A Hui Hou Kākou

by BraviaryScout

As they continue on separate paths; the newly crowned champion of Alola, Elio "Sun" Northstar looks back to remember the one person who gave him the strength he needed to complete his island challenge while he awaits her return. Pokemon Moon novelization. Sun X Lillie. Hau X OC. M for later chapters. Cover art by Chocolexii. Same universe as Brendan's Journey by jmoul18.

53. Entry 49: The Light of Alola

Alola readers! It's been a while again huh? A month...but Brav is here back again with a chapter I've anticipated for a little while. I get to do some lore, storytelling. For some chapters, I'm going to go ahead and take that extra time to get them done correctly and the best possible. I don't expect them all to take this long, but this was a 15k monster that I had surprisingly little time to write in total.

Speaking of which, with the addition of this chapter...this story has passed the milestone of 500k words! That's half a million for those who can't count that high. I'm honestly quite proud of myself for making it this far. Ready to shoot for a million? I am.

Hope everyone enjoys the chapter.

After spending a day on Ula'ula Island, there is one place I have been really wanting to go. The Malie City Library.

It's the biggest and I might as well say flagship library in Alola's public system even though it's not much to boast in having five other locations across the other main islands. But it has the biggest collection of books across the entire region.

My kind of place right?

I also just happened to be running straight into Elio...literally when I was trying to find my way. Why I do have to keep embarrassing myself when I'm around him? I feel so lucky he's always easygoing and brushes it off like it's nothing! I can't help it! And to make things even better...he even helps me out even when others like Team Skull are lurking around. I've seen them in a lot of alleyways and hear really bad things that happen to girls wandering alone in certain parts of this city. Yet when Elio is by my side, I feel incredibly safe...like he's a foot taller and super intimidating to anyone who tries to come for me.

I feel like we would be something incredible if we met in another life under different circumstances.

---

Elio wasn't sure much of where to go as he headed back into Malie City. The clouds were starting to part ways as the sun began to dip down to the western horizon. The temperature began to climb back up and it was decidedly more humid here than the other islands.

For the thousandth time. I hate humidity. It's like being in a rice cooker.

It was a cycle that went year around on the island's eastern seaboard. Being one of the heaviest rainfall areas in the entire region, the clouds would break up on occasion and the hot sun would evaporate the water into a dense muggy air that could make his clothes stick to his skin and sweat profusely even in the shade of an average temperature day.

Going inside a dry air conditioned building made a huge difference.

His thoughts still went back to Grimer and the unexpected release. Did he have regrets letting his first pokemon go? Of course. But in their time together, he came to respect that Grimer was aware that his own purpose in life was much beyond battling, even though he was quite good at it. He was joining a good cause too in helping Alola have little to no waste output in a job that was going to always be in demand. And with the change in leadership he had helped to inadvertently sort out while exploring, the new director was going to need more staff than ever to continue their operations.

What was interesting as well was that all of the other grimer and muk that lived on the grounds of the plant were all voluntary, with each one belonging to a trainer who all sought to give it a new home. Some of the older ones were retired from professional battling while others were there to play their part in helping humans and other pokemon live their lives healthier and happier.

According to the director; each trainer or resident that had donated a grimer or muk to their plant would get a special stamp that granted lifetime free trash removal from their residences. The Alola garbage collection was every Monday morning barring holidays, when people would roll their cans out to the side of the street and the dumpster trucks would arrive to collect them. Scribbling down his address and adding it to the database, he knew that his mother was going to be happy with one less bill to pay every month.

Grimer's departure left him with five pokemon; Torracat, Nani, Akela, Rufflet and Charjabug. As much as he had seen the advertisements for trainers with the famous tagline "Gotta catch 'em all!" he had no driving desire to go crazy and catch every new wild pokemon species he came across. A lot of trainers did though. Even more so with the recent introduction of the PC's pokemon Bank feature and Home...based on the new cloud technology and allowing trainers to swap pokemon from within their party at any given time.

He glanced to the spot where his egg had been nestled and strapped firmly inside his backpack. Still no hints on what pokemon would hatch...only that it would be soon from what the Aether Foundation had told him.

Am I doing a good job caring for this thing? All I've really done was make sure its temperature regulator is running fine.

For another strange reason; his Z-ring was shimmering with a glowing power whenever he moved his left arm close to the egg. It was almost as if the sparkling stone within that was given to him by Tapu Koko was sensing an innate power from whatever pokemon was being incubated within the eggshell.

Having that empty slot on his team was also an opportunity to evaluate his options going forward on the island challenge. He may have just faced a rock-type specialist, but it would still be a big weakness when he had three of his pokemon weak to rock moves. Two were weak to ground and both were common attacking moves that usually hit pretty hard.

A strong defensive pokemon that had a resistance to rock was a solid choice such as a steel or ground type. Maybe even fighting to use for both offense and defense.

Thinking about the possibility of his team's potential versatility made him smile. For the longest time, he had conjured up papers in his room starting as a child and making combinations that were ready to take on the Indigo League with the dream team. Ironic that now as a trainer, he had no clear idea of what he wanted and instead went with the pokemon he did best with in forming bonds as a family and as a trainer.

He absolutely did have plenty of opportunities to leave behind some of his other pokemon in favor of stronger ones, but he kept faith in that they would continue to get better the more they worked together.

Malie City was going into its late afternoon phase with a lot of people finally exiting their workplaces and businesses to head home for the evening. Some were going to the supermarkets or stores to get things while others looked to be meeting up with their families at restaurants. As he continued to head south towards Banyan Drive, he passed a school with a baseball field that was having practice. A loud smack resonated from the home followed by a chorus of cheers as the batter turned a strong fastball pitch into a home run to the center.

Several more blocks down and he began to see more of the buildings had been weathered by the constant elements, the concrete foundations cracked and streaks of dirt lined their sides, clearly having not been cleaned in a while. A lot of the buildings were closer together, between one to three stories tall. Some alleys dividing them were narrower, barely enough for two people to walk down abreast.

Elio noticed that the streets were a little different here, a dark asphalt over the gray cobblestones in the other areas. He also noticed that he was going on a slight decline moving downhill.

This must be a rougher part of town. And it looked to be the more battered too, with the constant rainfall, all the runoff that didn't go into the city's storm drains would flow down here and pool into huge puddles, making water stains even more prominent.

He was at the base of where the hills to his right began to climb up and he saw many roads turn to begin a winding climb up towards some wealthy looking houses that lined its face.

Must be some really expensive houses. Wonder who lives up there.

A splash abruptly intervened in his thoughts that came from just up ahead. There were only a few people out now, instead being more of a car area with the vehicles parked along both sides of the street curbs.

Elio almost thought they were just kids playing around in the puddles left behind until he heard a loud crashing sound and a multitude of bubbles emerge from the alley. It sounded like a battle was going on. Not an uncommon sight, but the streets were hardly a place to have trainers go a one another. Many cities had parks and small open areas where they could battle each other without interfering with others.

He heard a pokemon screech loudly and rushed over to see what was happening. A car just happened to be coming down the road he crossed. Hearing it just in time, he firmly planted his feet just as he was starting across the street. Sun ignored the screeching tires and horn honking with the driver throwing him an indignant glare and continued on. Somehow in his mind, he knew that the battle wasn't exactly a friendly bout.

Something tumbled onto the sidewalk and Elio rushed forward, kneeling down. He immediately recognized the purplish fur and elongated tail of an aipom.

Arlo? The specimen was instantly recognizable.

Elio glanced down the alley from the shouting and saw a pair of large reddish pokemon with bulbous heads and long tentacles anchored to the ground. They were battling a smaller brown bipedal pokemon with a large white puffy cloudlike object behind it. The lone battler spun in midair to shoot a sphere of green energy that took out one of the cephalopod pokemon, however the other once had fired a rainbow aurora beam that finally knocked its foe back. The pokemon struggled to stand.

"No! Draft!"

He heard some jeering laughter from the other side. "Still not enough! You're delusional. If I were you, I'd stop wasting any more time and effort into the island challenge."

Beside Sun, Arlo weakly squeaked and he could see that he had suffered some serious wounds on its side and back. Whatever battle he was in, he lost pretty badly. The monkey's eyes softened when he looked at Elio.

"Hey Arlo," he said softly. "You're Brady Wainwright's pokemon right?"

Further down the alley, he could see the young boy standing opposite two of the familiar masked grunts of Team Skull. One of them, likely with the defeated cephalopod pokemon sent out another combatant; a small yellow and tan lizard-like creature with a large head and baggy pants.

