This story is dedicated to Abigail, the original Moon.
Don't bother shooting for the stars when you already soar above them, kid.

Chapter 1: Huaka'i

"Care for the ocean, care for the people. As the Wishiwashi school shows, unity brings strength."

~ Alolan Proverb ~

"This is Hale of the Security Division; subject is headed northbound- dammit- nevermind, westbound! Towards the second basement floor elevator! Permission to engage?"

"Copy Hale. Confirm subject is still in possession of stolen test subject; securance and safety of test subject is considered priority one."

"I've got a visual, I can see it's head poking out of her bag! I'm clear to engage then?"

"10-4, you are clear to engage. Non-lethal force is authorized for use."

Lillie couldn't hear the radio chatter buzzing in the employee's ear, in fact she couldn't hear much of anything aside from his shouting, the blood pounding in her ears, and her own heavy footfalls against the glassy metal floor. Her feet had never been so sore in her life, which made an awful lot of sense when she considered that she had never been allowed to run in her life. The slippers, maddeningly tight and as slippery as their name implied, did not help matters.

Lillie couldn't hear her own thoughts, she could not hear the pokemon's chime-like cry of concern, and she definitely couldn't hear the radio chatter, but she didn't have to to know what the answer to her pursuer's question had been. The high-pitched crackling of the baton he flicked open, the same ones she had seen them use on rowdy and uncooperative pokemon, was answer enough. She knew firsthand just a couple jabs with one could take down a fully grown braviary.

She did not want to guess at what it would do to her.

She rounded a corner and saw her destination at the end of the hall: the elevator. The triangular platform glowed before her, its console just waiting to be pressed for her escape. She thanked her lucky stars they hadn't resorted to cutting the power to it. Perhaps they didn't want to risk cutting themselves off from her? This suited her just fine, or at least it would have if the footsteps behind her weren't gaining ground at a considerable rate.

He called out to her, but in her winded state it was nothing more than garbled yelling. She had lost her breath three hallways prior, and the burning in her poor calves were making their presence known. Everything made her want to stop; the yelling, the running, the crying, it was just too much for her. She shouldn't have had to be there dealing with this mess at all. But it was her mess, and here she was.

He was so close, but so was she. The electricity screamed for retribution behind her, and her footing gave way as she stepped onto the platform, soles gliding along the glass for just a second before her knees buckled beneath her weight, and she slid into the control panel. Her head smashed the side paneling, but her outstretched palm slapped the screen in a small stroke of dumb luck. The elevator hummed to life.

The sound of metal chugging and a dull clang caught her attention, and she turned in a daze to see that the railing had risen from the ground in response to her activating the screen, and her pursuer had crashed into it just as it had sprouted. Perhaps this would have been a small victory if the control panel hadn't chirped out a warning alert that indicated the safety sensors were being blocked by her pursuer, and she was going nowhere.

She stood shakily, trying not to slip from her dizziness or the glass, and saw that he was quickly doing the same as he pulled himself over the bars. His baton was still in his grip, crackling with energy, and Lillie knew she had to act fast.

They want the test subject, they want the test subject, so they can't hurt the test subject!

With a sound that was far more a cry than it was a growl, Lillie grabbed her duffel bag and swung it from the side in a wide arc, keeping it as a buffer between them. She saw his hesitation in risking a hit to the bag for that one moment, and she knew in her panic-addled brain she had been clever. Her slippers were the perfect pivot as it slammed directly into the man's face with an audible grunt and a sound that suggested he may have bit his tongue.

The man fell backwards, and the elevator began to rise.

"Ah, shif! You wily liddle bit', don't you run from-!" His pained cries from below were cut off as the elevator quickly merged into the floor above, and Lillie was once again left in blessed silence. She hoped the guard wasn't too hurt, she didn't want to hurt anyone at all. She just wanted to leave.

Please, let me go. Just let me go. Please.

She released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, the weight-like pit in her stomach from the elevator a welcome reprieve compared to the calorie burn of running. She allowed herself a few seconds of breath-catching, unsure of when she might need to continue her sprint, and glanced down at the duffel bag containing her plus one. Peering up from the gap in the bag's zipper was a pair of bright glowing eyes amidst the inky blackness of its shadowy body.

It frowned up at her, worry and apprehension so clear on its face that she had no doubt it was mirroring her own. Its face was so simple, yet expressive, reminding her of the faces she would draw on pictures as a child. She could almost imagine drawing the little ball with a crayon, squiggling the eyes with yellow to hang up on the wall. Or be thrown in the trash.

As far as pokemon were concerned, she supposed this one wasn't all that scary. But it in turn looked quite scared. Of her? It seemed smart enough to know she was trying to help it, and so probably knew that they were both in a dangerous situation. But how to comfort it?

"Ah, um… there there, little one. It's okay…" She whispered, trying to think of what she wished someone would say to her. "I just gotta… get you out of here, right? Oh, I'm so, so sorry for swinging you around!" She slipped a finger inside, rubbing at its chin in what she hoped was a comforting manner. The extra clothes and toiletries she had stuffed in her duffel had hopefully cushioned the blow – and packed some weight on the receiving end.

The little ball of gas and starlight chimed up at her, but in what manner she couldn't possibly tell. She didn't know anything about pokemon; which cries were happy or sad, how big they could get, how fast they grew. What was its diet? Did it even eat at all? Would it try to eat her? The more she thought about these things, the more she wondered what on earth she was going to do. She barely liked getting close to pokemon, why was she risking everything for one when she knew nothing about caring for them?

But then the image of her mother's face pressed against the glass, watching with nothing short of triumph while the poor thing was tortured flashed in her mind. It's strangled cries, though but a memory, were enough.

The elevator began to slow with the mechanical motor whirring to a halt, and the platform clinked into place as the metal safety rails descended into the floor once again. Lillie adjusted the strap of her bag and looked up to find her escape had been successful at first glance: she had arrived at the docks beneath the facility, where several boats sat unmanned and awaiting departure. A couple of jet-skis, deck boats, and even a speeder, all bearing the golden trident of the foundation.

The second glance at the docks however, showed upwards of twelve members of the security personnel staring directly at her; the elevator was far from silent.

Ah, I guess she learned from when Gladion ran away.

The guards stared at her, and she stared back. In an instant the entire room became a chaotic scramble as their hands darted to their belts where gleaming pokeballs and tools to subdue her awaited. Some scrambled towards her with batons raised, others dashed and stumbled. Lillie's hand slapped at the console again – only for her hand to pass through open air as she realized she was so nervous she had thought herself a step closer than she was.

