A/N: I am so sorry this took so long to get out. I was sick with a sinus infection all April, and then just as I was getting better my beta (see: my dad) came down with covid. Usually I can count on him to help me out when I'm in a rut but he justifiably wanted to sleep by the time I got off work. Then he was working over time for the past two weeks to make up for all his sick leave... It's all been such a mess, but the chapter's here now. I hope you all like it.

The next morning, Sun met Lillie in the café to get some breakfast. The pokémon center was mostly empty apart from the pair and their pokémon, since it was so early, and Hau had gotten up earlier than them to head to Ilima's trial. Sun happily munched on a chocolate croissant, while his crew went to town on some pokébeans. "So," Sun said, "what're the plans for today?"

Lillie looked up from her sandwich and shrugged. "Normally after completing the trial of every captain on an island, you would challenge the kahuna for the Grand Trial," she explained. "Ilima's the only captain on Melemele, so that would mean battling Kahuna Hala next."

Sun looked thoughtful. "I mean I'll definitely challenge Kahuna Hala once I'm ready," he mused, "but I think my team and I need to train a bit more first."

"That's a good plan, cousin," a familiar voice said, and the two teens saw Professor Kukui coming to sit with them. "You won't succeed at the Grand Trial unless you're completely prepared."

"Oh, good morning, Professor!" Sun greeted. "Yes, I was just thinking about what I'd need to do to prepare. Learning to use a Z-Move properly is most likely the first thing."

Professor Kukui beamed. "Well, why don't my team and I give you a Helping Hand with that, then?" he offered. "Me and Rockruff are pretty used to performing Z-Moves after all."

Sun looked at his team. "Alright guys, which of you wants to learn to do a Z-Move first?"

Sun wasn't too surprised when Baron gave a loud cry of "Trumbeak!" and landed on his shoulder, but he was startled when none of the others seemed interested.

"Really guys?" he asked. "Just Baron? Well, there we go then."

"If I had to guess Sun," Professor Kukui said thoughtfully. "Baron is the only one interested at the moment because he's the only one whose type aligns with the Z-Crystal you currently have even if they all have moves compatible with it. It isn't a hard and fast rule, but it does make sense."

Sun looked thoughtful. "Is that true guys?" he asked, looking at his other pokémon and receiving nods. "That's fair then. We can wait until we get Z-Crystals that suit you all better."

"Actually Sun," Professor Kukui interjected, "I wouldn't do that if I were you. It takes a while for a pokémon and their trainer to get used to the strain of performing a Z-Move. Even if they don't want to use it in a proper battle, practicing with the Normalium Z will be good for them."

Sun turned back to his team. "What do you say guys?" he asked. "I won't force you to do it, but Professor Kukui knows what he's talking about and getting in practice can't hurt."

His other pokémon still looked dubious. "Maybe if they see you working on it with Baron, they'll see what the professor means?" Lillie offered.

"Yeah!" Sun agreed enthusiastically. "Let's do that Professor!"

Kukui chuckled. "Alright then, buddy! Let's go all out!"

The three humans and their pokémon stood in a field next to the pokémon center. "Okay, Sun first off," Professor Kukui instructed from opposite the Island Challenger, "place the Normalium Z on your Z-Ring, yeah!"

Sun carefully settled the Normalium Z into the groove on his Z-Ring, the Z-Crystal slotting into place with a click. "Okay," he agreed, "what's next?"

"Well, next would be doing the movements to perform the Z-Move, but we're going to perform the Z-Move in a battle so that we're all warmed up first, yeah! That's why you're going to be taking on me and Rockruff." Kukui explained.

"And I'll be serving as referee this time," Lillie explained. "And so… Professor Kukui, are you ready to begin?"

"I'm ready, yeah," the Professor agreed calmly, his Rockruff yipping excitedly next to him.

"Sun, are you ready?"

"Let's do this!" he cheered, Baron squawking aggressively next to him.

"Use Rock Throw Rockruff," instructed Professor Kukui.

"Rockruff!" cried the small rock type, summoning stones to fall upon Baron.

Sun grinned. "Perfect! Baron use Brick Break on the rocks and send 'em back at Rockruff!"

"Trumbeak!" squawked Baron, his beak growing with the orange aura of the fighting type move.

Professor Kukui chuckled. "Not bad Sun," he complemented. "But we were expecting that, right Rockruff?"

The little rock type dog yipped and nimbly dodged the redirected attack. "Rockruff!"

Baron gave a wild squawk and lunged at Rockruff. "That's the way!" Sun encouraged. "Get in close and use Brick Break!"

"Trum!" Baron agreed, his beak glowing with the orange energy flying in to land a vicious blow.

"Rockruff," the professor said excitedly, "block the attack with Bite!"

"Wait, what?" Sun said in shock, as the little rock type bit down hard on his bird pokémon's beak, holding it in place.

"Now, throw him back, oh yeah!" Professor Kukui cheered.

"Rrckcuff!" growled Rockruff around Baron, tossing the flying type into the air where it struggled to fly after becoming airborne in such an unexpected way.

"Respecting your pokémon and battling with them in ways that suit them is a good thing, yeah," Professor Kukui told Sun. "Like how Baron and Nero prefer aggressive assaults. But if we'd wanted to, we could've used Rock Tomb while we had Baron trapped. If you're going to focus on aggressive maneuvers with members of your team, you'll need to either keep them at a safe distance or come up with ways to get them out of such traps."

Sun nodded thoughtfully. "That makes sense," he replied. The domination style his uncle, and to a lesser extent his mother as well, had taught him was very aggressive as Sun and his pokémon themselves preferred to battle, but this was one of its weaknesses. He'd understood it before, in theory, but now he was witnessing the weakness firsthand. Uncle Gio's preference for ground types, due to their lack of speed and strong defensive capabilities minimalized the weakness somewhat, Sun mused. But Baron and the others, apart from Emperor, aren't really built for taking hits.

"Trumbe-ea-ea-eak!" squawked Baron, landing on Sun's shoulder and gently jabbing his trainer with his beak.

Sun chuckled. "What's up buddy?" he asked his bird pokémon. "Want to move onto the next part of the training?"

"Trumbeak, trum!" Baron agreed emphatically, bobbing his head up and down.

Sun smiled. "Let's kick it up a notch then! Professor Kukui, Rockruff, let's use our Z-Moves!"

Professor Kukui grinned. "Sounds good cousin! On three we'll do the appropriate movements for the Z-Move Breakneck Blitz, yeah!?"

"On three," Sun agreed, Baron flying from his perch to down onto the ground.

"One, two, three!" Lillie called. "GO!"

Sun carefully mirrored the professor's posing which were identical to what Ilima had taught him. Sun crossed his arms, held them at odd angles, and then held them in a z shape on his chest just as Professor Kukui did. Sun felt energy flow out of him into Baron, leaving him greatly drained in the aftermath.