"We've got zome new pokemon to document! Bzzt!" He went to the red cephalopod first. "Octillery. Jet pokemon. The ink it spits when escaping is special. It contains a substance that dulls the sense of smell, so pokemon with keen noses get lost. Octillery is a water type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."

Glancing at the alleyway, he could see that behind the two skull grunts was something painted onto the wall. It was an art piece of some sort, depicting an anthropomorphic skull with whited eyes and grinning on small diamond objects that were cracked cleanly in half.

Z-crystals. They're making fun of the island challenge.

In addition, there were three letters painted white and outlined beside the skull and it seemed like the grunts were in the middle of spray painting a dialogue bubble to represent the skull saying it.

Ufa? What does that mean?

Rotom 'Dex was moving on right to the next entry, now the pokemon Brady had called Draft.

"Whimsicott. Windveiled pokemon. Whimsicott doesn't live in a fixed location. It floats around on whirling winds, appearing all over the place to perform its mischief. Whimsicott is a grass and fairy type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."

It moved onto the lizard pokemon next. "Scraggy. Shedding pokemon. They move in small groups, walking around lazily. Anyone who makes direct eye contact gets smacked with a powerful headbutt. Saggier skin around its body garners more respect from its peers. Scraggy is a dark and fighting type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."

"You know what's funny?" One of the grunts asked. "Is that normally we'll steal the trainer's pokemon once they've lost. But yours ain't even worth stealing! They're too useless for us or the boss!"

"Useless talk." Brady muttered, still standing his ground even though the duo of thugs were a head taller than him. "Whether you win or not, what you're doing is still wrong. This kind of stuff doesn't go on the mom and pop store." When he got silence instead of a reply, he went on. "Yeah, that's right. This is the Malie City Soda store where a mother and father earn their money by putting food on the table and their kids into school. Neither of you would know that."

"Pfft." Elio could see there was a slight difference in the older boys, but both had the same lanky body with wildly tousled brown hair. He could not see their noses and mouths which were hidden by the usual Team Skull bandannas. Both wore baggy shorts and tanktops with glittering blind around their necks.

"How would you know that?"

"Because Jackson; if you and Cayden would actually talk to the people inside instead of trying to smuggle them out, you'd know that. The owners like Island Challengers and give out free soda for them and their pokemon."

Brady knows these two?

Jackson looked a little taken aback at that, but his gaze hardened as he leered over at Brady. Back at the end of the alley; Elio was vastly surprised especially upon meeting the quirky kid. He seemed a little shy, meek and less assertive, but here he was seeing a far different side that was standing up to people who didn't like to be stood up against. It could've been attributed that he somehow knew the other two.

"Are you really gonna be all this bravery on a trainer?" Cayden stepped forward beside his pokemon. "You know Mom and Dad aren't going to like that."

Mom and Dad. They're brothers.

"I don't care!" Brady's voice had a defiant spark Elio recognized straight away, especially from trainer television shows. "I'll keep going!"

"You won't get far."

"Further than you. Unlike you both, I don't plan on quitting."

"Do yourself a favor piwi. Give up on that stupid dream of yours already. Mom and Dad are gonna shut you down right away."

"Like they did with you?" Brady glanced quickly over to Draft, whom was picking himself up off the ground to face two opponents. "That's been a long time coming. And neither of them turned their backs on you to start. You did it when Aiden started to get their attention from how good he was."

"Aiden's always been the damn favorite child." Jackson spat with enough scorn to be felt more than heard. "Mom and Dad always gush about how he got that scholarship in Galar and gets to travel while they don't pay a dime for it. Any of us are considered worthless without any shot of being in the spotlight as him."

"And frankly," Cayden added. "I don't care whatever Mom and Dad think about us. They can piss off and keep basking in Aiden's glory while not giving a thought about us. Team Skull's all like that. We're all misfits and outcasts...the garbage that nobody can recycle, but can't get rid of."

"And we don't care. You can laugh at us all you want, but we're all proof that the island challenge is flawed and it doesn't look kindly on people who don't finish it. A lot of us have been disowned by our families and we have nowhere to go."

"This is getting useless by the minute." Brady muttered under his breath. "Even when you're older than me, you're both still the two irrational pricks that liked to make my life miserable when Mom, Dad or Aiden weren't looking."

"Someone's gotta suffer." Jackson chuckled darkly. "Get lost piwi."

"You're going to clean this up." Brady seemed to sense that he was getting nowhere after calling the two of them out on their graffiti. "I'm gonna make you."

"What are you gonna do?" Cayden taunted. "Call the police? They've already ignored us twice, what makes you think this one will start?"

"I'll...I'll!"

Elio could see that he was beginning to lose his composure. He wanted to step in, but wasn't sure if it was allowed.

Since when did Team Skull follow rules?

He touched Akela's pokeball on his belt.

"I'll get this useless pokemon out of here." Jackson started. "Scraggy, use headbutt!"

With a hissing noise, the tiny lizard pokemon lunged forward with its thick skull in front to deliver a crushing blow.

"Draft, set up a tailwind and use it to move out of the way!" Brady cried. As he did, the large cotton ball on Draft's back twitched and it caused a breeze to blow from behind. The whimsicott effortlessly jumped up into the stream and let it carry it out of the way from the incoming attack.

Scraggy was on it though, landing on the ground and jumping forward in another.

Draft wasn't prepared for this one and took the hit with a cry of pain, tumbling to the ground and once again struggling to get back on his feet.

"Just like how the boss loves it!" Cayden raised a fist. "Octillery, aurora beam!"

He could see that Draft was glowing harshly in a self-healing synthesis, but the rainbow colored ice type move was likely going to be the final nail.

Akela leapt right into action, dodging another incoming Scraggy headbutt and swung both his fists in a sucker punch move that caused the aurora beam to veer wildly off course. The other three people had their eyes widen and step back in shock at the newcomer.

Brady was the first to react from it since Akela's intervention allowed Draft to complete his synthesis. Bright verdant tendrils sprouted from the pokemon's back onto the octillery, glowing as strobes of light were siphoned away with a portion of the water type's energy helping to restore its own. Octillery let out a wet gurgle before it fell over, as if deflating into a puddle on the ground.

"Yo that's not cool bro." Cayden growled as he returned his defeated pokemon. He and Jackson glowered at Sun while he stepped forward to reveal himself. "Not fair!"

"Since when does Team Skull play by the rules?" Elio couldn't resist, striding up to Brady's side and giving the dumbstruck trainer a curt nod. "Brady. We meet again."

"Elio?" He glanced back at the alley's entrance and went pale, knowing that the other trainer likely heard a good portion of the exchange.

"Less talk, how about we show these two how real trainers battle." He knew that it would get the ire of the other side. Upon saying this, Akela already tensed up with motivation to win.

"Scraggy, get 'em!" Cayden threw out an identical shedding pokemon of his own. The two glared at both Akela and Draft.

Both Skull brothers attacked immediately, one with a headbutt and another swinging its leg out towards Akela with a low kick. Draft was able to use the cotton on its back to pick itself up and dodge again while Elio went straight for the aggressive. He attacked with bite, but it ended up being more costly as the super effective fighting type move knocked Akela back slightly while his bite on Scraggy's tail had did little.

"Use fairy wind!" Brady called out from beside him. The whimsicott twirled on the currents, flinging a pinkish dust in a rather harsh blow towards Jackson's Scraggy. With a double weakness to fairy types, it was all over as the lizard pokemon was knocked out in a single blow.

"Payback!"

Cayden's Scraggy gathered a dark purple energy and flung globs of it towards Akela. He cried in pain after dodging one and being hit by some of the later ones. Elio knew that the attack didn't do much, but he didn't want to risk another fighting type move doing even more serious damage.

The thug's eyes went wide with horror as Akela swung his fist down on top of the smaller pokemon, the reversal move amplified by the additional damage received. It was that he moved with a newfound grace and agility he hadn't seen tumbled into the wall, leaving a visible ding in the side of the brick wall where he had struck the structure.

Nice work. Elio silently congratulated his pokemon, but he was also thrilled at how the tailwind allowed his pokemon to move incredibly smooth and fluid. Since it was a flying type base move, he was beginning to wonder if Rufflet would eventually learn it. It would make for a speed advantage and setup for some of his slower pokemon like Hau had done in their last battle.

"Ah! No!" Cayden threw up his hands in defeat after the brothers had returned their pokemon. "We're now two more victims of the Skullbane!"

"The Skullbane?" Elio and Brady asked at the same time.