Her hands grabbed at the console, furiously tapping at the big red button on the screen that read, "2ND FLOOR - CONSERVATION ROOM" while casting panicked glances behind her. They were sprinting, hands outreached for her. They would get her, surely, she was doomed. But the bars suddenly raised once more, the elevator began its ascent that she swore was slower this time, and watched with a jolt as a lone pokeball bounced off of the railing and fell back down below.

Her breath caught in her throat, a shudder pausing through her body as she slowly slid down the console. It was terrifying, these people that she had always seen as being there to help protect her, people who smiled and waved as she passed, complimenting the lovely outfits her mother had picked out for her every day. Now they were hunting her. Tears welled up behind her eyes, and though she tried to be brave and hold them off she felt the burn in her cheeks and the shakiness of her breath as fear clawed up her.

Feral.

Viscous.

Consuming.

Her hands were shaking and they wouldn't stop. It was such a strange feeling, seeing her body react against her control. Strange, and terrifying. She pulled the brim of her hat down over her eyes while her feet pushed and scraped against the floor, the feeling of saliva welling up in the back of her throat causing her to elicit a sort of choked gurgle. She felt sick. She couldn't hear the strange little Pokemon's chime, or anything else for that matter.

Be strong, just be strong. Just open your eyes and keep going. You can do it.

Lillie wiped her eyes despite the fact that her body was still shaking, peering up from her hat to see the floor of the conservatory above was getting ever closer. The docks weren't an option anymore, that was for certain. Perhaps she could break through the glass of the conservation room and… then what? Climb down two stories of sheer metal wall? Jump into the ocean and swim away? That was ridiculous, she'd either drown or be picked up by one of the foundation's security boats, but she would never make it to shore.

Was it a better option than being caught?

The elevator slowed to a halt once more, the ringing in her ears finally dying down as she wiped her nose and grabbed her duffel bag, prepared to make a run for the nearest window.

"Thunder Wave!"

It was the scream that alerted her; she jumped so hard and squeaked so suddenly that she slipped on the glass floor once more. A lucky thing, as she saw from where she lay on her back a torrent of crackling electricity that had been sent her way and instead crashed into the console. The screen glitched out into broken colors, but Lillie was more worried about the man who had been waiting at the foot of the elevator for her, a raichu floating at the ready beside him.

He did not wait for the bars to go down, but neither did she. Sweaty hands pushed at the floor with as much effort as she could muster, clumsily vaulting over the barricade and rushing off in the nearest direction that she could see. In the back of her head, she thought it quite lucky the bars hadn't retracted while she was hauling herself over them, as that just seemed to be the sort of thing to trip her up right about now.

And there she was, running again. Slippers along plated metal as heavy boots slapped behind her, breathing so heavy and growing exhausted so fast. Too fast. The conservatory was devoid of life; no spinarak dangling from their webs, no pikipeks peeking from the treetops to watch the commotion. It was just the hunters, and the hunted. Another cry of attack, and a burst of electricity swamped the ground where she had just been, sparks tickling the back of her legs that felt as though they had fallen asleep.

Lillie rounded a corner, her foot slipping on the floor yet again and causing her to slide painfully against the metal. She urged her body forward, feet sliding in place as she forced the friction in her shoes to work properly for once. When she glanced behind her, there were now two security personnel on her heels, each with batons in hand and the raichu floating just behind them. She wanted to cry; it just wasn't fair!

"Just leave me alone, please!" She shouted, but her words fell on deaf ears. She knew they wouldn't listen to her anymore, not for something like this. The only thing she could feel aside from her own racing heartbeat was the shaking emanating from her bag, and she knew that this poor creature was just as scared as she was, just as aware of what they faced as she was. She wished she could comfort it, but more than that she wished someone could comfort her.

Another corner, another near slip. Would her pursuers grab her before she could grab a rock? Could she even break a window if she reached one? How thick were they? Wasn't there supposed to be another elevator in the conservation room, could she find a way to circle back to it? And then what? Go where? Perhaps if she turned right at the next intersection-

Two more figures slid into view at the end of the platform, batons raised. The elevator didn't matter anymore: she was trapped. The sight of her only exit suddenly being cut off stopped her in her tracks, skidding on the floor as she paused and tried to think of what to do. Tried to calculate a way out. Tried to be smart and cunning like her mother, tried to be resourceful and determined like her brother, but she was none of those things. She was Lillie, and Lillie was a failure.

It was just as she was considering the possibility of leaping into the dense trees of the conservation grounds that the raichu's electricity paralyzed her, and her body went rigid with contractions that spasemed throughout her muscles. She couldn't even cry out as she hit the floor, her body jerked beyond her control as every muscle seized up at once. She couldn't process rational thought. Where was her breath? Why wasn't she breathing? Why was her heartbeat so loud? Was she going to die?

Just as fast as it happened, everything seemed to return to normal. Her thoughts returned, her muscles released, and she could feel her blood properly flow through her entire body with unnatural warmth. She was sore, more so than she had ever been before, and it all just hurt so bad. Her mind caught up with the present, and with shaking hands she pulled the duffel bag closer to her. She barely even processed why, just that she had to keep the bag safe. Safe from them. Safe from her.

Hands, firm and gloved, grabbed at her shoulders and tried to pry her from the bag, but they could not. Whether it was her own stubbornness or simply her own muscles refusing to respond still, she wasn't sure. All she was sure of was that she had to keep the bag safe.

"Miss, release the bag! Hey, release the bag now!" The voice yelled out beside her ear, but she shook her head.

"No, get away! GET AWAY!" She cried out, trying to keep whoever it was from pressing down so hard on her, and she felt her foot connect with something as the pressure against her arms finally released. When she opened her eyes she saw the hunched over figure of the guard who had been chasing her, clutching between his legs. An instant wave of regret washed over her, but it was just as quickly squashed as she saw the shadow of the third guard behind her, her head leaned back just in time to see the flash of electricity as the baton connected with her forehead.

Another flash of seizing shocks that coursed through her muscles, though now accompanied with the blinding pain of the metal smashing against her and she couldn't keep her voice from crying out. Another hit, another jolt, another scream. Hit. Jolt. Scream.

I don't want this anymore, I-I want my brother…

"Hale, she's just a kid- stop whacking her for God's sake!" One voice called from beside her.