Still, he found it in himself to yell in unison with the Professor, "BARON/ROCKRUFF, UNLEASH BREAKNECK BLITZ!"

Sun panted, sweat dripping down his face as both pokémon dashed at each other, their sheer speed kicking up massive clouds of dust. It was like watching a pokémon use Tackle, but with the force of a Giga Impact behind it.

Baron and Rockruff smashed into each other, but despite the flying type's best efforts the puppy pokémon overpowered him, knocking him out.

"Baron is unable to battle! The winner is Rockruff!"

Despite the exhaustion filling his limbs, Sun rushed over to his Trumbeak, scooping Baron into his arms, and making sure his pokémon was alright. "Are you alright buddy?" Sun asked anxiously, receiving a tired nuzzle as reassurance.

"Phew! That was pretty good for a first Z-Move, Sun, Baron!" Professor Kukui praised. "Don't feel bad about Breakneck Blitz not winning you the day this time, it takes a lot of energy just to perform a Z-Move."

"How do they work? I've never felt so drained before," Sun asked, with Baron squawking in tired agreement.

"Z-Powers channel a trainer's feelings onto a pokémon as fuel for the move," Lillie explained, "which will wear a trainer and the pokémon out after the move is performed."

Professor Kukui nodded in agreement. "That's right, Lillie. Because of that, using Z-Power once per battle is all a team can handle, yeah. That's still the best way to practice them, though, so my advice would just be to train other things at the same time."

Lillie giggled. "Oh, is that why you've been looking so ragged, Professor?" she teased. "Training Z-Moves with Rockruff and taking the hits?"

Sun laughed and Professor Kukui chuckled, clearly taking no offense. "Maybe," he replied, "but enough about me what's next for you two?"

Sun glanced down at Baron in his arms. "Well, first I need to take Baron back to the pokémon center," the Island Challenger replied. "And then my pokémon and I are all going to have to train a bit, I think."

"If you're looking to train," Lillie interjected, "might I recommend Melemele Meadow on Route 3? It's not too far a walk and has a lot of wild pokémon and open space, so it should serve as a good training ground."

"Sounds like a winner," Sun agreed. "Do you want to come with us?"

Lillie nodded. "Truthfully, there are pokémon native to those meadows called Cutiefly that I wanted to check out," she replied. "W-Would you help me catch one?" she asked shyly.

"Of course," Sun replied, "but let me get Baron to the pokémon center first. What are you going to do Professor?"

"I'm gonna head on ahead to Iki Town," Professor Kukui replied. "Once you've trained to a level you're satisfied with, you come too. You have to challenge Kahuna Hala to the Grand Trial of Melemele Island."

"Thank you for your patience," the Nurse Joy of the pokémon center on Route 2 said. "We've restored your Trumbeak to full health."

"Thank you, ma'am," Sun replied, taking Baron's pokéball back and releasing his bird pokémon. "Feeling better?"

"Trumbeak! Trum trum beak!" Baron squawked excitedly, perching on his shoulder.

"Are you all ready to go?" Lillie asked, Bubbly resting in her arms.

"Well, let's check," Sun replied. "Team Sun, Roll Call!"

"Litten!" cried Nero, rubbing between his legs.

"Trumbeaaak!" squawked Baron from his perch.

Prince jumped up on top of Sun's head. "Meowth!" the dark type cried, looking down on all of his subjects.

"Grimer mer," grunted Emperor, hugging his trainer.

"And we're all here," Lillie replied, Bubbly clapping her paws and Nebby shaking in the bag.

"Alright then, let's roll out Team Sun," Sun said, receiving cheers from them all.

Lillie watched with interest as Sun clashed with another young trainer on their way to the meadow. "Go get 'em, Nero!" the Island Challenger urged. "Use Fire Fang!"

Her friend's Litten mercilessly bit down on the opponent's Butterfree, mouth alight with flame. "LITTEN!" he roared, knocking his opponent out.

As Sun praised his opponent for a good battle, and offered items for healing up the Butterfree, Lillie noticed Hau coming up behind them.

"Heeyyy, Sun! Hey, Lillie!" Sun's rival shouted, waving eagerly.

"Hey, buddy!" Sun greeted, bumping fists with his friend. "What's up?"

"Just finished up my trial!" the energetic boy cheered.

Lillie grinned at them both. "Didn't you promise to battle after that happened?" she asked.

Sun grinned. "Sure did! You up for it, Hau?"

Hau nodded eagerly. "Yeah! I wanna see if I really learned anything from my trial. Our battles with my gramps are coming up, and I want to see if I'm ready for it. I've caught another pokémon, so let's make our battle three on three, one round for each pokémon, yeah?"

"That sounds awesome, let's get to it!" Sun said with a grin. "Alright, Nero, you're up first!"

"Let's do this Puka!" Hau cheered, and to the surprise of Lillie and Sun a blue-eyed Pikachu scampered forward, his cheeks sparking with electricity in excitement.

"No way, your Pichu evolved already?" Sun asked in shock. "I heard they were really hard to evolve! And his eyes are blue? Most of the Pikachu I've seen have brown or black eyes."

Hau nodded. "Yep, he evolved when we were fighting the Totem Gumshoos. As for his eyes, I don't really know what to tell you, they're the norm here in Alola."

"That's really interesting," Sun said thoughtfully. "I wonder why…"

"MRAR LIT!" Nero growled, spitting a fireball at the ground. "LITTEN!"

Sun grinned crookedly. "Looks like Nero's raring to go. Let's do this, Hau!"

"Remember, loser buys the winner malasadas!" Hau retorted. "Alright Puka, start it off with Thundershock!"

"Pi-ka-CHUUU!" squeaked the electric mouse, blasting electricity at Sun's starter.

"Fend it off with Ember!" Sun instructed. "And then lunge in and use Fire Fang!"

Nero spat an Ember-hairball, blocking the Thundershock except for a few stray sparks. Then fire gathered in his jaw, and he lunged at Puka, ready to take a fearsome, flaming bite.

"Puka, use Quick Attack to dodge!" Hau shouted.

But strangely, for the first time Sun had seen, Puka didn't listen. Instead, he remained where he was, and his blue eyes began to glow. No sooner, had Nero bitten down on Puka with his flaming bite than was he trapped within an eerie blue glow.

And though Puka shrank back slightly, his eyes narrowed in concentration and Nero floated into the air.

"Wh-What the?" Sun mumbled in shock. "How is Puka doing that?"

"Zzt! Puka iz uzing Confuzion!" Dexter chirped. "Pikachu in Alola can learn to use psychic attackz by ztudying the flow of wavez. Zzt zzt!"

"Nero, try using Bite on the psychic aura to break free!" Sun suggested.

To Nero's credit, he tried, straining against Confusion's hold and attempting to bring his fangs to bear, but Puka's psychic grip was just too strong to resist after he'd already been caught. "Lit… ten…" the little fire type groaned.