"Yeah bro, you suck you know that! No wonder you're making all of us nervous! Even Plumes said she's never battled a trainer like you!"

So I'm the Skullbane? A nemesis to Team Skull?

I can live with that.

"We're outta here!" Jackson said, sneering at Brady again. "Sorry piwi! Find someone who gives one to clean up our mess! Take a while too! It's not easy to paint all this unnoticed!"

"Yeah and just you wait until we paint this whole town and region how it should be done!" Cayden said. "Stupid parents said our art talents are wasted, let's see what happens when Dad has to deal with a graffiti problem next committee meeting!"

Jackson nodded alongside his brother. "And you...Skullbane. Just you wait. You may have beaten us, a bunch of other losers and even Plumes, but the boss is on like level one gazillion! You'll get wiped off in a trail of destruction in human form!"

"That makes no sense." Cayden deadpanned from behind, facepalming into his bandanna.

Jackson was undeterred nonetheless. "Whatever. Either way, the boss knows who you are and just to let you know. You ain't invincible. He's gonna see you real soon and show you that personally."

Neither of them could muster a reply before the brothers bolted down the alley and disappeared around the bend.

Elio almost moved to pursue, but stopped himself and looked at Brady, who had a wistful, defeated expression on his face upon seeing the detailed graffiti art that was on the wall. He clearly knew about this long beforehand and was probably mad at himself for not acting differently to stop it.

"This sucks." He said quietly. "I hate it."

"I take it those are two of your brothers?"

He solemnly nodded. "Cayden and Jackson Wainwright. Middle twins. We used to be really close until the island challenge made everything jumbled and strange for the entire family. Aiden's the oldest of us and he went right through the island challenge like it was nothing. Then he took a scholarship to study and travel through Galar. He was always the favorite, getting the most praise and favor from our parents. After he left, they kind of started working harder and expected us to be near-perfect replicas of him. As things got more difficult in the challenge, Cayden and Jackson wanted to keep going and maybe start an art gallery instead of being trainers."

"And?"

"And my parents wouldn't have any of it. Claimed all that they spent on them going to the island challenge went to waste because they chose to pursue a different career path that wasn't what they wanted."

That explained the graffiti. Elio looked at it again. Despite its clear stereotyping and derogatory statement, he had to admit that the detail put into the art was absolutely incredible. Cartoonish a little, but a lot of graffiti he saw was made for a purpose, like to send a message, spread a cause or mark territory when it came to gangs and crime syndicates.

Cayden and Jackson seemed talented. Now they're painting illicitly on places where they shouldn't without permission.

"What did that leave me with?" Brady sighed before he reached down to pick Arlo up again. "A boatload of expectations and slipping would lead to disappointment. I've always wanted to be a trainer and succeed in school too. But I guess I can't have both huh? The only pokemon I was allowed to have like Arlo here were from that stupid fighting ring Team Skull has and the Aether Foundation pick up from being badly wounded."

Elio walked beside him and laid a supportive hand on his shoulder. "Hey. You ever need any help with anything. You let me know."

"I appreciate it."

"Hey, don't worry. Your brothers will get theirs coming to them."

"I don't want that." Brady said. "I want them to actually go after doing something they love which is art. It's just...they're using their talents in the wrong spot. People are going to hate it no matter how good they are."

We'll find something for them for sure. I doubt all misfits are truly misfit.

"Sometimes you feel out of place because you're looking in the wrong direction." Elio said a bit more to himself. "Sometimes it's better to enjoy the journey and keep going than constantly look at the destination."

Brady chuckled a little. "You should write a book. I want a copy."

"Are you nuts? There's no telling how evil of an author I'd be!"

"The really bad kind? Nah, you'd be a great writer."

Both boys laughed at that. Even Arlo and Akela smiled at the joke shared between their two trainers.

"I'm heading to the Malie Library to do some more research. Have you been? It's actually a really neat place!"

Elio shook his head. "I haven't. Never really been one to read books."

"But you can write them too! There's a writer's workshop that helps aspiring authors in writing things from research papers to full on stories."

"Huh, I'm surprised something like that exists."

"You would be surprised at the amount of people who have no idea how to write a story."

"Fair point." He knew that Lillie really liked to read books, seeing quite a few advanced titles in her bag that she read during her spare time. Sun wondered if Lillie wanted to stop there while they stayed here.

"Anyway I'll catch you later!" Brady yelled after starting on the sidewalk to head north. "Hey, we should have a battle next time we meet!"

That got Elio excited. He was already a proficient trainer while taking on his older brothers. It would definitely be an exciting bout to go up against someone close to the same level as himself other than Hau.

"I'll take you up on that!"

---

Lillie carried her duffel bag containing Nebby with a death grip, clutching the straps close to her chest as she constantly checked over her shoulder. The crowds that surrounded her showed nothing out of place; no distinctive uniforms of anyone or the dark clothes of the Team Skull thugs. Anyone glancing in her direction didn't turn away quickly; a sure sign of someone tailing.

This was such a stupid idea. Coming out here, alone with no sense on where to go without a guide!

It all started when the hotel's receptionist told her about the Malie City Library that was situated on Queen Lilouka Way; the street that would eventually lead straight into the city centre at the south bend. She had heard about the place as a child, but never had the opportunity.

Now free from her mother for a time, she was able to do and go wherever she wanted.

Unfortunately, her mind made it out to be a far less daunting task than it really was. She had no map or DexNav features that she saw trainers use in Hoenn. There were no town maps either since most cell phones nowadays had global positioning system trackers that could calculate a route through any city within seconds.

All she had was a burner phone that Professor Kukui had bought her from Tanaka's, allowing only the basic web searching, messages and calls. He knew her story and did not want to take any chances or inherent risks in having the wrong people track her down by her phone. As Elio and Hau entered her life, she had agreed to have both their numbers added to the small group of people she knew she could trust.

The streets were not trustworthy here either. During the daytime, she knew she'd be safe thanks to others around to act as eyewitnesses if something happened, but at night there had been stories where people had been mugged by petty thieves and Team Skull. She wondered why the police didn't seem to care much about it, even after reports of a week earlier that a female trainer was assaulted in an alleyway surfaced.

She shuddered at that thought, trying not to stand out and maybe get to a safe area where she could call Professor Kukui.

It was at this rather opportune time she happened to turn her head away from the direction she was walking and ended up hitting something mid-stride. Letting out a yelp of surprise she expected to stumble back and trip over something...which was usually what would happen. Instead, she felt a lean arm grab firmly ahold of her wrist and quickly arrest her backward momentum into another group of pedestrians.

"Pew!"

"Nebby?" Her heart raced at hearing the familiar voice and she was completely flustered to see who exactly her savior had been.

"Elio?"

"Lillie!" The expression on his face was amusing since it looked like he was just as surprised to see her as she did with him. "Hey!"

"Pew!"

"And of course Nebby!"

Lillie didn't really care much that the shuffling around in her bag was the cloud pokemon's latest attempt to get out. She held onto Elio's shirt and practically jumped into his waiting arms.

The boy laughed, softening her heart. "Well someone missed me."

With the reunion ruined like that; she playfully punched his arm. "Stop it. You know I always miss you Elio." She hadn't put much effort in hitting him, yet he barely flinched.

"I missed you too." Their eyes met and Elio's thoughts had been abruptly interrupted again as a cold spike was driven into the back of his head with the familiar pain returning. It was less intense than before, but enough to make him grunt and rub his temples in anguish.

Lillie's face went to immediate concern. "Elio are you okay?"

"Y-yeah." He grunted, cursing the pain yet again for ruining yet another tender moment between the girl he lov-really liked. "Just a little bit of a headache."

She reached into her bag, careful not to disturb Nebby. "I…um got some painkillers." A little bottle was in her hand and she shook out two small white tablets. "Maybe this will help."

He graciously took them from her and popped them in his mouth, washing them down with a swig of water from his bottle. It would take a half hour before the effects would kick in, but hopefully it wouldn't be noticeable to him. He was beginning to recognize that the odd sensation of the liquid ice being poured into his head. It never happened prior to his encounter with that...thing.

"I forgot to ask you." Lillie began. "How was your trip to Aether Paradise? I'm sorry I couldn't come with you."

Okay that was a lie and I feel really bad saying that.

"Oh that's okay." He reassured her. "I'm sure we'll be going back soon. They seem like good people."

"Did you meet any of the leaders?"

"Some lady named Wicke took us for most of the tour. I like her. She's really nice."

Lillie smiled, she had already known Miss Wicke would get along well with both boys. Elio then said something right after that surprised her...she had no idea.