I want mother, I want father, I want… someone. Anyone…

"I'll stop when she drops the damn bag!" Another voice shouted, and Lillie felt everything in her begin to go slack. She couldn't move any more, couldn't see, couldn't think as her arms finally loosened from her duffel bag. She was not a hero, she was not a savior, it was as she had always been told. She was just a little girl, and little girls needed to be polite and beautiful. Not bleeding and gasping for air.

She wondered if the little creature would hate her too, for her failure.

If Lillie hadn't been so close to unconsciousness, she might've known that now nobody was trying to smack her with batons. Nobody was sending their pokemon after her, nobody was wrestling her against the floor, everyone was far too preoccupied with the radiance that had begun to seep out from the opened bag like the glow of a precious gemstone in a cave. It was a hazy but sharp sort of glow, as though an entire aurora was contained within the one little bag.

If Lillie hadn't been so close to unconsciousness, she might've seen the way her pursuers backed away from her as the glow grew brighter. She might've seen the uncertainty in their eyes as they all called out their pokemon, as a wave of cosmic energy engulfed her like a bubble and began to grow like the wakes of a tidal wave.

But she didn't. Her little body gave out just after the enormous sphere rocketed skyward, the sound of hundreds of window panes shattering and cascading into the conservatory far below, as she soared ever upward. Far from the bright artificial lights of the foundation, far from the reach of her mother, and far from the world that she knew.

As her mind drifted away at last into slumber, she glanced through the burst of colors and shimmering waves of energy to the millions of stars that twinkled in the dark beyond. There, hanging brightly over the flickering lights, was the sight of the bright full moon sitting high in the sky. Something in the far reaches of her mind hoped that it would watch her, that it would keep her safe in whatever way that only a floating rock in the far depths of space could. She might've even called it a prayer.

And then she knew no more.

BZZRT!

A young girl leaned against the armrest of her seat, her reflection in the darkened blank screen of her laptop giving her a quizzical stare. She leaned forward, sticking out her tongue as she concentrated on clicking around the screen, tapping keys, all to no avail. The video feed had gone dead. She sat back in the comfy first class chair, let out a small "Huh." of acceptance, and popped a peanut into her mouth. She raised her head up ever so slightly to peer above the rows upon rows of seats ahead of her, but when she saw nobody else sharing the universal look of confusion she simply shrugged.

Nothing to do about it but wait, right?

At first she passed the time by staring at other passengers and trying to imagine what they did for a living, but everyone around her looked like boring old tourists. She tapped at her keyboard a few times, patted her knees listlessly, and even tried to think of a song she could put to music when she got off the plane, but her surroundings weren't exactly inspiring.

"Going… to Alola, and I'm gonna see my mom." She mumbled, trying to find a melody. "Cause I miss her, aaaand I wish she could try the peanuts that I got… huh." She was going to go platinum with this one. "Uh, still on this plane, and people are staring because of my song. I've got a hunch, the passengers would love to launch… me out of the window…"

That was enough singing for one plane trip.

It was as she was pouring her soda into the little plastic cup the stewardess had given her that the screen blipped back to life, and she finally saw a face sharing her confusion as it peered out at her in assessment before beaming brighter than the sun itself. She stuck her headphones back in, pulling them from the tangle that had formed around her jacket sleeve.

"Ah, there it is! Still there, cousin?" Professor Kukui asked. The girl smiled, leaning back into view as the professor gave her a friendly wave of greeting. She returned it as he adjusted the camera a smidge and, finally seeming satisfied, took a step back from the camera. Behind him was the blurry backdrop of what looked to be his lab, the glow of moonlight slipping in from a sunroof just behind him.

"Alright, think we're good! Sorry about that, had some crazy power outage a few minutes ago that rebooted everything. Even the lab's backup generator wasn't kicking in for a second there, had me a bit worried…" The professor paused and scratched at his chin, as if curiously wondering the effect such a thing could have, before shrugging and beaming back at the camera. "Take it you're enjoying your flight?"

The girl nodded, raising her soda in view as confirmation. They had even put the little paper parasol in; a nice garnish, if not a little cheesy considering where she was headed.

"Ah yeah, live it up! Once we get you down here, that overpriced airplane stuff ain't gonna compare to the kau-kau we fill you with." He laughed, holding up a bottle of water as comparison. "Can't beat the original stuff."

"Maybe, but then again I'm not having to pay for this, and the best things in life are free, right?" The girl asked, stirring her drink with the tiny umbrella. Professor Kukui seemed to think on that for a second, shrugging and taking a long swig of the water.

"You got me there. Speaking of the best things in life – saved data! Did everything carry over, or did my little blackout mean we gotta start from scratch?" He asked. At this she leaned forward and moved the mouse cursor over to the other tab, where all of the info for her Kanto Trainer's Passport was stored. It turned out a trainer passport and identification card were one in the same in Alola; even if she never trained a Pokemon, it would still be incredibly handy.

She scrolled through the page and gave her camera a thumbs up. "All good here."

When she changed the tab back to the call, the professor was scratching his head again. "Ahh, minamina. Everything I had down is gone, looks like. So it goes, eh? Since you've still got everything up on your side, just rapid fire it out to me and I'll fill it in, yeah?" He gave another few clicks offscreen, and started. "Alright, full name please."

"Sure I can't change it? It'd be nice to use my birth name."

"It's gotta be exactly what's your Kantoan one, cuz."

"Aaaah, fine. Alright, It's still 'Moon Kanoa'. No middle name!"

Professor Kukui typed into his keyboard, bobbing his head to an invisible beat. She watched him spell it out letter by letter before responding with, "I'd be worried if that one had changed. Sex?"

"Female."

"Age?"

"Fourteen."

"Blood type?"

"Is that one really necessary? I thought that was just a Kantoan thing."

"Trust me," Professor Kukui assured, "you'll be thankful if you get cut by a lurantis and the docs need to know what kind of blood you're losing. I say this from experience."

This went on for a good several minutes, with Moon reciting all of the boring and tedious information that had to be available on one's Trainer Passport, but it was a necessary evil she decided. Finally the professor gave a final look over his side of the screen and nodded his head. The hard part, at least, was over. He clicked a few more times before turning back to the screen, a copy of her new Trainer Passport covering his face.

"Alright, so your mom told me to just use your old Kantoan Passport picture, but I thought a young girl like you might want an updated picture. Got one you want?"