"Alright, Puka," Hau said, "let's finish this up, okay? Use Aqua Jet!"

Now, Sun was not unfamiliar with the move Aqua Jet. It was, essentially, the Quick Attack of water type attacks. But he'd never heard of a Pikachu using it.

However, sure enough a geyser of water erupted from beneath Puka and the electric type rode it straight into Nero who was still locked in place by Puka's psychic abilities. It… It looked like Puka had Surfed into Nero but that move had definitely been Aqua Jet. The execution had been a bit different, and Sun had never known a Pikachu capable of using the move, but it was unmistakable.

Nero fell to the ground with a groan, the little fire type's eyes going all swirly. "Ten…" he groaned, slumping over.

Lillie glanced at Sun, who gave her a nod. "Don't worry Nero," the pale young lady said pulling a potion out of her bag, "I'll take care of you." She began diligently healing the fire type.

"Thanks Lillie," Sun said, before he turned back to Hau and shook his head, a disbelieving grin on his face. "Man, I thought I knew everything about Pikachu. I'd heard of Surfing Pikachu of course, but I didn't think they were real."

Hau chuckled. "They're very real. Most Pikachu in Alola can learn to use Surf with enough experience, but Puka's only just evolved so using Aqua Jet in a similar way is good enough for now."

Sun thoughtfully. "That's really interesting," he mused. "Even with pokémon that aren't Alolan Forms exactly, there's still differences from the ones I've known in Kanto."

"You're really interested in regional differences, aren't you Sun?" Lillie asked, amused. "Is it because they're variations of pokémon you already know?"

"It's not just that," Sun explained. "I've heard about Alolan Forms and Alolan pokémon since I was little, so learning about them hands on is a great feeling."

"This is interesting and all," Hau said with a teasing grin, "but we are battling, y'know."

Sun grinned. "Bring it on buddy! Remember, the loser has to get the other malasada!"

Hau smirked. "You'll be treating us again! Come on out Bowtie!"

Out of Hau's pokéball came an owl pokémon, but it wasn't a Rowlet. "Dartrix!" Bowtie hooted, his form taller and less round than it had previously been. He fluttered in the air above Hau, preening.

Sun's eyes went wide. "No way… Your starter evolved?" he asked in shock, trembling with excitement. "That's so cool!"

"That training before the trial paid off," Hau explained. "Bowtie here evolved before I even reached the Totem."

"Well, if you're bringing out your evolved flying type…" Sun mused. "I'll bring out mine too! You're up Baron!"

The Trumbeak took an aggressive stance in the air opposite Bowtie. "Trumbe-e-e-eak!" he squawked; beak gleaming.

"Yeah," Sun agreed, "use Peck on Bowtie!"

"You use Peck too, Bowtie!"

Much like Sun's first battle with Baron the two flying types began jousting back and forth with their beaks, Hau's Dartrix occasionally striking a dramatic pose and slashing harder.

Sun grit his teeth, they were mostly coming up even like this, he needed a way to close the gap. "Use Echoed Voice to throw off the rhythm Baron!" he shouted.

"TRUM-BE-EAK!" shouted Baron, soundwaves coming out towards Bowtie knocking the grass and flying type backwards.

"Use a Leaf Combo!" Hau shouted, much to Sun's confusion.

Bowtie knew what it meant though, unleashing the scattered leaves of Leafage and the more direct barrage of Razor Leaf leaves simultaneously, slashing at Baron.

Baron looked to Sun, and receiving a nod in return, a wild light danced in the Bugle Beak Pokémon's eyes. "TRUM-BE-EAK! TRUM-BE-EAK! TRUM-BE-EAK!" the flying type screeched viciously, unleashing massive shockwaves of sound blasting the leaves away.

"Okay, Bowtie, pull back," Hau instructed. "He's built up too much momentum with Echoed Voice."

The Dartrix preened but retreated as instruct. Unfortunately for Hau's starter however, Baron was running wild, and the retreat just provided an opening.

"Baron, use Peck!" Sun shouted, anticipating his bird pokémon's desire.

"Trumbeak!" Baron cried in agreement, slashing at Bowtie viciously with his beak.

"Fend him off with Tackle!" Hau shouted.

"Dart dart!" Bowtie hooted in agreement, flying at Baron.

And that was their crucial mistake, getting too close to Baron on the rampage. Beak aglow with white light, Sun's first catch savagely slashed their opponent with repeated strikes from his beak.

"Trix…" groaned Bowtie, his eyes going swirly and falling out of the air.

"Ease up, Baron," Sun told his Trumbeak gently. "That's enough."

In a wonderful departure from their first battle with Hau and Bowtie, Baron listened, flying back to Sun's shoulder with a proud, "Trumbeak!"

Hau cradled his starter, fussing over the owl pokémon. "You did great, Bowtie," Hau assured his starter. "We'll get 'em next time, yeah?"

"We didn't go overboard, did we?" Sun asked, slightly concerned. Baron had pulled back as requested, but that didn't mean they couldn't have done more damage than they'd intended, after all.

"Dartrix dart," Bowtie hooted in tired reassurance. He brushed his feathers back and cocked his head in an attempt to assure Sun and his other friends there was no real harm done.

Hau gave Sun a relaxed smile. "It's all good," he assured his friend. "You were fighting us seriously. I would've spoken up if it had gotten to be too much."

"Would you like me to heal them up for you now?" Lillie asked, motioning for both flying types to come to her.

"That'd be great," Sun said, nodding to Baron to signal him to fly over to her for treatment.

Hau gently settled Bowtie down next to her, giving his starter a gentle pat before turning back to Sun. "Alright, we're tied up right now," Hau told his friend. "Whoever wins this round has to pay for malasadas. Come on out, Speakers!"

With a cry of "Noibat noi!" the most adorable bat pokémon Sun had ever seen erupted from a pokéball. He'd seen Zubat many times back in Kanto, and studied its evolutions in school, and while they had their charms, they had nothing on the cuteness the little creature positively oozed.

They shared enough of the same coloring that Sun figured they were probably closely related, but even if the little creature hadn't spoken his species' name Sun would've guessed they were different pokémon and that this wasn't simply an Alolan Zubat or something.

"Your Noibat is so cute!" Sun cooed, still staring at the little guy.

Hau chuckled. "He is, but don't let that distract you," Sun's rival warned. "This little guy is a dragon type, y'know!"

Sun grinned. "A dragon, huh?" he mused. "Well then, just like in the fairy tales it'll be a prince who faces him down! Let's do this, buddy!"

Prince leapt onto the field, opposite their opponents, already looking ready to pounce. "Meowth meow," he purred.

"Let's start it off with Fake Out!" Sun cried.