"She says she knows my dad from somewhere. It's so strange, she told me I look just like him." Wicke wasn't wrong with that either. A lot of people had commented that Elio looked much like his own father although she could see a couple of features in him that were also part of his mother Elaine.

"That's really interesting. I wonder where?"

"Me too."

"Anyone else?" She asked as they started walking back towards the city.

"I met this guy named Faba. Smart guy, but he talks a lot about himself and how important and entitled he is. His ego is probably as wide as those strange glasses he wears."

That made Lillie laugh out loud, doubling over and clutching her sides. Elio was already snickering himself and joined right in.

"Pew! Pew!" Nebby was also joining in on the fun.

That's the funniest thing I've heard anyone say about Mister Faba! Then again, he's not here to listen to any of it.

"Oh and I met the President. Her name's Lusamine."

Lillie's laughter faded away and even though her own mother or her associates weren't around, she still felt a chill creep up her spine. The mere mention of that woman was a grim reminder of why she had to remain in hiding. She couldn't afford to make any slip ups. The priority was to get Nebby home and away from the Aether Foundation as soon as possible.

But she was confused at what she would do after that was done. Run away to another region? Make an anonymous identity? There were plenty of places in the world where people could disappear or turn into someone else.

It seemed so daunting, but she knew how vengeful her mother could be when angered. And while she may never see her family's face again, she would constantly have to look over her shoulder for anyone seeking her out for the wrong reasons. What if she made friends elsewhere and had to break their trust when they found out her true identity?

What if she had to say goodbye to Elio?

I can't. I have to be strong and have faith that everything will work out and resolve itself. I'm not alone. Elio is with me. Hau is with me. Professor Kukui is with me.

Elio was talking about Lusamine and his own experience, saying that while he did like her, there was just something he couldn't place that didn't feel right. "A few screws loose." was how he described her.

And his intuition was spot on.

"But yeah. We'll have to take a trip soon. I bet they have people who can help you get Nebby back home."

"Well...um...I want to...you know. Research first. Maybe make sure we know a lot before we go to them to find answers." Lillie stopped and fidgeted with her hat, chiding herself for thinking he would believe her exvuse. "Um...Elio...do you mind if I ask you something?"

"Yeah sure." She swore his eyes sparkled at his eagerness to be by her. "What? This has to be about Nebby right? You want to go to the ruins?"

"Yes. I do want to see the tapu ruins in Ula'ula Island, but they're located deep in a large desert in the very center. I don't want to ask that much from you."

"That's not much at all. I'll take you there!"

"Thanks Elio. But another time. I was actually headed up to the Malie City Library. There's a book I want to look for that's there. Would you be willing to help me? I know you have your trials and everything though."

Sun shook his head. "Nah, friends and family come first. Right?"

She felt so thrilled at his answer and almost jumped up in excitement. Her own feelings were unclear on whether she was more enthusiastic about finally finding a book she had been searching for a long time or if it was the young boy tagging along with her.

"Well I know Malie Library is somewhere within the city. Why else would it be called that? Even I should be able to find it."

"Someone told me that it's on Queen Lilouka Way by the city centre."

"Then I can do this!"

Elio stepped forward, "Uh maybe I should come along with you. For the walk?" He glanced around as if searching for someone eavesdropping on their conversations. "I just don't like you going alone."

"I appreciate you saying that Elio, but I want to try this for myself." She stammered a little at saying that, but her mind was made up from the confidence trying to surface.

The thought of that one girl assaulted in an alleyway from talk around town was still fresh in his mind. While he was still technically considered a minor at sixteen years of age, he had a little bit less problems in moving alone. For one; he had his pokemon to defend himself at any time and he also walked with the air of confidence.

As a boy with those traits, many people would pass him up as a potential target.

Lillie was another story, she had neither of those. Her only pokemon was one that avoided battle and its only power was to teleport. That expended a lot of Nebby's energy and it got tired after using it just once. Her confidence? It was something that was to be worked on, but Elio noticed she was getting more and more sure of herself.

Yet she was a girl, another reason he wasn't entirely okay with her traveling alone in a foreign place.

"Please Elio." She said. "I want to believe more in myself just like how I believe in you."

Elio stepped closer and gently reached down to take her hands into his own. His fingers were slightly calloused, contrasting with her smooth soft ones, but she closed her eyes to savor his touch.

"Okay." He whispered. "I trust you. But you get hold of me the moment something doesn't seem right or someone's following you okay?"

"Okay." She nodded.

"And take Rufflet with you." Elio activated the eaglet's ball open, causing the pokemon to flap its wings and land gently on his shoulder. People would be a little less willing to hurt her if there was an angry eaglet staying behind as her pokemon. "He can fly close by behind and watch over you."

"But I can't battle. I don't know how."

"Rufflet is more than capable of fighting by himself. If he feels the need to step in if your safety is at risk, he will."

Lillie hesitantly nodded. Even though Elio made battling look like a breeze and she unashamedly tried to pretend battle with Nebby, maybe there was an opportunity to feel like a real trainer.

"Rufflet has moves like aerial ace, wing attack, roost right?"

"And fury attack." He knew that her staying with Professor Kukui gave a little bit of knowledge on the different moves and how to utilize them.

"Alright. I'll do it." She waved at the little eaglet as he flapped his wings to stay by her side. "Let's go Rufflet!" At her insistence, the two of them headed down the sidewalk towards the city center and he could hear her talking excitedly to his bird about something. Whatever it was made him excited.

Elio watched her go with a thin smile broadening on his face. His eyes went down to admire the creamy colored thighs and her blonde hair that swished and swirled when she walked.

Her figure.

While those thoughts manifested in his mind, the head pain of the cold sensation returned to the front of his head and he grunted, using the side of the building to support himself. The pain grew in waves crashing on a beach and rolling across to his left and right sides.

Within moments, the aching began to subside as he steadied his breathing and slowly stood back up. He took a moment to calm down, not knowing it had been the painkiller that had taken effect.

---

Thirty minutes later, Elio easily found the directions to the library and started his way there. While the sun had now hovered just over the waterline to the west, the purple dusky sky was beginning to invade, making the overhanging clouds almost invisible and putting off an orange glow funneled within as if lighting the entrance to a cave.

The lights were coming on from the streets to the downtown towers glittering in a multitude of white, orange and yellow. As he got closer back to where the buildings took on the Johtoan inspiration, he could see the paper lamps hanging above in multiple colors on the sides of the building canopies.

People were still out and about, but the crowds had dwindled down to a handful of pedestrians and the occasional car or ride pokemon. By this time, most people were already at their houses and settling in for the night.

A small restaurant was where Sun got a takeout box of tendon and quickly ate it on his way to the library. He wasn't sure if Lillie had eaten yet either, so before leaving, he bought a second one and slipped it in his bag, careful to make sure it was sealed and didn't spill during the trip. It was one of his favorite dishes, often available fresh for purchase at Tanaka's or any other small Kantoan restaurant. Simple to make as well; simply tempura fried vegetables, fish or prawns served over a bed of rice that could be seasoned at a customer's request. He wasn't sure how Lillie would like her food, so he got complimentary packets of salt and seasoning in case she did want it more flavorful.

The library was straight ahead from the street and even though there weren't as many cars, he stayed at the crosswalk and waited for the signal on the light before walking over.

The building was situated on an elevated concrete platform with worn stairs and bars. Two ancient Alolan warriors with a spear and shield stood on either side, both with a plaque at the base of their feet.

Lillie stood at the beginning of the steps with Rufflet standing on the ground beside her. He sensed his trainer's approach and cawed happily, zipping right over and landing at his feet. Elio noticed that she had another fancy boutique bag on her shoulder next to the duffel.

"Hey Rufflet." He patted the bonnet of feathers on the top of his head. "Did you take good care of Lillie?"

He got an enthusiastic caw in reply while closing his eyes to enjoy the scratching.

"Oh Elio." The worry in her voice got his attention quickly.

"Hey." He said in his usual soothing voice, he searched her features for anything abnormal but came up empty.

What's the matter?

Lillie sighed in defeat. "I...I wandered around lost while looking around for the library and I ducked into the apparel shop back there."

"Are you okay?"

She nodded. "And then I saw this outfit and they said it was the last one they had in stock, so I bought it for sixty five dollars."

Sixty five? Wow, that's...clothes can be expensive! But it is an apparel shop though.

"Even though I don't think I'd ever have the guts to wear an outfit like it...heh!"