Moon leaned forward and peered at the old picture of herself on the screen; she couldn't have been older than ten with that haircut, and she was almost positive she didn't even fit that old shirt anymore. With a few clicks of her own, she brought the camera on her laptop up and relaxed in her seat as she gave it a big smile. The digital camera shuttered, and the photograph of a healthy young girl with bright blue eyes, a mess of dark waves and loose curls that fell down to her chin, and a goofy smile, grinned back at her.`

Looked good to her.

"Nani, cousin." The professor said once she had forwarded the selfie over. It took her a good couple of seconds to remember that he was speaking Alolan, and not Kantoan. "That about does it. I'll get this printed off for you, and I'll be meeting you with your mom at the airport in a few hours. It may be late for you now, but it'll be morning by the time you hit that Alolan timezone, so get some rest!"

Moon smiled and gave a nod, as well as a little farewell wave. "Alright, see you soon professor. And thanks again, really. From both me and my mom."

Professor Kukui said nothing, but he smiled and gave a farewell salute with his fingers right before the video call cut out, and Moon was left alone once more on a flight by herself. Stuck in an airplane with a bunch of tourists who were either fast asleep, or complaining about the level of comfort in their seats to the nearest stewardess, might not have been the most exciting start of a new life, but to Moon that's what made it so special. This was the warm-up act, the prelude to the upcoming chorus that would soon take fold.

With that, Moon made sure her earphones were in snug, clicked open the music library on her laptop, and leaned her head against the window. She pulled it open just a smidge so as to not disturb the other passengers around her, looking down at remnants of the ocean. The sun had already set and left in its wake a gleam of orange that laid across the horizon, fading into lighter and then darker hues, until the sky above them was just as dark and never-ending as the inky blackness below.

This, Moon thought to herself as she settled in, was the orchestral interlude of her life. The ending of one song, and the start of another. Those would make good lyrics, the more she thought about it. She might have to write them down. How on earth could she be expected to sleep when the rest of her life was waiting right before her? The fact that her actual music kicked in at this exact moment, was just the tiniest bit poetic to her.

When the plane landed in the Hau'oli City International Airport eight hours later, it was a very groggy Moon that stepped out from the gate into the terminal where clusters of tourists and travelers like herself were congregating. When she had left Kanto, it had been 5:00 P.M. on a Tuesday. The digital clock hanging over a bar told her it was now 6:30 A.M. And still Tuesday. Which meant that the time difference was only five hours, plus a day. So it was closer to nineteen hours, right?

Moon groaned and clutched her head. Her internal clock was definitely on the fritz, and she couldn't tell if she wanted breakfast, dinner, or a trash can. Suddenly all those Dr. Pellipers and peanuts didn't seem like such a good idea, and she found herself trying to quickly present her Kantoan passport to the immigration center so she could find a bathroom.

After retrieving her carry-on from the baggage claim, marked by an unnecessary amount of hand-placed stickers, she made her way towards customs. Customs, like most other processes in airports, was tedious and felt purposefully obtrusive to everyone involved as bags, pokeballs, pokemon, and pockets were searched either incredibly meticulously, or hardly at all. It made Moon appreciate that her mom had already gotten their more personal belongings and everything else transported over before her arrival.

Finally, the airport opened into the arrivals hall, and it was there that Moon saw her mother standing amongst the crowd, waving her hands from afar. Moon smiled, slipping between other reuniting friends and families to grapple her mother into a hug that would make a bewear proud. Two weeks was too long to go without the familiar comfort of one who had practically raised her alone, and if the gentle swaying of shoulders was anything to go by, her mother felt exactly the same.

Given the circumstances, Moon could not find it in her heart to blame her.

To others, her mom would probably exude a calm and relaxed energy that had neighborhood kids labeling her the 'cool mom'. She had a seemingly permanent tan that left her skin the color of barley corn from her youthful years in Alola, and even when the two of them had moved to Kanto, she had never tried to hide her heritage or the laid-back nature that came with such an upbringing. The kids at Moon's old school had flat out admitted they were jealous of her for having a mom who didn't yell or shame them.

To Moon, her mom was just Mom. The other kids didn't see the way her hair had faded from the color of chestnuts to cocoa over the years. They didn't see the way she would stand out against their apartment building and look for stars on clear nights, or hear the secret longing in her voice when she'd sing the songs of her people and thought nobody was around, compared to the gentle lullabies in which she had put Moon to sleep with. Nobody saw her mom like she did, and she was pretty certain nobody saw her quite the same way as her mother did either..

At least here, the blouse and flowered wrap skirt fit in better. Her mother lifted her sunglasses, pushing back her hair and revealing the same set of blue eyes that Moon kept in her own head, and smiled down at her.

"Welcome home, Mahina." Her mother greeted, and her words were like the first blast of cool air after a hot sticky day. Moon tried to hide her smile and failed; nobody had called her by her birth name except for her mom. She could tell her mother was feeling sentimental, she always used her birth name when she was. "How was your flight? Did it go okay, any turbulence?"

Moon giggled as her cheeks were smooshed, gently pushing her mother away. "I'm fine, Mom! Really, I think I ate too many bags of peanuts and made myself sick but like, that's normal for me." At this she saw the lighthearted worrying in her mother's eyes turn to concern.

"Do you feel alright?" Her mother asked quietly, and Moon knew she had slipped up. She took her mother's wrists and gently lowered them from where they had been holding her cheeks. She met her mother's eyes.

"I'm fine, Mom. Really." She said with as much earnestness as she could muster. She knew her mother was just being protective, caring for her well-being as any mother would, but she didn't want this to become something out of nothing, not here. This was her first day back in her birth region after all. "I may have stayed up the whole flight though, and now my sense of time is like, super out of whack."

Her mother's smile came back at that, washing the woes of worry away as she squeezed Moon's shoulder and nodded towards the sliding glass door. The light outside was already bright and sunny despite how early it was, something that was bound to do wonders to Moon's already disoriented perception of time. She tried and failed to hold back a grimace as they stepped outside, and the glare of the sun welcomed her to Alola in the only way it knew how: by blinding her.

Looking away and shielding her eyes, Moon squinted through the colors and shapes of the various cars lined up at the drop-off. When her eyes finally stopped seeing spots, she looked out at the parking lot and saw Alola before her for the first time in years. Immediately her eyes were alight with foliage, from the swaying palms surrounding the airport to the drooping pudding-pipe trees that lined the street across from her.

If she listened above the thrall of cars and planes taking off, she was sure she could hear the gentle crashing of the ocean behind her. The sound of traffic on the freeway before her, the cry of wingull in the distance as a warm breeze blew through her hair, even the far off roar of another plane taking off for distant horizons; they were all a far cry from the subdued lifestyle of Kanto.