"Dodge it!" Hau shouted, and the little dragon type speedily obeyed, zipping out of the way of Prince's clapping hands much to the surprise of the Meowth and his trainer.

"Mrar," Prince mewed, slightly impressed.

"Yeah," Sun agreed, "that was impressive speed. Speakers is the first pokémon to completely dodge Prince's Fake Out."

"Noibat are fast pokémon," Hau replied. "Now, Speakers let's show them how you got your name! Use Supersonic!"

"Noi-oi-oi-oi!" Speakers screeched, causing Lillie and Sun to both clamp their hands over their ears and Prince to sway about drunkenly.

"Meow-ow-ow-ow!" Prince crooned, slashing at air, and then raked at himself with his own claws. "Meow-ow-ow-ow!"

"Snap out of it, Prince!" Sun shouted, trying to break through to his dark type. "Jump up at Speakers and use Bite!"

The dark type feline appeared to listen as he jumped into the air… only flail about wildly in confusion once he was airborne. Sun groaned, trying to think of what to do.

Hau grinned. "Looks like we succeeded in confusing Prince! Let's get in there with Gust while he's still airborne!"

"Noibat bat!" squeaked Speakers agreeably, rapidly flapping his wings and lashing a small wind vortex out at Prince.

Prince cried out in pain, but his eyes narrowed, and he focused on Speakers, seemingly no longer confused.

"Prince, are you okay?" Sun asked in concern. "Can you still fight?"

"Me-owth!" Prince agreed emphatically.

"Alright then, jump up at Speakers and use Echoed Voice!" Sun said, punching a fist towards Speakers.

"Me-Me-Me-Meowth!" screeched Prince, pouncing at the Noibat unleashing soundwaves in a similar way to Baron.

"Hold him off with another Supersonic!" Hau shouted, calling for a counter.

Sun and Lillie were prepared this time, so they clamped their hands over theirs even before Speakers began screeching. "Noi-oi-oi-oi!" Speakers screeched, combatting the soundwaves Prince was unleashing.

"Power through and get him with Bite!" Sun encouraged his dark type cat.

"Meee-owwwth!" hissed Prince, biting into Speakers.

"Noibat!" cried Speakers, wincing at the pain.

"Speakers, if you're okay, if you can still fight, knock him off and then blast him with Gust!" Hau cried.

"Prince, try to hang on!"

Prince tried, but the damage he'd previously taken both from Speakers' attacks and himself while being confused were adding up and sapping his energy to resist. When Speakers' Gust attack struck home, it took the young dark type out of the fight.

Lillie looked from Sun to Prince, a silent request for permission to heal his Meowth, which he answered with a nod of permission.

While Lillie moved to tend to the fallen pokémon, Sun and Hau bumped fists. "We're getting pretty strong, huh?" Hau asked, beaming.

Sun gave his buddy a wide grin. "You and your team sure are!" he replied. "Two of them have evolved and you've already got a dragon type that's loyal to you. That's crazy."

"Your team has gotten stronger too, Sun," Hau said earnestly. "We might have won overall, but Baron actually beat Bowtie this time and you're a lot more in synch with each other than you were last time we battled."

"Thanks man," Sun said as his pokémon crowded around him, and he crouched down to meet them all at eye level. "You guys did great; they just did better than us this time. We'll just have to train hard to catch back up."

This got cheers from all four of his pokémon, and Lillie gave him a smile. "If you don't mind," she said, "I still want to keep you company while you train."

"Hey, what about the malasada I was promised!" Hau said, in a tone that made it clear he was mostly joking.

"You'll still get them," Sun assured him. "Don't worry. Let's just save it to celebrate our victories over your grandfather, after you've beaten him, and I have too; once I'm done training."

"You really think we'll be able to beat him and move on with our Island Challenge?" Hau asked, uncharacteristically serious.

Sun nodded. "I do," he replied, equally serious. "Our dreams are waiting for us beyond this island. You want to get strong enough to beat your grandpa when he's going all out, not just a test like the Grand Trial, and I want to become the Island Challenge Champion. To reach where we're going, we have to beat your grandfather in the Grand Trial, so we will."

Hau nodded, then grabbed Sun's hand. "Okay," he agreed, "I'll go on ahead for my Grand Trial. You keep training and come face my grandfather once you think it's time."

The trio said their goodbyes and Hau dashed off; his step slightly lighter than it had been before.

"You really believe in him, don't you?" Lillie asked, as she studied Sun training his pokémon in Melemele Meadow.

"I believe in all my pokémon," Sun replied honestly, still coaching Nero on using two attacks at the same time in the same way Hau had with Bowtie.

She shook her head. "I mean Hau," she clarified. "A lot of people in Iki Town claim that he's only gotten as far as he has because Hala takes it too easy on him."

Sun's attention fully went onto her. "What do you mean by that?" he asked, a slight edge to his tone.

"Apparently a few years ago Hala scared Hau when he was in a rage and he's never faced him as seriously since," she explained. "I don't know if it's true, but people still talk about it where they think Hau and Hala can't hear them."

Sun sighed. "I've battled Hau three times now. He's my rival, but more than that, he's my friend. So I can confidently say they're full of it. Even though he doesn't battle like me, he's worked hard. I mean, he's gotten two of his pokémon to evolve already and last time he beat me two to one pokémon. If he beats his grandfather, it'll be because he earned it same as anybody else."

Lillie nodded thoughtfully. She could see why Sun had been offended on Hau's behalf, the way those people spoke was insulting to the work his rival had put in.

"Anyway," Sun said in a clear attempt to change the subject, "you said you were looking for a Cutiefly, right?"

"Oh yes," she agreed. "I did some reading and found they're the only fairy type you can find on Melemele. I've always liked fairy types; so, I think I might try specializing in them."

Sun tilted his head quizzically. "But what about Bubbly then?" he asked, slightly confused. "She's a water type, right?"

"She'll gain the fairy type once she fully evolves," Lillie explained, petting her Popplio which nuzzled into the affection. "And I'm only thinking about it for now anyway."

Sun nodded. "I'll keep an eye out while I'm training with my crew," he promised. "But first a phone call."

He fished his cell out of his pocket and gave his mother a call. The cell rang a few moments before his mother picked up, her face coming up on the screen. "Hello, my little sun," the older Ray greeted cheerfully. "I saw your pictures, congratulations on overcoming your first Trial!"

Sun blushed. "Thanks Mama," he replied. "We were hoping you could help me start teaching Iron Tail to Prince now." Prince mewed in agreement, hopping off of Sun's hat and standing next to Sun.

Sun's mother nodded. "Of course," she replied. "You're going to need to focus on getting Prince to harden his tail first and then balancing with the new weight. I don't think it'll be quite combat ready by Kahuna Hala's Trial, but you might still find uses for the move, even in an incomplete state."

Sun smiled. "Thanks for the tips, Mom," he said. "We really do appreciate it."