Elio stepped forward, "What do you mean? I'm sure you've got a taste for clothing and fashion, so I trust you."

Her eyes brightened with excitement and the fact that maybe spending all that money on clothes she liked wasn't exactly a bad thing.

"Really?"

"Yeah really. You have your own preference, so you should wear the clothes you want."

"Thank you! I guess it wasn't all a waste. The woman working at the store did tell us where to find the library! So I guess you could say it was all for the best. Now I see I was on the right track since the library was just down the street if I kept looking."

Elio dug into his pack and produced the wrapped bag with the tendon bowl. "I'm glad you're here safe. I also thought you might get hungry, so I got you something to eat."

"I'm not that hungry, but thanks Elio." She took the food and opened it. "It does smell delicious though. Why don't we share it?"

Sun himself had just eaten, but he didn't feel quite full just yet. "Okay."

They found a spot on the stairs away from the middle and ate underneath a light. Conversation was abuzz with Lillie asking him on his trials and the other things he had seen on going into Aether Paradise. Elio asked her if she was wanting to go to the Draconid Festivus held in the city in a couple of days.

"What's it about?"

"Some famous explorer who came to Alola. His birthday is on that day and they're making it really special since someone with that title of Lorekeeper helped the champion of Hoenn prevent a huge disaster just recently."

"I remember that!" Lillie said, going back to the time she heard it on the news reports just days after Elio completed his trial at the Mauna Wela.

"So they'll have fun with games, food, dancing and the best part is when we all light dragon pokemon kites into the sky and set them on fire for appreciation and offering to their deity; the sky high pokemon Rayquaza."

"Do you think that it will appear?"

"I don't know. It would be something to see for sure if it does."

"Yeah. I'd love it if we get to see it together and-" Lillie's words were cut off by the sound of rapidly galloping hooves from a pokemon fast approaching that clobbered rapidly on the hard ground.

The pokemon in question was a familiar equine, brown bodied with long braided hair and massive legs that had hardened dirt around the bases. It reared back on its hind legs and let out a loud neigh that bellowed into the evening.

Lillie's eyes went wide as dinner plates as she let out a horrified girly shriek. In a moment, she had quickly jumped behind Elio next to her and threw her arms around his back. Clinging fiercely and making him blush at the sudden close contact between the two of them.

The boy quickly felt heat rise to his face as he saw his crush shaking slightly and her hands touching the lower part of his shirt where he navel was at.

"Help!"

"Lillie," Sun was trying to suppress his laughter, but quickly failed, which drew a little bit of irritation on her features when she looked at him again. In a way he found her pouting face incredibly cute. "Relax."

"That's not funny! It was scary!"

Elio's laughter only grew alongside a girl's that was catching up at the side of the huge mudsdale that almost had run them familiar to the boy, she had never seen someone as short as her walk with such a confident gait. Her brown clothes were slightly weathered and a little bit of sweat could be seen off her brow underneath the purple bonnet.

"Alola Elio!" The girl said happily. "Been a while hoa."

"Likewise," he stepped forward smiling.

Hapu Encarnación's tanned face smiled back. "It looks like your island challenge is coming along favorably. That must be pleasing to the tapu."

"You know more than I do for sure." Elio chuckled as her mudsdale Miles stepped forward, nudging him with her nose. He gave her an affectionate pat as Rufflet landed beside, cawing eagerly.

"So Elio," Hapu's gaze drifted to a nervous Lillie still shyly hiding behind him. "Who might your kasama be?

"Oh this is Lillie." He made introductions by standing aside. "Lillie, this is Hapu. A friend I made while on Akala Island."

"Hi." She timidly waved, still not trusting the new face.

Hapu slowly approached, reaching out to take Lillie's hand in both her purple gloves. "It's so nice to meet you too hoa." A smirk grew on her face when she saw her looking at Elio for reassurance. He only just smiled back and put his arm around her shoulders.

"I found Hapu dealing with Team Skull just outside Royal Avenue. Decided to step in and give her a hand. She probably would've been fine herself."

Hapu merely shook her head at his redirection of praise. "My apologies if Miles spooked you. She gets really excited when she sees a familiar friend."

"Oh it's okay."

"It doesn't seem like you're a trial-goer like Elio here. What are you up to in Alola?"

"Oh, well...I'm actually studying the tapu's ruins for...various reasons of my own."

Sun knew why she was so hesitant. He already could tell that Hapu's curiosity meant no harm, but she didn't want to trust someone else so quickly about Nebby.

Just as he predicted; the young girl smiled. "Well that's a fine initiative indeed. I'd be happy to show you the way whenever you'd like to go." She patted Miles' face again. "Miles here is as sturdy as all get-out. She can easily carry two."

"Thank you for your offer Hapu." Lillie gave a curt bow, her expressions lighting up with a bit of newfound hope and determination.

"Anytime. You let me know if either one of you needs anything. That's what friends are for. We help one another." With a gently pat and a neigh from Miles, the two of them turned around to walk down the road in which they had approached.

"She seems nice." Lillie remarked as they watched her go.

Elio nodded. "Hapu's a good person. Don't let that friendly exterior fool you, she's tough as nails, especially in a battle."

"I believe it. So shall we get to the library since we're here?"

He was already bounding up the steps and opening the door to the main entrance. "After you m'lady."

Lillie followed inside, giggling softly at him titling her. "You're a stunning example of chivalry. You know that?"

---

The Malie Library was the oldest in the Alola Public Library systems as well as its flagship location. Like many regions, it offered a massive catalogue of books for visitors to borrow as well as a large quiet location to study.

Lillie didn't have many places she really enjoying being at, but the library was one of them. She had been to this one many years ago when she was very young, maybe six years old.

Her mother had brought her inside while she was going to search for some magazines. She had turned her back for maybe a minute before realizing that Lillie was no longer by her side.

She went into a full-on panic, searching up and down every little aisle in the building, even needing the staff on duty to help her in the search. Quietly, they monitored the exits and began combing the rows yet again in search for the missing girl.

She was eventually found, nestled in a corner of one of the lounges with nearly a half dozen pokémon surrounding her as she laid a book out on her lap, reading away to herself and the small creatures that had gathered and snuggled all behind as they listened to the child reading and telling the story out loud.

Her mother was worried sick and nearly rushed over, but quickly stopped herself seeing how adorable her little flower looked as she was truly immersed in the adventure book's ups and downs.

Lillie was left alone for another half hour within sight and when her mother arrived to take her, she had fallen asleep, curled up against a small igglybuff with most of the others spread out nearby in their nap.

She knew the exact little corner in the library where that happened.

However in the ten years that passed, as they entered, she could see that it had some significant changes since she was last there. The architect was a Unovan who sought to pay homage off of the famous Nacrene Public Archives. Sweeping trimmed arches separated the building into three sections, each with an identical antique lamp that cast a warm orange glow. A pair of staircases both close to the entrance and the back area allowed access to the upper floor which was also in an open area where the ceiling stretched an extra twenty feet in a sweeping spindle of white colored marble like a fine mix of meringue egg whites.

Much of the architecture was still the same, but she saw that the staircases had been redone with a copper brown trim and the aisle of books on the lower level seemed to be a little thicker with fewer in between, likely support sulumns installed from the added weight of more things added to the upper floor.

Close to the reception desk, Lillie and Sun saw a small coffee shop where a barista was busy making refreshments for a line of people. Aside from the drinks, they could see an entire case full of various crackers, cookies and other snacks. Even sandwiches were available to purchase.

Okay, first off, it's almost eight in the evening. Who in their right mind wants a coffee this late?

Elio had never been in many libraries, other than the one situated inside his schools. This was one of the first experiences he had and he was still astounded at how many different books were available to rent, purchase or read.

Close to the ends of the building were long counter tables with reading lamps and chairs. A few people sat at the desktop computers while others had their laptops or datapads.

The most dominant feature however was the enormous stained glass window that stretched almost as high as the ceiling. A multitude of colors dominated the oddly shaped panes and Elio noticed after a moment that the four corners were abstract figures in different colors; yellow in the top left, pink in the top right, red in the bottom right and then violet in the bottom left. Each one held something different. The yellow figure was a lithe masculine shape that held a long ornate spear. The pink figure was smaller, more dainty and carried a fan similar to a kantoan geisha's fans. Upon closer inspection they seemed iridescent more closer to scales.

The red figure was the largest of the four carrying two pairs of dark obsidian rings around his arms. Finally the violet figure was also more feminine in appearance, sporting long curved fins along her arms and back.

