me you're trying again?"

"I won't let history repeat itself."

"Leave me outta it. I'm retired."

"Clearly," the man said. "I just thought I would let you know. Goodbye."

As they heard the telltale steps of the man moving towards the door, James ushered the group to the corner, just out of the way. The door creaked open, and James sucked in a breath at who stepped out.

It was that member of the international police. It was Looker.

Alright, you got me Coy0t3, well played. :)

Wow, this has definitely been the longest break between chapters yet. Eight months, is it? That's a yikes from me. Before ya'll kill me, there are a few reasons for that.

Firstly, I've recently gone through a big life change and have had to focus on all of that, which has taken up most of my time. Busy schedules and all that. What can you do about it, am I right?

Secondly, for the little time I have had to write, I have been spending it on a completely different project. I know, I know, probably not something you wanna hear. I'm just so into writing the other story that this story has taken a little bit of a back seat at the moment, a choice I made because of the third reason. It's a non-uploaded project, as of yet. It's a huge idea, and I really want to finish it before I upload anything so we don't have... well... the situation with this story XD. I've never been good with upload deadlines, sorry guys.

Thirdly, I've actually had this chapter and one or two more just sitting there for a little while and I don't want to let people down. Because of my new busy schedule, I haven't been working on this story as much. Because of that, it would mean that, if I did upload, it's very likely we'd have another huge break again. So, I didn't want to upload, suggest that the story is back up and running, and then stop again. As I have so... so many times. How are you guys still here? T_T However, I decided I needed to update - and not just because of the daily reminders, though they did help. I figured I needed to update you on the situation and repeat one thing:

I'm not giving up on this story. Uploads may be slow - very slow depending on the situation - but I'm not giving up on it. So please don't count down the days till the next, and please remember this is only a hobby, not a full-time gig. That's even more true with the recent change, so please bare with me. :)

If you've read this chapter and this whole spiel, thank you for reading! We'll get there. Eventually!

In the meantime, feel free to ask questions, send a message, maybe check out some of my other works, or ask about my new one. It'll probably help if I'm not completely radio silent.

See you next time! :)

P.S: What a fitting chapter name, am I right?