"Of course, Sun," his mother replied. "I'll let you get to it, but if you have any more questions don't be afraid to call, okay?"

They said their goodbyes, and Sun refocused on his pokémon, setting them up with various tasks to work through: Nero to continue trying to get a handle on using two moves at once, for Baron to work on refining his preferred frenzy style, and for Emperor to further hone his already great defensive abilities. The latter two were already skilled at their assigned tasks, this was just working to polish them to a shine. For Nero, it would take some doing but he already had the basics down from using moves like Bite and Ember in rapid succession, so this was just about skipping any waiting in the process. Sun was confident they could mostly work through these on their own, while Prince would need more personal help.

"Okay buddy. Focus on solidifying your tail like you saw Meowy do!" Sun encouraged.

"Meowth meow," Prince mewed in concentration, focusing on mimicking the Meowth he had met the other day. It took time, but it slowly gained a silvery hue, though the dark grey his tail normally was remained noticeable underneath the silver glow.

"You're doing great," Sun praised. "You've reached the essence of the move, now focus on deepening your connection to it."

Prince closed his eyes and concentrated on the connection he could feel with the steel type move, and felt his tail grow slightly heavier meaning he was on the right track.

"That's it!" Sun cried. "Now, try moving like you're attacking with it!"

"Me-owth!" Prince yelled, lashing out with his tail and promptly falling over. "Me-owww…" The little dark type rubbed his head, both sheepish and slightly sore.

Sun crouched down to meet his second cat pokémon at eye level. "You okay? Do you need to take a break?" he asked kindly.

Prince pushed himself up, licking his fur to clear off some dust. "Meowth meow," he mewed reassuringly.

Sun pat the Meowth gently on the head, the proud creature leaning into his retainer's affection in spite of himself. "That's good," Sun said. "I'm glad you're okay. Do you want to keep training with Iron Tail while I check in with the others?"

"Meowth!" Prince affirmed, his tail already gleaming silver again.

"Not gonna give up until you master it, huh?" Sun asked, pleased. "You're a pokémon after my own heart, Prince."

Leaving his Meowth to train on his own, Sun checked in with the rest of his squad who had been diligently training at their own tasks.

"Okay Nero," Sun said, "show me a combination of Ember and Fire Fang!"

"Litten!" Nero hissed excitedly, an Ember-hairball building up in his mouth, and his fangs setting themselves alight.

"Now attack that Oricorio!" Sun said, indicating a wild pokémon they could train against.

The Pom-Pom Style Oricorio punched Nero with her pom-pom fist, but Sun's starter would not be denied. He released the Ember from his throat, and then bit down on the electric/flying type hard. The Dancing Pokémon looked slightly surprised by the power of the strike and looked to Nero and Sun questioningly. Sun considered catching the little pokémon for a moment, but ultimately decided against adding a second flying type to his team.

"Let it go, buddy," Sun told Nero before spraying the Dancing Pokémon with a potion to heal the little bird up. "There you go, my friend. Thanks for training with us!"

The Oricorio chirped and flew back into the depths of the meadow.

"I'd say the training's going well, wouldn't you?" Sun asked his partner.

"Lit-TEN!" Nero agreed emphatically, nuzzling Sun.

"Let's check on the others now, okay?" Sun asked, motioning for the fire type to follow him. "We've still gotta help Lillie catch a Cutiefly after all."

Making their way deeper into the Meadow, they found Emperor in some kind of Hardening contest with a Metapod. Sun didn't really know how to judge the metric but both pokémon were using Harden while glaring at each other and showed no signs of using any other move. "Are… Are you winning, Emperor?" Sun asked awkwardly, still taking in the bizarre sight. It wasn't that he was displeased, far from it. Emperor was working to improve his defensive abilities, just as Sun had asked. It was just… strange.

"Grimer mer!" Emperor greeted cheerfully, hugging Sun. And then hugging Nero. And then hugging the Metapod.

After Emperor released the Metapod from his hugging grip, Sun crouched down and gave his poison/dark type a gentle squeeze. "You've been training hard, haven't you?" Sun asked, patting his pokémon on the back. "You all have."

Emperor grunted happily, enjoying his trainer's affections. "Mer mer mer…"

They were about to try and find Baron to see how his frenzy training was going when something cut off their train of thought.

"Sun! Hey, Sun!" Lillie called excitedly from deeper in the meadow. "Get over here please. Now!"

Sun and his gathered pokémon glanced at each other. If Lillie was calling him like that, there had to be a good reason. So to make sure his pokémon didn't get too far away from him, Sun whistled loudly for his pokémon and shouted, "Team Sun, come here!"

"Meowth!" Prince cried, rushing in and jumping atop his trainer's hat.

"TRUMBE-EAK!" Baron squawked, flying up next to Sun.

"We're all here," Sun said, looking over his quartet. "Let's go see what's up with Lillie guys."

Sun rushed over, his pokémon following close behind, and Prince hanging onto his hat for dear life. "Lillie, Lillie is everything okay?" he asked, slightly breathless from his running over.

Lillie smiled at him. "Sun look!" she said excitedly, pointing at a small yellow bug pokémon. "That's a Cutiefly! I found one!"

Sun took a deep breath to ease the pounding in his chest. "That's great Lillie!" he said, very relieved that nothing had been wrong. "Are you going to catch it?"

"Mmhm!" Lillie affirmed. "But first… Dexter, what can you tell us about Cutiefly?"

"Zzt zzt! Let'z zee… Cutiefly, the Bee Fly Pokémon. A Bug and Fairy type. It feeds on the nectar and pollen of flowerz. Becauze it'z able to zenze auraz, it can identify which flowerz are about to bloom. Myriadz of Cutiefly flutter above the headz of people who have auraz rezembling those of flowerz. Nectar and pollen are itz favorite fare. In fieldz of flowerz, it getz into zkirmishez with Butterfree over food. Cutiefly can pick up the auraz of living thingz. It zkillfully readz those auraz to predict its foez' movementz and make foolz of them."

Lillie beamed. "That's fascinating! I really want to catch it now!"

"Poppli!" Bubbly cried from next to her.

"Cue Cue!" chirped the Bee Fly Pokémon, regarding them curiously.

Sun looked at Lillie, then looked at Cutiefly. "I think it wants to battle you," he noted.

Lillie nodded. "I'd figured as much," she admitted. "Okay then, Bubbly! Let's start this off with Water Gun!"

"Poppli pop!" cried Bubbly, unleashing a blast of water at the little bug type.

"Fly fly ti!" squeaked the Cutiefly, nimbly dodging the attack and unleashing a yellow powder.

"Blast that Stun Spore away with Disarming Voice, Bubbly!" Lillie declared.

But Bubbly managed better than that, she managed to blast the powder straight back at the Cutiefly, coating the Bee Fly Pokémon with her own Stun Spore and paralyzing her, in addition to dealing damage. "Popplio!" Bubbly huffed proudly.