All four figures were all looking towards the bright thing in the center, Elio could only described it as an elliptical shape with a mixture of a black and multicolored prism. They had just arrived at the moment when the sunlight was shining through the glass at such an angle that it glowed the colors vibrantly, making them feel even more realistic and lifelike.

At the very back top of the piece of art was some text in fine black outlined letters.

"Na kaʻike e hāʻawi iāʻoe i ka mana. A hoʻomālamalama i ka pō lōʻihi."

"Wow." Was all Elio could say as he was still soaking in the entire spectacle of the library. "This is amazing. We don't have anything like this in Kanto. At least where I lived."

"A library is one of my favorite places." Lillie replied, still a little wide-eyed at how much had changed. "I could spend all day here."

I can't. But if it makes you happy, then it's a small price to pay.

They received a warm reception from the woman at the front desk while a large big-eyed bird pokemon gazed at them before fluttering up to a long perch on the side of the column nearby. It had a large V-shaped crest on its forehead with dark patterns on its brown stomach.

"New pokemon detected! Bzzt! Noctowl. It is the evolved form of hoothoot. With eyes that can see in pitch-darkness, it never lets its prey escape. Some even call it "the emperor of dark nights. Noctowl is a normal and flying type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."

"So," Lillie started, "the book I'm looking for is a very old one. It's a book that contains old myths and legends that Professor Burnet had told me about. Those tales...seem to suggest that Alola's legendary pokemon came from another world."

"Another world? You mean like an ultra beast?" I'm not exactly sure I'd want to meet Alola's legendary pokemon if that's the case.

"Maybe. I'm hoping it's not as aggressive."

"That makes two of us."

Elio realized that he and Lillie were still standing close to the front desk and checkout kiosks, seeing someone rush towards them. He took her hand, earning a gasp of surprise and gently tugged her out of the way.

"Sorry! Excuse me!" The man said as he nearly dropped a stack of thick textbooks on the countertop. "My bad about that you two. I didn't want to interrupt your little date."

Date? Both of the teenagers glanced down, seeing that the sudden event was over and they still remained holding hands. Sheepishly, they parted and refused to meet the other's gaze.

Elio felt as if a part of him left his body as her touch vanished.

The young man who looked to be in his mid-twenties chuckled with a knowing smirk. "Right on. I don't judge, the library can be a great place to go out."

"Well actually...we're here for a book. A book on old Alolan legends to be exact." Her gaze went to his enormous stack as he used the wireless scanner on his phone to register his selection for rent. "You seem to know what type of books are around here."

"Oh, well I'm kind of the wrong guy for that." He flipped the top one so that they could see the cover. Elio recognized it immediately; the Jeppesen Instrument Commercial Pilot Syllabus Handbook.

"That's cool. You want to be a professional pilot?"

"Had that dream from a very early age."

"That's wonderful." Lillie said. "Elio here has been on his island challenge only recently and he's having a lot of fun."

"I can see that." The man smiled. "He's definitely made one amazing friend. Stick by his side kid for as long as the road takes you. You do the same bro."

"You can count on that." Elio couldn't help smiling, but he fist-bumped the aspiring pilot. "We'll let you be on your way now."

"I'll take you two on a flight if you've got time later on. What are your names?"

Sun stepped forward. "I'm Elio and this is Lillie."

"Name's Marcus. Pleasure to meet the both of you." He cast them a two fingered salute before grabbing his checkout receipt and heading out the door, waving once again before disappearing down the steps.

"Wow." Lillie said after a while. "He seemed nice."

"Yeah. He did." I have this familiar feeling about him...like I've known who he is...or maybe he's known about me for a long time. That can't be right. We just met.

Lillie went over to the upper floor where Elio tagged along with the two of them scanning the shelves for any sign of the book. He wished that she had more of a description besides that of it being old and with an image of a gold sun and blue moon.

At least a title.

"Hey Elio." A voice cut in from behind him. "If I knew you were coming to the library too, I would've offered to show you the way."

He turned around to see Brady Wainwright looking much more confident and assertive than when he ran into him in the alleyway some hours earlier.

Sun flashed a grin, "Kind of an unexpected visit. I'm actually surprised you're still here. Didn't you say you had a curfew?"

"No...well actually yes. But they said as long as I'm doing schoolwork, my parents don't mind." Brady reached up and grabbed a book from the outstretched tail of Arlo, who clumsily waved with his actual arms.

"Hey Arlo," He scratched the tuft of hair on top of his head. "You're looking way better."

His trainer gave a defeated sigh, "My brothers have always had a bit of an upper hand in battling. They got pokemon before I did...and I had to fight tooth and nail to convince my parents to keep him."

"You'll get them back. One day." Elio saw that the book Arlo had retrieved for his trainer was not one of normal general education, but rather an entire textbook analyzing how many pokemon overcame corresponding types to that of its weakness. He flashed a knowing smirk, well aware that Brady's cover of studying for his final year in school was really to improve his own knowledge of pokemon battling outside the normal curriculum.

"So uh, what brings you here to the library?"

"I'm actually here with a friend. We're trying to find a specific book about the legendary pokemon native to the Alola region."

"Maybe it's Ka mālamalama ke Alola?"

"Ka llama what?" Elio scrunched his brow in confusion. He knew it was an Alolan title, but he could only make out two words; light and Alola.

Brady recited it again, going slower but still making no more sense. "It translates to "The Blessed Light of Alola." and I know what you're talking about. It's one of the oldest books they have in the archives."

"Elio?" Lillie called from the other side. "Are you going to help or be a disturbance?"

Sun was more shocked at how she sounded so blunt and irritated. He rarely even heard her get angry or upset, but she was acting as if he was violating a huge rule.

Okay I kind of am being disruptive, which is against library rules.

"Women." He rolled his eyes, hoping she didn't have that special perception to catch his sarcastic gesture.

Brady snickered and stopped short. "Wait, you're with a girl?"

In response to that question; Elio felt his face begin to heat up. "Well...no we're not dating or anything."

"Oh my bad. I don't see why you couldn't get a date...I mean...you're a good looking dude. Well to a lady that is...Not that I'm," His voice trailed off after realizing he was talking himself into a corner.

"Elio?" Lillie finally made her way around the corner to see who he was talking to.

"Hey." Elio turned to face her, just as happy to break away from the awkwardness. Behind him, Brady leaned to see the new person. He stopped short, a little starstruck and his cheeks turned slightly red. Neither of those things were noticed by the other boy.

"Lillie, this is a friend of mine. Brady Wainwright."

Her face brightened with recognition. "Wainwright? As in the committee chairperson Wainwright?"

"Yep. That's my mother." He couldn't tell if Brady was more embarrassed or humbling about his parents. "She runs all those committees that help govern and regulate Ula'ula Island alongside the kahuna. Speaking of which, he addressed Elio. "The island kahuna really doesn't abide to those usual rules you would think if you've been by Mister Hala or Miss Olivia."

"Okay, that means what? He's a hermit? Recluse?"

"More like some getting used to. He lives off the grid for one and I heard he rarely comes into town."

Elio was still a little puzzled. "How? The island committee cabinet lets him do that?"

"Who's going to tell him no?"

Fair enough.

"Anyway," Brady glanced at Lillie and Elio finally noticed the slightly rosy tinged appearing on his cheeks. The pupils on his blue eyes has also dilated. "It's really nice to meet you Lillie."

He stuck his hand out.

"Oh," She looked a little flustered, but gingerly shook it.

"You're the one looking for the book right? You like that kind of legends and myths about the Alola region?"

"Y-yes. I'll read most anything though. Adventure books are my favorite."

Brady's head perked up a little at that. "That's great! I hardly meet anyone nowadays who really likes adventure books like me. What's your favorite?"

"Um it's hard to pick maybe um...the Sword in the Stone."

"A Galar classic. I see you have excellent taste."

Elio raised an eyebrow as the other two took off in a conversation that went to many other books. Some of which he had heard of and others completely foreign.

They're getting along. Quite well.

For some reason he was a little bothered by it. Lillie definitely enjoyed a conversation with him and long before when he barely knew her, it was hard to get more than four sentences out of her before she came out of her shell. Here this guy whom he met that morning was now talking to her as if they had been friends since childhood. His ire was growing when he said something that sounded a little bit funny, but it had her giggling to the point where she had to cover her mouth to try and remain silent.

The fact of someone else having her attention and admiration didn't sit well with him.

Stop. She's not my girlfriend. She's not property. Lillie is a person.

His rational mind told him to lay it off and not think of it any more, but it ignited a rather unfamiliar feeling inside.