Kanto was so quiet the silence was loud. Alola was loud, but the noise itself was a peaceful lull.

Parked just down the street behind a taxi sat a rust red pickup truck with a pair of tauros horns attached to the front of the hood. In the driver's seat was a man bronzed by years spent in the sun, his toned physique evident from the open lab-coat that he wore without so much as a tank top beneath it. His hair was pulled into a bun beneath a snapback bearing the region's flag, and a pair of sporty sunglasses that reflected the sun's glare as he turned to look at her. Connected to his glasses, Moon thought she saw some kind of earpiece.

"Alola, Cousin!" Professor Kukui greeted, raising his hands over his head and spreading them out to his side. "Welcome to Melemele! How's that jet-lag treating you, huh?" He smirked, leaning back in the driver's seat. Moon had just yawned, and was approaching the truck with a look of surprise and awe that she couldn't hide. Her hand ran over the hood, the morning sun having already heated the metal of the car.

"Heya Professor. Is this… dad's truck?" She asked, looking back to her mom. Her mother walked behind her, nodding with a small smile as she opened the passenger side door.

"Sure is. I sold it to Kukui back when we moved to Kanto since ferrying it over would've been more trouble than it was worth." She explained as she slid in. Moon was still staring at the old truck, trying to remember what it had been like to ride in it as a kid. Funnily enough, the memories were too blurry for anything specific, but she always remembered the truck. "Go on and put your stuff in the back and hop into the bed, there's not enough room for us all otherwise."

"Is that even legal?" Moon asked, slinging her bag into the back and climbing atop the wheel to scramble in. There was a distinct lack of seatbelts. From the driver's seat, the professor laughed, pulling the rear window open for them to hear one another.

"Sure it is! Well, so long as we don't go over twenty-five, but don't worry kiddo. I'm going to give you a little tour of Hau'oli before we drop you off, no freeways required." He adjusted the mirror, flashing a grin at Moon, and soon the engine roared to life as they slowly but steadily pulled out of the drop-off, and Moon had to grab the side to stop herself from lurching slightly. "Just uh, you know, feel free to duck down if you see any police cars."

From the passenger seat, her mother rolled her eyes. "Kukui has kindly offered to drive us around when he's able until I can get my license, which shouldn't be more than a few days. Even sold the truck back to us at a good price." The wind was whipping through Moon now as they gently sped down the street, and just ahead of them Moon could make out the buildings and skyscrapers of what could only be Hau'oli City. Her new home. She wondered if they would be in the same house from when she was little. Somehow, it had never come up amongst bigger concerns.

Professor Kukui glanced at Moon through the rearview mirror, giving her a knowing smile. "That's O'hana at its finest. We look out for our own in Alola, and even if we didn't your mom was a good friend to me and my wife when we were younger. Helped us when times were tough, gave us a place to go while we were getting our degrees." Her mother chuckled at that, looking off in what was obviously nostalgia as the professor reached into his lab coat and pulled out a small booklet, passing it through the window. "Plus, I had to give you this."

Moon reached back and grabbed the booklet, noticing the rather official leatherbound cover along with silver stitching that read, "Trainer Passport" on the front. She smiled, flipping it open and seeing her own goofy stare look back at her. If she ever had a pokemon, at least she'd be a legal trainer.

"Thanks, Professor." Moon said, slipping it into her own jacket. It was as she was doing that she realized just how sweaty she already was despite the early time, and began sliding out of her jacket so that she could stuff it under her legs. Her mother glanced back at her, and a scoff emanated from the passenger sheet.

"A jacket, Moon? And a dark polo- you do realize we're on a tropical island, right?" Her mother asked, shaking her head. Moon huffed.

"Hey, hey, it's borderline still winter in Kanto! Not to mention the plane had the AC on blast-"

"Pretty sure they let you turn those off."

"- and you took all my summer clothes when you moved all our stuff down here." Moon countered pointedly. Her mother just smiled and reached a hand out of the back window, and Moon took it with a gentle squeeze. She had missed this to a degree, the banter, the jokes. Professor Kukui chuckled as he flipped on his blinker; they were pulling into the main streets of Hau'oli City now.

"Well, good thing you're getting a tour then, huh? I just happen to know a good couple of boutiques around here, mostly because my wife loves them to death" As if to emphasize this he pointed at a clothing store sitting beside what looked to be some kind of tourism center, as well as a salon, several restaurants, and even a mall that towered high above the other buildings like some sort of capitalistic monument. "I'm sure my wife won't mind taking you to one if you need some clothes ASAP though."

"I should have my license by then, but thank you both, truly." Her mother interjected, clearly not wanting to put a burden on two people with their own lives. Moon knew that feeling pretty well. But the professor just smiled and waved her off, clearly not having any of it. Their drive into the city was slowed somewhat by traffic, something that the professor said was always in abundance, ("Well, so it goes. We'll just get there Alolan time!") but Moon didn't mind. It just made her want to fall asleep while basking in the Alolan sun.

Hau'oli City wasn't so big as it was long, as Moon came to realize the more they traveled. The city followed the coastline, stretching along the water like a nervous friend too scared to venture far on their own. Everything was close together, from the schools, to the clinics, to the pokemon centers, and beyond. It reminded her a lot of the denser cities of Kanto, like Saffron City, but there were key differences.

The first thing she noticed was the smell of flowers when they stopped in traffic; it almost seemed cliched to think so, but there was no denying the deep aroma of the various flora around the island even this deep into the city. The second thing was the sounds. There were the sounds of cars, and bells, and voices, all around and every which way just like in Kanto, but there were two stark differences here. You could almost always hear the ocean, and you could always hear music.

They had just passed some sort of dessert shop when Moon heard it playing from a band outside of a restaurant, the sounds of a slack-key guitar, a pahu, and the light plucks of a ukulele drifting her way through the traffic. Her face lit up, brighter than it had since she had arrived, and she reached into her suitcase and pulled out the item that took up the book of the space inside: a single wooden ukulele that was just waiting for her

It wasn't exactly a special ukulele, it hadn't been passed down or anything of that nature, and in fact had merely been won in a raffle Moon had participated in when she was younger. Its body was thin and battered from age and use, and had been made with the motifs of the Alolan symbols for the sun and moon. The sound hole and the open headstock both featured the symbol of the moon, while the neck and body had the symbol of the sun imprinted on both. Despite this, it had recently become incredibly important to Moon, and she hadn't had the chance to play it in ages.