"Excellent work!" Lillie praised her pokémon, then reached into her duffle bag fishing out a pokéball. "Now then… I think we'll be able to catch Cutiefly now. So… Go pokéball!"

Lillie threw the pokéball with all her might, with it flying into the Cutiefly and sucking it inside. Lillie, Sun, and all their pokémon watched with anticipation as it shook once… twice… and a third time with a click.

"You did it!" Sun cheered, his pokémon echoing his excitement with cries of their own.

Lillie looked at Sun, pride and happiness shining in her eyes. "I did it!" she agreed. "We did it! Bubbly and I did it!"

Sun raised his hand and she slapped it in a high five. "Well done, Admin Lillie," he said in his "Boss" voice. "You have recruited another member to our squad." Then his act broke and he just beamed at her, twitching slightly with excitement. "Seriously, I'm so happy for you. This is your first catch as a trainer. Take good care of her."

Lillie nodded. "Right! And speaking of which, I should probably heal her up," Lillie said, releasing the Cutiefly from her pokéball.

"Here," Sun said, offering Lillie his medicinal stick. "This'll help remove the paralysis."

Lillie nodded appreciatively, carefully rubbing the little bug type with the stick to heal the paralysis before carefully spraying her with potions. "Feeling better?" the white clad girl asked.

"Fly fly!" chirped the Bee Fly Pokémon cheerfully, flying up to perch on the brim of her hat.

"Now… you need a name," Lillie mused. "How about… Buzzy?"

The Cutiefly, newly named Buzzy, gave a happy buzz, clearly liking the name, flying around Lillie's head.

"Pew pew!" squeaked Nebby in greeting, having popped out of the bag while everyone was distracted.

Sun chuckled. "Hey there little one," he greeted. "Came out to see the newest member of our squad, huh?"

Nebby beamed at him. "Pew!" the Cosmog agreed happily, waving its little appendages at Sun and at Buzzy.

Lillie smiled despite herself. Even though keeping Nebby hidden was the right choice most of the time, it was still nice to let the Cosmog get some space every now and then. Plus, Nebby had taken such a shine to Sun. Nebby deserved to be happy, after all that time in her mother's lab.

Sun gently patted Nebby, the small psychic type leaning into the affection. But as Sun pulled his hand away, a sudden gust of wind picked up and blew Nebby towards the cave a few yards away.

"Nebby!" Sun and Lillie cried in unison, rushing for the Cosmog, their pokémon keeping good pace with them.

They were almost to it when the ornery Cosmog gave a mischievous smile and slipped into the cave.

"Let's go get Nebby," Lillie said, her tone brooking no argument, though Sun wouldn't have anyway.

Sun nodded. "There's no way I'll let it get hurt!"

Nebby liked the cave! Every "Pew!" it cried echoed throughout the whole place. And now Mama Lillie was coming in to look for it along with Warm Sun. Nebby bounced in place eagerly awaiting them. It was so fun to have them chase it once in a while!

But… that was strange. Nebby sensed an odd aura from deeper in the cave. The aura wasn't like anything Nebby had sensed in its young life.

But soon, the more familiar auras of Mama Lillie and Warm Sun washed over Nebby, the two coming close to him.

"Hey there little one," Warm Sun greeted crouching down to meet Nebby at eye level, his pokémon also giving their cries of greeting and concern. "You okay?"

"You slipped off so quickly," Mama Lillie reproached gently. "You need to try to be more careful Nebby."

"Pew!" Nebby retorted. Didn't Mama know being in the bag was boring? The world was so big and there was so little that could be seen from within the bag! "Pew pew pew!" Nebby pouted.

Nero came up to Nebby and sniffed the little psychic type. Nebby giggled. "Pew pew!" The sniffing tickled. Nebby nuzzled against Nero affectionately. Nebby liked Nero. Nero was warm, like Sun and Mama.

All of a sudden, Nero and Baron stiffened. The scent from the other day was back. The scent of the two strangers who had so startled their trainer. The Litten and Trumbeak exchanged glances and nodded. They would protect their trainer and their other friends if it came to that.

"Pew?" Nebby questioned, also noting the strange approaching presence.

"An elusive target, indeed…" the strange old man from the other day mused as he approached, staring at Nebby with an odd aloofness.

Nero growled. He didn't like the way the old stranger had said that. It was like he was looking at Nebby as some object, instead of a living being.

The strange lady from the other day approached as well.

"You're the people from the other day," Sun said, voice low and clearly expecting trouble. "What do you want?"

"Ah you're one of the one's who seized a Z-Crystal, are you not?" the strange man said. "I can sense its aura from the thing on your wrist. You obtained it through a trial… Fighting to obtain a mysterious power… How fascinating… But where are my manners? I am Phyco."

"And I am Soliera," the strange woman said. "It's quite a pleasure to meet you both."

"I'm Elio," Sun said, because these people were sending off warning signals. Whoever they really were and whatever they wanted; these weren't friends.

"And I'm Lillie," Lillie said, slightly cautiously. "May I ask what you want?"

Phyco twirled his ridiculous mustache. "The creature you're with… That Cosmog. We must make sure it is protected," he explained. "Soliera. Test them."

"Yes sir," Soliera said. "Lillie Aether. Elio. Battle me."

"'Aether'?" Sun parroted. "Aether as in-"

"Sun," Lillie cut him off, tone very serious, "I promise I'll explain everything, but for now we need to focus on keeping Nebby safe."

Nero spat fire and stood in front of Sun. He would not let anyone hurt Nebby. Bubbly jumped out of Lillie's arms and took a battle stance in front of her trainer. It was time to battle.

"Furfrou, Poipole, stand-by for battle," Soliera said. She tossed two strange pokéballs in the air. Sun noted the pokémon with interest, a fluffy white dog pokémon and a strange purple creature, but Lillie seemed in shock.

"Th-That's… That's an… Ultra Beast…" she breathed, pointing at the purple one, trembling slightly. "UB-Adhesive."

Nero hissed. He didn't know what any of those words meant, but his friend was getting distressed, and he didn't like it. His trainer clearly didn't either, resting a hand on Lillie's shoulder. "Lillie, I don't know what's going on, or why that weird pokémon bothers you, but for now we have to win for Nebby's sake," he reminded her.

Something dangerous flashed in Lillie's eyes, and she nodded. "For Nebby's sake," she agreed.

"We'll start this off," Sun said. "Nero use Fire Fang on Poipole!"

"Counter-attack with Peck," Soliera said blandly.

The purple creature chittered, "Poipole poi poi!" before jabbing at Nero with the stinger on its head.

Nero leapt at it and bit down on its head hard, stinger and all, with flames erupting from his bite. "Litten…" he hissed dangerously, gnawing at the Poipole and scorching it with each bite.