Suddenly Brady's presence with her felt less welcome and more invasive. By the time he had gathered his senses, the two of them had already went to another aisle while murmuring titles to themselves as they browsed the collection.

Me a jealous person?! Ha! Right and I can have an unlimited supply of those Master Balls.

Elio found himself looking through various books as well, reaching into the mythology section with the capricious nature of the four primary tapu deities.

Even though they were revered by the Alolans, the tapu remained incredibly secretive in their appearances with only the island kahunas having close knowledge of the mysterious pokemon.

Elio flipped through to the Melemele section, reading that Tapu Koko was the second youngest of the deities, but his fickle nature often left others bewildered at how he seemed to appear at unexpected times as well as not in others. Tapu Koko was represented by his mythical arc staff with jagged edges and could weave it with intense precision to intimidate and dazzle his foes. Naturally, the quick tempered deity was known to the Alolans as the god of war and honor.

The Akala section showed Tapu Lele as the youngest. She was the closest to a spoiled child in throwing tantrums. Strange befitting the goddess of healing, life and emotion. Tapu Lele could scatter odd scaly glitter that healed any wound or sickness in both humans and pokemon. While they were beneficial, too much could go the other way in doing more harm than good. Often times she would spread the scales for her own amusement regardless of their effects. It was said she had healed countless Alolan warriors during the era of kahuna warlords in their petty fights for territory and resources. The book said that recent evidence was pointing to a more disturbing outcome.

Another case of don't anger the goddess.

The third section of Ula'ula depicted Tapu Bulu. As the second eldest of the guardians; he was the god of fertility, vitality and growth. Many old shrines and totems on the island paid homage to Tapu Bulu, whom people had looked towards for bountiful harvests. He was often the one thanked in pre-meal prayers for the gift of nurturing food.

Bulu was among the more laid-back and secretive and many believed that it was a lazy pokemon in general. However it once decimated an entire settlement somewhere on the island's southern coast when the people disrespected it.

Finally the fourth section covered Tapu Fini. The eldest of the guardian deities, it possessed a calm and rational demeanor compared to its siblings, but it had a notable dislike for humans with the exception of those it sensed with a pure heart. Too many times malicious minded individuals sought its healing water properties. Despite that, it was not above helping others, provided that they were able to see through the deceptive mists it threw up as both a method to deter intruders and a test for those seeking it out.

Elio put the book on the tapu away before joining Lillie and Brady at a table in the middle between two sets of shelves. They were still browsing up and down another area and he could tell that Lillie was starting to get a little bit frustrated that she wasn't able to find what she was looking for.

"It's a very old one. Very valuable so I'm not sure I'll be able to take it out of the library at all." It almost sounded as if she was getting angry at herself.

Lillie knows her way around a library...so she knows how and where to look for what she wants. Not finding it is like a personal blow to her pride.

"The database says there's newer and more modern books checked out right now. Nothing dating older than ten years." He looked up from the datapad he was reading. "It's still here."

"Then we keep looking."

Elio wanted to help, but he didn't have the faintest idea of how to even contribute to the search. She didn't give him a title or an author and he wasn't even sure how the books were sorted.

Maybe by authors...but who does that? What kind of author curates this library?

He was paying more attention to how Brady stuck close by Lillie's side and the small quiet talk they were having.

Lillie was smiling a lot too, almost going as far to laugh softly at some of the things Brady was telling her. Again, the hint of jealousy struck out, especially from the fact that she had quickly come to trust and enjoy the other boy's company.

It came to a breaking point when she stifled a giggle out loud until she quickly covered her mouth in realization of what she had done.

Elio was about to go up and remind them about the universal silence rule.

"Is this what you're looking for Princess?" He heard someone else say.

The voice was an unrecognizable one and he never heard Brady call her that before. It must have been someone new.

Walking back to the table, he now saw both his companions sitting at one of the tables with a rather worn looking book in front of them. The leather cover had seen better days and he could see the pages on the inside visibly yellowed from definite old age.

The newcomer was visibly younger than any of them with long purplish hair that flowed down the sides of her head. Her summer dress that she wore was similarly colored and it had patches from lilac to a deeper violet as if it had been passed down from older generations.

Her skin was fair, almost an alabaster color like Lillie's.

"Oh...okay." The blonde sat down next to Brady. Not wanting to be left out, Elio joined them.

"How did you know this was the book we were looking for?" Brady asked.

"Yup! C'mon it was easy!" The purple haired girl flashed a giddy smile. "Old and tattered, super valuable, about the ancient history of Alola's legendary pokemon. This may be the biggest library in the region, but you narrowed it down pretty good! My dad's book is impressive, don't you think?"

"Yeah it is." Lillie said. "But you said this book was your dad's. It's very old right?"

"Yup! I know I may not look like it but my family was pretty much royalty." she spun around playfully and smiled again. Elio already liked her.

"What's your guy's names?"

He stepped forward. "I'm Elio Northstar. I'm going on my island challenge and hope to be the island challenge champion one day."

Lillie was next. "I'm Lillie...I am just here to study the tapu ruins and legendary pokemon for various reasons of my own."

"And I'm Brady Wainwright." Elio saw him cringe just slightly and assumed that the new girl was going to treat him the same way they did with his well known parents.

Has to be hard when you're treated like that person who has so much pressure from renowned parents and brother as well as failures on the opposite end of the spectrum.

Luckily for the shy boy, the new face didn't seem to care about that. She approached them quietly with barely any noise, yet skipped carefree as if a wraith moving stealthily across the library floor.

"Yup! My name's Acerola! Last name Paleilei! I may not look like it, but my family used to be pretty much royalty!" She smiled again at the boys. "So I guess you could say I'm a bit of a princess myself!"

Brady's eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh I know all about the Paleilei family. They were the ruling family of Alola in its entirety of the monarchy era after the ka haku era. They were then forced to step down during its modernization and political shakedown and the government resorted to the island kahunas being the chiefs of their islands with a committee council meeting to discuss the matters."

"Ka haku?" Elio was confused and had no knowledge of the term.

"Yup! It's Alolan for warlord." Acerola translated. "And it's a part of our history during a darker and much more gruesome time."

That actually piqued his intrigue even more. There's still so much about Alola I don't know. Kanto had its share of dark history during the feudal states and I'm sure Alola went through the same.

"Me too." Brady added, openly stating that this was a subject he had been taught little in school.

"I'll be right back!" Acerola went straight to an aisle about halfway down, disappearing and reappearing moments later with two books in hand. She again moved and walked noiselessly, despite her energetic gait.

"Yup! Okay. So here we go." The girl dropped a book on the table and opened the first few pages, showing incredibly detailed artwork of broad-shouldered muscular men, each having black ornate inkwork on their bodies with dark brown loincloths, grass blade greaves and necklaces that seemed different. Many of them brandished long spears that were serrated with an arrowhead at the end and each had a lot of carvings of symbols. Each of the weapons had to be at least one and a half times the height of the wielder. The pointed tips seemed to be some sort of calcified material and as he looked at the remarks of the author, it was believed that the warriors used the sharp edges of a cloyster.

And it wasn't just humans in the battle; pokemon participated too in the image; from a team of lurantis launching into battle to a huge salamence that prowled the sky and in the midst of a dive to spew amber flames from its gaping maw.

Sun had no doubt that a direct hit on any vital organ was nothing short of painful. Further information showed that much of the garb from a traditional Alolan warrior could be seen at the Ho'oilina Cultural Center in downtown Hau'oli City.

What stood out immediately to him was the largest man in the middle of what an artist had made in a rendition of a battle. Several of the other warriors had swords, others spears and some shields. He was clearly the leader evidenced by his more ceremonial attire and headdress that almost looked like a crown.

On his wrist was a loose band with a glowing stone set in the center. Before him was a lycanroc, the tan furred midday one that was receiving a very familiar power boost.

"Hold up." Elio pointed it out immediately. "That's a Z-ring. Or at least a Z-ring before they were...um...modern."

"Yup! You're correct! But there were no trainers back then. That person you see in the middle with the lycanroc was a ka haku. A warlord. And they were gifted people."

Acerola turned the page, showing a drawn picture of how one of the ka haku reached out to take a familiar sparkling stone from Tapu Lele. It instantly reminded him of how Tapu Koko had appeared after it saved him from that fatal fall into the rapids.

"As you may know, the land spirit deities of our island often give people they feel worthy or chosen those sparkling stones on occasion that go on their island challenges." She glanced at Elio. "You were one of them."

"Uh huh." So you're saying as being given that sparkling stone by Tapu Koko would turn me into that warlord status?