She gave it a test strum, grimaced, and twisted one of the turners. Another strum. Perfect! She could feel herself working into a groove as the truck pushed on down the street, and though the songs of the band faded, hers did not.

"Oooooh, somewhere, over the~" She began, but her mother had turned to face her from the passenger's seat with an audible, "Ahem." Moon glanced at her.

"Moon, dear, could we save it until we get home, please?" She asked. Her voice wasn't unkind, but merely strained. On the one hand, Moon understood that her mom probably didn't want to hear her daughter try and sing at seven in the morning. On the other hand, she hadn't played in weeks, and who knew when the subconscious drive of inspiration would find her once again?

Reluctantly, and with a very visible pout, Moon made to stuff the ukulele back into her suitcase. Professor Kukui, however, winked back at her.

"Ah, what's the harm? She's embracing that Alolan spirit pretty well if you ask me. Bit of sun and she'll look more native than me!" Although Moon and Professor Kukui shared a smile, her mother still gave a thin smile and instead twisted the dial on the old analog radio. The station indicator flickered to life, and garbled noise began to pump out of the speakers as her mother turned back to smile at her.

"Well, I'll meet you halfway, how's that sound? We'll see what's on the radio." Her mother held her hand against her hair to keep it from whipping across her face as she spoke, and turned back to tune the dial to a proper radio station.

"Kukui, what's the stations around here? I only know the Kanto ones."

"Uh, well I like 93.9 cause they have a lot of reggae, but you can try-"

The sudden sound of a badly-tuned ukulele, worse than Moon's, broke through the speaker system, dissenting into a record scratch that made everyone in the truck wince just a little bit.

"ALOLA THERE ALOLA! YOU'RE TUNED INTO 87.3 FM WITH NOAH AND THE CROBAT- crowbat- ᶜʳᵒᵇᵃᵗ…" The sound of a wingull cawing out jumped in, only to be quickly interrupted by the DJ again. "WHERE WE PLAY NOTHING BUT THOSE SWEET ISLAND VIBES, ALL DAY, EVERY DAY!" There was the sound of a coconut cracking, and what might've been hula chanting, all quickly thrown in and yanked right out again. "GIVE A LISTEN TO THIS LITTLE DITTY BY 'SALACIOUS MANGOS' CALLED-"

Moon's mother calmly and quietly turned off the radio. With a look of someone who had clearly opened a box with no lid, she turned back to Moon briefly with a strained smile.

"Never mind dear, go on ahead." She mumbled in defeat, and Moon gave a little fistpump of excitement as she pulled out her ukulele again. At that moment however a jingle and a low hum began to vibrate from the professor's coat, and he reached up to his ear and gave it a quick tap.

"Yo, this is Kukui." He answered to nobody. Moon's mother turned and gave her a stern look not unlike the one she herself had used, as if to silently warn Moon not to even think about playing while Kukui was on the phone. Moon stuck her tongue out. As if she was so tone-deaf.

"Hey hon, what's- what?" The tone change was immediate, and both Moon and her mother turned to glance over at the professor. "Auē, is she alright? Breathing?" There was a thick silence for a few seconds as the caller seemed to rapidly feed off info to him. "Alright, good, good. Make sure you tell them everything you've told me when they get there. Try to keep her head back so all her passages are clear, like with that smeargle we found last month. Get her out of the sun – ah, right, yeah, don't move her just in case. Get that uh, the umbrella we have out back."

Another few seconds of silence that seemed to stretch on for ages; the curiosity and suspense was enough to make Moon want to tap her feet but it seemed wrong to even take a breath amidst something that sounded so serious. Professor Kukui nodded a few times, and Moon could see the change in his posture as he leaned forward towards the steering wheel. His eyes were flickering back and forth now, studying the traffic signs and roads with precision and purpose.

Moon could see through the window that the speedometer on the dashboard was clicking on thirty. It appeared getting there "Alolan time" wouldn't quite cut it anymore.

"Alright. Uh-huh. Yeah, I'm just getting out of the main street of Hau'oli now. Be there in just a few, I gotta drop off Leilani and Moon first and then I'll be right there." He smiled briefly as they turned through a long road that led into the more residential areas, with colorful bungalows to their left and beachfront properties to their right, all beneath columns of swishing palms that lined the sidewalks to either side.

Professor Kukui ended his call with a low whistle and flashed Moon and her mother what he likely thought was a reassuring smile.

"Everything okay, Kukui?" Her mother ventured tentatively. Moon was leaning in with her elbow through the window, casting inquisitive glances between the two adults as they continued their drive.

"Hm? Oh, all good." Kukui answered in a tone so casual that it was a near certainty everything was not in fact, "all good". He sighed and scratched at his cap as they came to a stop at a streetlight. "I- someone washed up on the beach not far from the lab. Burnet's checking up on them now. Probably just a surfer who was trying to catch the morning waves and wiped out, yeah?" The light turned green, and they were off once more. "Sorry for ending the tour early."

Moon's mother quickly shook her head, and Moon was quick to reciprocate. "Please, you've done more than enough for us already, picking up Moon from the airport. She looks like she's going to fall asleep back there as it is, can't imagine that'd be a good first look anyhow."

"Hey, I'm-" Moon was cut off by her own yawn, stretching herself against the window as she slumped into the corner. "Okay, you got me. Not my fault you put me in the one part of the car that's called a 'bed'." There was some lighthearted chuckling from inside the truck, but the mood had certainly taken a turn with that last phone call. Part of Moon wondered who would go surfing at seven in the morning? Then she remembered where she lived now, and realized that was a pretty stupid question. She blamed it on fatigue.

Within minutes the truck was pulling up into the driveway of a bungalow with cyan colored paneling and shingles that had faded to the color of steel, and of course Moon recognized it right away. The front porch had already been decorated with a myriad of plumerias and hibiscus, no doubt her mother's doing, and from where she sat in the back of the truck Moon could see the shore just a few streets away. Not quite beachfront, but closer than most, that was for sure.

Moon hopped out with her bag, nearly buckling between the weight of her stuff and the staticy feeling in her legs from sitting so long. The passenger door opened and shut, and Moon saw her mother make her way around to say farewell to the professor. She leaned in through the window and gave him a hug around the neck, one knee raised as she did so.

"Mahalo ho'opa'a, Kukui. Once we get settled in you and Burnet come by sometime, I'll see about cooking a big pot of saimin as a thank you." She said, stepping away from the truck.