"Poipole poi?" it asked curiously, shaking him off and staring at the fire type with curious eyes.

Nero was confused. The two strangers screamed threat, but this creature seemed as innocent as Nebby, though stronger.

"Attack the Popplio with Headbutt, Furfrou," Soliera instructed, tone still devoid of any excitement whatsoever.

"Furfrou!" barked the Poodle Pokémon, running at Bubbly with its head lowered.

"Bubbly, fend it off with Water Gun!" Lillie shouted.

"Poppli pop!" Bubbly agreed, dodging to the right, and blasting water at the normal type.

"Furfrou…" grunted the Poodle Pokémon as it was knocked backwards.

"Poipole, use Acid on the Cosmog. Furfrou, use Headbutt on it too!"

Nero hissed. There was no way he'd let that happen! Picking on someone that couldn't even protect itself? Not a chance!

And his trainer agreed. "Nero, block the attacks and then strike back with Ember!" Sun snarled.

Nebby moved as quickly as he could, rage lending him strength he'd never known he had. Suddenly he was alight with a white glowing energy, changing and growing within the energy. And as the energy faded, the changes were revealed. Nero was no longer as small as he'd been as a Litten, with a plume of fur sticking up in a spike, and a golden bell-like thing hanging over his chest.

"TORRACAT!" Nero roared, announcing to the world that he'd grown stronger, that he'd taken a new state, and all who dared to threaten his friends would be defeated. Defeated by the awesomeness of Nero! He blocked the attacks of their opponents from hitting his small friend who was staring at him starry eyed. Then, with all the fury he could muster, he unleashed fire from the blazing bell around his neck, and it rang out as he did so. "Tor-ra-cat!"

The two strangers were fazed at the change, and thus no attacks or evasive actions were called, but Lillie was not. "Bubbly, help Nero protect Nebby! Use Aqua Jet to blast them both!"

"POPPLIO!" Bubbly barked in agreement, engulfing herself in water and flying at Poipole, slamming it back into the Furfrou, knocking both pokémon out.

"I see…" Phyco mused, as Soliera returned her pokémon. "So that is what a pokémon battle is."

"You… You didn't even know what a battle is?" Sun asked.

"That was my first time engaging in such an endeavor," Soliera admitted. "It was enjoyable, I must admit. I can see why the people of Alola find it so stimulating."

"I suppose if there are trainers like you two around, we may not need to play any great role in this endeavor," Phyco said.

"That pokémon you came into the cave to retrieve," Soliera said, nodding at Nebby. "You must know by now that it is able to warp away in an instant when threatened?"

"Yes, it leaves poor Nebby exhausted. You've threatened Nebby enough, so please leave it alone from now on," Lillie requested sternly, scooping up the little pokémon and placing it gently in her bag.

Phyco nodded. "As you wish. However, we feel it necessary to warn you that when it does so the holes it creates leave a pathway open to dangerous beings."

"We intended the Cosmog no harm, we assure you," Soliera said. "We just needed to make certain you were trustworthy guardians of it because the companions of the Cosmog may have to overcome said beings should they appear."

With as little fanfare as they'd arrived with, the two strangers departed back they way they'd come, leaving Sun and Lillie on edge and somewhat confused.

"Torra!" Nero cried, nudging his trainer and pressing against his hand until he took notice of him.

Sun gave his starter a shaky smile. "I'm so proud of you buddy! You've evolved!" he praised, stroking the Torracat's warm fur, but while he was happy for his partner the events of the last few minutes had still left him shaken and looking to Lillie for answers.

Lillie took a deep breath, thinking over what to say. The stomachs of both humans and all pokémon gathered rumbled loudly, interrupting her thoughts.

"Why don't we go back to the pokémon center and grab some food?" Sun suggested. "And then we can return to our room, and you can tell me whatever you're up to explaining?"

Across from Sun in her loft bed with her pokémon chowing down beside her, Lillie was still contemplating what to say. She took a sip of her Moomoo Milk, letting its heavy taste linger in her mouth. Sun had gotten mixed up with her mess enough that he deserved to know something, but there was so much to it all and she didn't really know where to begin.

"Lillie," Sun said with a gentleness that made her heart feel warm, "we don't have to do this if it's too much."

"It's not that," she said quietly. "It's just a long story, and I don't know where to start."

"Start with something simple," he suggested, stroking the fur of his two feline pokémon that were perched on his lap, "and work from there."

Something simple, huh? she thought. Well…

"You recognized my last name," she offered. "Aether."

"Yeah," Sun agreed. "Aether as in Aether Foundation, right? That pokémon conservation organization? One of their main branches is here in Alola. My mom had a flyer about it, before we moved here."

"Well, as is probably obvious from the names… My family owns the Aether Foundation," she explained, tone slightly forlorn.

Sun opened his mouth like he was going to ask something, closed it, and shook his head as if dismissing a thought. "There's something bad about them, isn't there?" he asked, instead of whatever his original thought had been.

"How could you tell?" Lillie asked, slightly surprised.

"Pew?" Nebby squeaked from within her bag, presumably asking the same question.

Sun gave her a sad smile. "Because I sound the same way when I tell people my uncle ran the Viridian Gym," he replied. "A secret for a secret: My uncle taught me most of what I know about pokémon battling. My uncle is named Giovanni."

Lillie's eyes widened. "Th-The leader of Team Rocket?" she gasped, Bubbly cuddling against her to try and help her relax.

Sun nodded, and his eyes were very sad. "Yep," he confirmed. "He's my mom's older brother."

"Is your mother okay with you telling me this?" she asked, absently stroking Bubbly.

Sun nodded. "She is, but I'm confused you're more worried about that than me being related to one of the worst criminals in modern history," he admitted.

Lillie shrugged. "I don't really have any room to judge people for who they're related to," she replied. "The people I'm trying to keep Nebby away from? It's the Aether Foundation. My mother especially."

"What happened?" he asked. "I would explain in detail about my uncle's disappearance, but the story of Kanto's heroes is famous. Just like he had most of the region fooled, he had my family fooled up until the day he disappeared, and the truth came to light."

"Most people don't know the truth about the Aether Foundation," she began. "Partially because it started out with good intentions. I just have to make sure they don't find me. I have to keep Nebby safe and get it home if I can. So that Mother can't experiment on it further."

"I'll help," Sun promised, his gathered pokémon giving cries of agreement. "I'll help you protect Nebby, and when the time comes for it to go home, I'll help you make sure it gets there safely."

"Pew!" Nebby cried, Lillie's bag shaking, so the young woman rested a hand in the bag and gave the Cosmog a gentle pat.

"Thank you, Sun," Lillie said. "I'm a little worried though. Those strange people we met today, Phyco and Soliera, I'm worried they might be working with my mother. That pokémon they had with them, Poipole, was an Ultra Beast. The only way I know to access those is through Nebby's powers, and my mother is seeking a specific Ultra Beast. If they are working with her, then it's already too late and she knows where we are."