"So back in those ancient times, not everyone had that nobleness about them and as more and more people came to the islands to settle from the other regions, people that were koho'ia could use the special bonds to tap into their pokemon partner's zenith power and bond it with their own to create the ultimate moves."

"And that's how zenith moves came to be." Brady finished.

"Correct. Now everyone knows that an individual with power's greatest fear is losing that power. All of the people that were koho'ia were leaders in the loosest of terms. Ruling through fear, oppression, showing off their displays of power to other people forcing them to submit, pay tribute in exchange for their use of the zenith moves to protect them from outsiders. Failure to satisfy the ka haku's demands usually resulted in harsh punishments. Since all their own ways were clashing against one another; they frequently warred with their neighbors for territory, resources and then they did, the people were always the ones to lose."

"Wow." Elio's face went a little pale. It's a little unsettling when you don't hear how many people died to these self-centered people. On the other hand, it's probably best we don't know.

"That's horrible." Lillie said softly. "But what about the tapu? Couldn't they put an end to all that?"

It was Brady who shook his head. "No. They only provide the tools for trainers and kahunas to defend the islands. While they may participate if the region is threatened by something, they are capricious in nature and often leave matters meant for humans to be settled by themselves. The ability to properly harness zenith energy is a gift and back then, people misused the gift to their own selfish ends."

"So what happened to the ka haku?" Elio asked. "Something had to since I've never heard of them until just now and they were apparently responsible for a lot of the trying times here on the island back then."

The history of these islands just got a lot darker than I expected. I bet everything; war, death, slavery, trafficking, rape and robbery happened here.

"Eventually yes, the ka haku were hunted down or forced to surrender." Acerola answered. "Interestingly enough, it was a group of them who eventually began to see the error of their ways. Four ka hakus swore to never inflict the same oppression on their people ever again and eventually made a pact to defend one another."

That seemed very familiar to Elio's ears and he couldn't help blurting out his revelation.

"The four kahunas."

"Yup! You're good!" Acerola practically beamed with the impression he was making. "So the four ka hakus were the first...I guess you could say...proto-island kahunas. The first kahunas weren't chosen by the land spirits like they are today, but they established freedom, peace and prosperity to those under their banners. They sought to fight together as one to eliminate the other ka haku and their reign of tyranny. Some of the less oppressive ones even had a change of heart and joined the alliance, but a lot met grimmer fates such as execution or being slain in battle."

That's actually quite interesting. So the kahunas and leadership of Alola today were derived from despots who ruled the region through force and fear.

"And that's why trainers today are sent through the island challenge. It's to show that people are worthy of harnessing zenith energy to better themselves and their pokemon and when it's completed; they are to be recognized formally as an adult in the rite of passage."

"Sounds difficult, all things considered with Team Skull and who knows all the others who didn't pass."

"The island challenge is supposed to be difficult. It's supposed to test your limits. You know the saying with great power comes great responsibility? This is why. We never want to repeat what the ka haku did to our ancestors."

"Acerola," Lillie started. "You said you were part of the Paleilei family. I know you said that they were the ruling monarchy of Alola. What happened?"

She looked a little sullen at the question, but answered it nonetheless. "The Paleilei family…my bloodline were among the group of ka haku that overthrew the others. We established the kahunas who would govern the islands and follow the king or queen's decree."

Brady nodded through an oncoming yawn. "Alola thrived under their rule and they lived a simple relaxed lifestyle. In fact, the Paleilei family had more or less isolated them from the outside world until the discovery by Lochagos."

"Lochagos?"

"Captain Lochagos is the Draconid explorer and trader who was the first big outsider to set foot in the Alola region for centuries. The Festivus that's going to be held here soon is celebrated in Draconid populations worldwide, although here it pays tribute to him for uniting contemporary Alola with traditional Alola."

Lillie spoke up again. "Um...it's starting to get a little late. Can we maybe look into the book we were looking for?"

"Yup! Of course!" At the affirmation, both Elio and Brady nodded in agreement. He had to agree that he was starting to get tired like everyone else.

The four of them gathered around the book; Acerola sitting opposite them while Elio and Brady took up on both Lillie's sides.

"Well," she opened the first page. "It's titled Ka mālamalama ke Alola."

"Yup! The Light of Alola."

"I suppose I'll just read it aloud." She turned the page and glanced at the beginning script.

"The empty sky broke asunder, a rift appearing where had been none."

"A single beast appeared from it; called the beast that calls the moon."

"The king of Alola bowed before it: the beast that stole all heavens' light."

"The island guardians fought against it, but in the end they lost the fight."

"Then did the beast that brings the dark cast its pall on the line of kings."

"So would the beast that had won mark a path for all such finished things."

"Beast of sun and beast of moon. Through their union, they brought new life."

"A fragile heir in Alola born that island guardians would keep from strife."

"The ancient kings sang their thanks for Lunala with song of flute."

"Two tones rang out across the altar - a perfect pair, ever after mute."

Elio sat there, trying to make sense of everything Lillie had read. He could understand the guardian deities and the king thanks to Acerola's explanation. But the rest was a blur from the beast that called the moon, flutes and altar.

Lunala. Is that the name of the legendary pokemon?

"Yup! I had to have all my dad's books moved here so they didn't get ruined by the pokemon. I'm also willing to tell a lot of other older stories about Alola."

"That's wonderful." Lillie said, "But I really think we should get going. It's getting late and I know the library will be closing soon."

She looked over at Elio, "I know you have a trial coming up since you're here on your island challenge."

"Yeah."

"I want to come with you. Travel and see how being a trainer on a journey is like."

Elio smiled back at her, causing her fair features to turn pink as she blushed.

"I'd like that."

"I want to come too." Brady jumped in, almost as if he was going to miss his opportunity. It made Elio want to almost snap back, but before he could; Lillie had replied that it was okay with her.

"He can travel with us. Right Elio?"

Staring back into her deep green eyes made him almost lose control again and he started to get worried the odd liquid ice sensation would return.

It didn't.

"Yeah. I suppose so."

"Well I can tell you where your next trial is!" Acerola spun around again. "Yup! Just head west and up the trail of Mauna Hokulani and you'll be right there! Get some rugged gear on since there are dirt roads and uneven terrain!"

"I guess we better go and visit the store before you go." Elio gestured to Lillie's shoes that were definitely not fit for crossing rocky terrain.

"We can stay at my house." Brady suggested. "And head out in the morning."

"You parents okay with that?"

"I...I don't know." He looked down, almost to regret what he said. "I hope so. I don't want either of you to go back to the pokemon center or wander the streets this late. Not without someone or a pokemon protecting you."

Elio understood immediately. "We'll take the couch if we have to."

Lillie nodded, still deep in thought as they bid Acerola farewell and made their way down the steps of the library back towards the entrance.

So that's the name of the legendary pokemon Alola worships. Lunala.

How is it connected to the ruins? The deities? If they fought against Lunala, then maybe it's not the thing we need to seek. Or is it? Could Lunala have the power to bring Nebby home away from all of this?

She felt the warm breeze blow against her skin, erasing a creeping chill while following her two boys closely behind as they headed towards the houses and homes situated on the hills overlooking Malie City.

Sure, coming to the library had answered some things. But it also left her with even more questions than before.

---

And that's a wrap! We get introduced to Acerola and a couple other characters get introduced to one another while Elio, Lillie and Brady end up exploring the Malie Library. I loved coming up with all the lore dumped in here which took inspiration from a number of other things with a pokemon twist that fits quite well in my opinion. We're off to meet some new characters again next chapter and head up towards Mount Hokulani for the next trial! Stay tuned for the exciting stuff set to happen!

I know the title "Skullbane" for Elio given to him by Team Skull is kind of corny, but it's mainly to show that they're starting to get a little nervous when he's around since he can beat most of them in battle and disrupt whatever no-good things they're up to.

Translations:

Piwi - Runt

Ufa - Ufa is Samoan in origin, however it is still commonly used throughout Polynesian and Micronesian islands as a slang term for "fuck you" or asshole.

Hoa - Friend

Na kaʻike e hāʻawi iāʻoe i ka mana - Knowledge shall give you power

A hoʻomālamalama i ka pō lōʻihi - And illuminate the long night

Kasama - Filipino Tagalog for companion

Ka mālamalama ke Alola - Light of Alola

Ka haku - Warlord/Commander

Ho'oilina - Heritage

Koho'ia - Chosen

As always, a big mahalo for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose and I'll see you all for the next chapter.

Brav