"No'u ka Hau'oli." He said simply while waving them off, giving a firm smile as he pointed to Moon. "Alright cousin, this is where we part ways for now. Let me know if you guys need any help adjusting in, and if you ever need anything, me and Burnet are just down on the beach that-a-ways. Alola, you two."

"Alola, be safe."

"Alola, Professor. Thanks again!"

With a small tip of the hat, the professor stuck his head out of the window and began to pull out of the driveway, zooming off down the street to where Moon could only assume his lab was located. She watched him go, driving away in her dad's old beat-down truck as the morning sun rose ever higher into the bright blue sky of the future. At the sound of her mother climbing the steps to their front porch, she hefted her bag over her shoulder and followed suit.

"I like him, he's like the cool uncle I always wanted instead of that racist landlord we had downstairs." Moon said as she trudged up the stairs. "You sure he can't be my new dad?"

Her mother's face stretched into mild disgust as she pulled out the keys. "Oh real nice, Moon. Aside from the fact that he's already married, you know the man is like a brother to me, right?"

"In that case, you stare at your brother's bare abs way too much." Moon stuck her tongue out at her mother, and if looks could kill she had no doubt her mother would've been committing gruesome filicide at that moment.

There was a certain feeling in her chest as she climbed the steps to her old house, but she couldn't quite put a name to it. Some strange mixture of nostalgia and anticipation as long forgotten smells from childhood tempted her with memories only she would know. A flock of pikipek flew overhead, chirping away as her mother unlocked the front door and held it open for Moon, who found herself slowly stepping inside as she remembered the familiar layout of home.

The lights flicked on, and Moon stopped just inside the foyer as she was taken back to nearly ten years prior. The same orange rug, the same tiled floor, the same kitchen layout off to the left side. It was almost exactly as she remembered it, though with more moving boxes littering the floor of course. Her mother seemed to notice her stare and stood beside her after closing the door behind them.

"Haven't had a chance to redecorate, and since it was the same furniture we originally had I just put things where I remembered them being." Her mother said, almost apologetically. As if gauging her reaction she added afterwards, "We can always do some redecorating if you want. Just give me a few weeks to get some money saved up, moving has a way of draining the bank account." The look on her mother's face shifted, and Moon knew she was about to apologize for an implication that did not exist.

"Meowth! Look at you, you fat little biscuit!" Moon suddenly gasped, spotting the bundle of cream colored fur stepping around the counter. She stepped over and swooped the feline up into her arms, letting it paw against her as she nuzzled it against her cheek. "Fat baby, fat little baby man." Her cooing was interrupted by another yawn that overtook her and their meowth took the opportunity to slip from her grasp; she had almost forgotten she had been awake for nearly eighteen hours now.

Behind her, her mother placed a hand gently on her shoulder and gave her a warm smile. "Go get some rest, Mahina. I got your bed set up nice and cozy since I figured you'd be tired after the flight." She planted a kiss on Moon's head which only caused her to yawn again, much to her mother's amusement. "I'll wake you up for dinner later, alright?"

"Sure, that sounds nice." Moon mumbled as the exhaustion hit her all at once. She wandered over to the door on the right, passing the veranda she stepped into her room for the first time in a decade. Her mom had been kind enough to set up curtains to block out the morning sun, and her bed was indeed neatly made amongst what was otherwise a maze of boxes and bags. She set her suitcase down, tossed her jacket over the top of it, and didn't even bother changing as she flopped down onto the striped blanket and was welcomed by the smell of freshly cleaned laundry.

It was a testament to how tired Moon was that her dreams made little to no sense at all. At one point she was surfing on a board that was designed to look like her father's truck, riding a wave straight towards a house on the beach that she knew to be the professor's lab. The next moment she was sitting at her desk in her old school, and all the other students kept scooting their desks closer to hers no matter how hard she tried to push herself away. Then she wasn't, she was sitting in a bed, but not her bed, staring at the dull gray ceiling that she absolutely despised, listening to the radio.

And she heard music.

Just like that she was awake, one eye peeking from the pillow as she slowly raised her head and looked around the darkened room. A small puddle of drool stained where her mouth had been, and a sense of sleep still pervading her system as she sat up and stretched. How long had she slept? The curtains were closed, but when she peeked behind the one above her bed she saw only the cooling darkness of night staring back at her.

As she swung her legs over her bed, she looked down and saw through a glint of moonlight and adjusting eyes a small note sitting atop a piece of plastic tupperware, and she had to squint hard to read the cursive lettering written on it.

Tried to wake you up, but you were out cold. Went ahead and let you sleep, but I made hotdogs if you wake up and are hungry. We will do a big dinner tomorrow night. Love you, welcome home :)

~ Mom

Moon gently placed the note aside and popped open the tupperware, the familiar smell of meat, bonito flakes, and teriyaki sauce wafting upwards as she reached in and grabbed the hotdog. Her mother had been spot on, as usual, as Moon's first bite took out half of the dog as she eagerly satisfied the sudden pit in her stomach. It was as she was in the midst of chewing that she remembered the fleeting remnants of her dream, and it came back to her like a welcome-home slap.

The music.

With half a hotdog in her mouth, Moon quietly hopped around whilst throwing her shoes on, grabbed her ukulele from her bag, a notebook, and carefully opened the door into the foyer as she peeked around for her mother. She heard her voice before she ever saw her.

"... just awful. I can't even imagine what that must be like. Her folks must be worried sick." Moon recognized her mother's voice coming in from the veranda door beside her own, and as she peeked her head out she could see her mother leaning over the railing while holding her phone horizontally in front of her. Another voice spoke, this one familiar as it came from the phone and it took a couple seconds for Moon to recognize the voice of Professor Kukui.

"Tell me about it." His voice was loud enough for Moon to clearly hear, and she could tell her mother had him on speakerphone. "Who knows how long she was out there? Honestly if Burnet hadn't been home I'm not sure how long it would've taken for someone to find her. Considering the shape she's in, I'm kinda glad it was us."

"So did she say what happened, or…?"

"Not a word. Police are thinking she might've fallen off one of the cruise ships or something, but she won't mention any family or someone we can contact for her. They think she just conked her head out in the ocean, and are checking in with all the major cruise lines that are in the area for reports of missing passengers."

Moon heard her mom make a grunt of affirmation, taking a sip of something before setting it on the railing. "And what do you think?" The tone in her voice made it clear that she already had suspicions, and that she was looking for Kukui to agree with her.