"For what it's worth," Sun offered, "I don't think you need to worry about those people we met today selling you out. I don't trust them, and you shouldn't either, but they seem more interested in whatever their personal goals are than working with Aether. Their only real interest in Nebby seemed to be to make sure we could keep it safe. The only other thing they seemed to care about was 'the Blinding One', whatever that means."

Lillie took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Sun had a good point and freaking out about things that had a chance of happening wouldn't help her keep Nebby safe. "You're right," she agreed. "For now, we focus on keeping Nebby safe and hidden."

"If you don't mind me asking, though," Sun began, "what caused your mother to change? From the way you talk about her and the Aether Foundation, they weren't always the way they are now."

"It was a lot of things, I think," she said sadly. "It started to get bad when my father vanished during an experiment gone wrong. Nebby and my father's research papers were all that were left behind in the aftermath."

"Is… Is she doing what she's doing in an attempt to get your father back?" Sun asked hesitantly. "That would put her above my uncle at least, all he was ever after was money and power."

Lillie sighed. "I think she was, at first," she replied. "But eventually things started to spiral out of control and so did she. I'm not sure even she knows why she's doing what she's doing anymore. I miss how my mother used to be, it's like she's become someone else."

"My mom's tried to teach me to remember my uncle as I knew him, not just as the criminal I learned that he was later," Sun said, seemingly off topic. "If you don't think the person that your mother's becoming is the person you know, maybe you should remember the person you knew before too?"

Lillie pondered over Sun's words. "I suppose…" she agreed hesitantly. "I do have more good memories of her than bad."

"I'm not saying to erase any memory of the ways she's been acting lately," Sun assured her. "But it seems like the good memories are important to you, so don't feel like you have to bury them."

Buzzy perched in Lillie's hair, trying to buzz away her trainer's sadness. "Fly cue fly tee!" Buzzy chirped.

Lillie giggled in spite of how sad it was talking about all of these things. "Yes, thank you Buzzy," the pale girl giggled. "You're a real sweetheart, aren't you?"

"Poppli pop!" Bubbly cried, licking Lillie's face. "Popplio!"

Sun smiled warmly. "They don't want you to be sad either, Lillie," he pointed out, letting his own pokémon cuddle against him.

She smiled back. "Thanks for listening," she said sincerely. "I haven't talked to anyone about this since I first met the professor."

"We're friends, Lillie," Sun replied easily. "And it's not like you judged me for my uncle's sins. That means a lot, you know."

"I've seen how you treat pokémon, Sun. You couldn't be farther from being like him if you tried."

Sun let his pokémon cuddle closer against him as he considered her words before letting out a yawn. "Do you want to stay here for now?" he asked. "It's too early to get some sleep, but it's too late in the day to head to Iki Town or train my pokémon some more."

Lillie tilted her head. "You mean just stay here and talk? I think I'd like that, yes. Can you tell me about Kanto?"

Sun's eyes lit up. "How about I tell you about the coolest part of Kanto: The Orange Archipelago?"

"Ooh what's that?" Lillie asked excitedly. "I've never heard of it before."

"It's an island chain south of the Seafoam Islands," Sun began. "Pokémon are different there from anywhere else in Kanto."

"Oh, is it another name for the Sevii Islands?" Lillie asked. "I've heard of those."

Sun shook his head. "They're two separate island chains," he explained. "The Orange Islands are a bit further south."

Lillie closed her eyes, trying to envision that from what she knew of a map of the Kanto region. "I see… Can you tell me more?"

"Well, like I mentioned before, the pokémon there are a bit different than ones of the same species you can find in Kanto. Different colorations of fur for Raticate, a unique pattern on the blossoms of Vileplume and the wings of Butterfree, that kind of thing."

"So, they're like Alolan forms, right in Kanto?" Lillie asked. "That's fascinating!"

Sun scratched behind the ears of his Alolan Meowth. "Only somewhat," he replied as his pokémon purred. "See they're still all the same types as usual, they just look a bit different. A professor from the Orange Island Archipelago, Professor Ivy to be precise, believes it had to do with the more tropical climate compared to the rest of Kanto. But all of that's without getting into Pinkan Island."

At the unfamiliar name, Lillie felt even more intrigued. "Tell me more!"

"Pinkan Island is one of the islands in the Orange Archipelago. And every pokémon on the island is pink!" Sun explained enthusiastically.

"How is that possible?" Lillie asked. "Is it only native to pokémon like the Clefairy line or something?"

Sun shook his head. "No, see there's this berry that grows on the island: the Pinkan Berry. And any pokémon that eats a whole berry will turn a deep shade of pink."

Lillie laughed. "Oh, come on, Sun! You're pulling my leg, aren't you?" she asked. Even if he was teasing her, she didn't mind much. He'd clearly been trying to cheer her up from the start.

But Sun earnestly shook his head, trying to show this was no joke. "Nope," he replied, "it's a hundred percent real. It takes a consistent diet of Pinkan Berries to maintain it though. So even if you captured a pokémon from the island and brought it elsewhere, unless you were willing to grow the berries yourself it wouldn't stay pink for too long."

Lillie tilted her head thoughtfully. "You know," she said, "I think I'd like to travel to the Orange Archipelago someday, just to see all of the different pokémon in person."

"Can we come?" Sun asked, indicating himself and his pokémon. "I always wanted to see the Orange Archipelago, but I never got the chance before we moved here. It's where I would've headed next if I hadn't won in the Indigo League."

"Of course," she replied. "You'd always be welcome to travel with me and my pokémon."

"Traveling with friends is the best part of being a trainer," Sun said, a big smile on his face. "Whether it's our pokémon or human friends doesn't matter, just being together makes it so much better."

"I didn't ever think I'd be a trainer until yesterday," Lillie admitted. "But I'm already seeing what you mean. Because people and pokémon are together we can do more than we can alone. That's how we were able to protect Nebby today."

"I'm glad we get to travel together," Sun said, and something in his tone made Butterfree flutter in her stomach. "Even with what happened today, it's been great having you around."

"I'm glad we met too," is all she said in reply, but truthfully in that moment it was all that needed to be said.

She wanted to tell him that being around him made her feel happier and safer than she had since her mother had lost herself trying to reclaim her father. But this wasn't the time or the place, and the Butterfree fluttering in her stomach made it hard to get the words out. So for now, they flick off the lights, and curl up with their pokémon, singing to them as they had the night before.

A/N: As you can see I've started to change things, like basing Pikachu from Alola off of Puka from the anime and giving them access to moves they don't normally have. It's an endeavor to make sure that even though Sun's studied more than Hau, he doesn't know everything as well as putting in efforts to make Alola stand out more. And as for how and what Lillie's early revelations effect... just wait and see.