"I don't know if I'm in any way fit to make assumptions-"

"Oh bullshit, Kukui. I know you, you're not the slouch all those tabloids like to make you out to be." Her mother's tone was so casual, so different from when they talked. The sweet motherly tones weren't present here. "What do you think?" The phone was silent for a moment, as if the professor was trying to gather the courage to speak. Or perhaps, gather the right words.

"... I think she's acting exactly like some of the rescued pokemon I've got here at the lab did when we first got them. She's skittish, won't speak, and when she does it's usually an apology even though she hasn't done anything. Healthy, but way too skinny for a kid her above, she looked like she was gonna have a panic attack when we offered to get her some dry clothes."

Moon frowned, chewing on her hotdog. Something in the back of her head suggested that perhaps the washup hadn't been some latent surfer after all, but at the same time she realized this probably wasn't a conversation meant for her. Nosy as she was, this wasn't something that she needed to be privy to, and it also made for the perfect distraction. She had just crept past the open door when the next part of their conversation stopped her in her tracks.

"How's Moon doing?"

Her mother sighed, and she could imagine her staring wistfully up at the stars like she always did. "Oh, I don't know. Poor thing's still conked out in her bed, all those nights of staying up late and that flight are catching up with her." There was another pause, and the sound of glass clinking quietly against the banister. "I missed her, during those three weeks I had to move everything down here. It feels like that time with Tasogare all over again, except now I feel even less sure about what to do. For her. For me…"

"Have you two talked about it?"

Her mother scoffed. "Hardly. She doesn't like it- I mean, of course she doesn't like it. But she just… handles it differently. The more I press, the further she closes in. It wasn't like that with Tasogare, but then again, he wasn't a fourteen year old girl." Moon heard the professor chuckle dryly from the other end of the phone, and for a moment both were quiet until her mother finally spoke up again. "I have to wonder if this was all a good idea."

"You're doing the best you can, Leilani. I think Alola is really a good beginning for the both of you, in different ways, you know? I-" There was some shuffling and static from the other end, and Moon had to edge a bit closer to the window to hear. "No, down boy. We'll play later, daddy's on the phone right now. I just think that, given everything, this is a really good opportunity, especially for Moon. You know… in a couple months, the Island Trials are starting up. The kahuna's grandson is even gonna be-"

"Absolutely not."

"Lei, come on. The timing is perfect. It'll give her a chance to go out and explore, live beyond home, be a trainer. Really, truly live. You know how big of a deal this- this- it's a rite of passage."

Her mother was walking along the veranda now, and Moon could hear her pacing as she settled just on the other side of where she was hiding. Her mother was going back and forth, and could see the outline of her shaking her head against the blinds.

"I can't. No, I- what if something happens?" Her mother cut the professor off as he made to interject. "No, really think about this. What am I supposed to do if something happens to her, and she's way off on Poni or Akala? You think I want to risk that phone call? You think I want to go through this all again, but earlier than necessary? Because I really don't."

"She'll be fine, Lei. Nobody has died on a trial since our kapuna's time, what with technology advancements and the relationships between people and pokemon growing, you'd be hard pressed to find a trial-runner come back with anything more than bumps, bruises, and some newly acquired nerves of steel. Pokemon today don't-"

"She would make a wonderful trainer." Her mother responded firmly, as if it was an obvious fact." I know she would, because I know her. She's my daughter. But you know damn well it's not the pokemon that I'm worried about..."

That was officially enough of that conversation for Moon. Her mom was still distracted, and from the sounds of it would be for a good while yet. She slipped through the foyer, careful not to wake their sleeping meowth, and quietly opened the front door to the porch. She held the doorknob inwards to avoid an audible click, gently pressed her toes against each stair to avert pressure, and slipped across the lawn with all the stealth a freshly-awakened fourteen year old girl could muster, Moon snuck into the night. She could still hear her mother's conversation from the veranda.

Across one street, two yards, and a small fence did Moon cross, all while still keeping her house in sight in case her master plan of sneaking out ultimately failed. Her shoes pressed into the sand as she strolled across the beach, well deserted at this time of night as she brought herself to the edge of the shore where the water and the sand met. The stars were out tonight, beautiful and clear, with so many visible from where she sat. This far from the mainland, it was a completely different sky. Nebulas and galaxies spread before her, her own personal audience for the show she was about to play.

But, there was something she had to do first. It was necessary, because she knew if she forgot to start it here then she absolutely never would. She knew how a kid's mind worked, being one herself. Propping her ukulele against her lap, she pulled the notebook out and opened the first few pages. There were many things littered in this notebook: ideas, songs, that one tempura recipe from Kanto her friend gave her, but the one she was interested in sat at the very first page.

It really wasn't all that important, in hindsight. Maybe that was why she valued it so much, because of its mundanity. It was essentially a to-do list, not unlike the one she might've taken on a long vacation somewhere so that she could enjoy her vacation to the fullest. Only rather than being on a trip, this was now her permanent home. That meant she could cross off the first note on her to-do list.

~ Go back to Alola!

Moon smiled, took the pencil she kept tucked inside of it, and struck a line across it. There was a sort of satisfying feeling in knocking something off of her to-do list, even if it was something as regular as just going home. It was the start of it after all, the exciting parts she would get to cross off later.

Closing the notebook and setting it aside, she swapped it for her ukulele. Oh, how good it felt for it to be sitting in her lap again. There was nowhere for her to practice the ukulele in Kanto, and something told her that she'd drive her mom up a wall if she tried playing it in the house. That left the beach in the middle of the night for right now, but hey, who could ask for a better audience than the stars and her namesake floating high above her.

Besides, who was going to chastise her for playing a ukulele in Alola? If there was ever a place for it to be allowed, it was here. She had to fiddle with the tuners again, and give it more than a few practice strums, but it wasn't long before she had it right where she wanted, and after that, the rest was subject to her whims, wasn't it?

Moon looked off at the waves lapping at her feet, at the dark abyss of the sky that met with the inky pit of the sea, and at the heart of it all was the glow of the moon lighting her fingers and the strings. Just for her. No matter what her mom thought, the professor had certainly been right about one thing: Alola did have a way of making her feel alive.

She plucked a string, and then two, and soon her hands began to glide across in a steady rhythm that flowed from deep within her soul. It was as if she was playing her heart, her soul, her very life to the moon above, and in the sound of the waves that it pushed and pulled Moon could only assume it was doing the same for her.

Her fingers plucked the strings, and the song of her life began.