Fanfiction Ash and Kukui One-Shots

Chapter 21:

Kukui was not the most responsible person when it came to sleeping. He sometimes stayed up for hours reading doing research and work. He didn’t mean to stay up so late, but he so easily lost track of time. It didn’t help that he didn’t actually have a bed. Almost every night he went to his couch with every intention of sleeping at a decent time, but got distracted by one book or another. Before he knew it, two hours had passed and he could forget about getting a decent amount of sleep.

Kukui had been getting a lot better since Ash had come to live with him. He did have to be a good example for his ward, after all. He had been getting even better since Burnet had come to live with them. He didn’t think he had stayed up too late since marrying Burnet. She had always been so good at getting him to listen to her.

These past few days had been no different. Kukui didn’t remember staying up particularly late on any given night, but he still must have been pretty tired because he had found himself dozing off. He hadn’t even noticed until he felt Burnet shaking his shoulder and gently saying his name.

“Kukui, get up,” Burnet’s tone was very nearly teasing, but it was still kind and understanding. “Guess who just got back?”

Kukui had only been half awake, but when he heard her words he quickly became more alert. He sat up with a start. “Ash?”

Burnet looked at him in amusement. “Who else do you think it could be?” She smiled and held out a hand to pull him to his feet. Kukui was eager to go see Ash, as he hadn’t seen or heard from him since he’d gone off to Ula’ula Island. He would have ran off upstairs, but Burnet’s firm grip on his arm kept him where he was. “Try to be patient with Ash, alright?”

Kukui frowned slightly. He hadn’t planned on being impatient with Ash, but he knew that Burnet was probably right to be concerned. He was happy to have Ash back, far too happy to let his frustrations show. However, he knew that he still had lingering feelings of hurt about Ash not telling him directly of his plans of going to Ula’ula Island.

“You know I’ll do my best,” Kukui promised, and he meant it. Getting mad at Ash was the last thing he intended to do. He would be very disappointed in himself if he ended up letting his emotions get the best of him. He wouldn’t be surprised, but still disappointed.

Burnet smiled gently and gave Kukui a quick kiss on the cheek. “I know you will. Now, go on, go see your boy.”

Kukui felt his ears burn in slight embarrassment, but he didn’t agree against Burnet’s claim. Denying it would do absolutely no good, and Kukui knew that if he even tried she would just tease him further about it.

Instead of letting his embarrassment get the best of him, Kukui just brushed her words right off and made his way upstairs. He hadn’t seen Ash in nearly a week, and he was beyond ready to see his boy...and now Burnet has him thinking of Ash like that...great.

Kukui ran up the stairs two steps at a time. He was eager to see Ash, to hear about what he had been up to while he had been gone. If Kukui couldn’t have been with Ash to see him learn and grow for himself, he wanted to hear about all of it. It didn’t matter how seemingly insignificant Ash’s experiences were, Kukui wanted to know about it.

When Kukui got upstairs he was immediately tackled by Lycranroc, who just seemed ecstatic to be home. Kukui didn’t think he had seen Lycanroc so energetic and playful since he had evolved from Rockruff. Lycanroc wasn’t the only one of Ash’s pokémon who seemed really excited. Torracat was running around too, while Pikachu and Poipole were chasing each other around. Even Rowlet, who was always eager to take a nap, was flying around eagerly.

Ash was the only one not running around. He was just sitting happily on the couch, looking at his Z-Ring and brand new Z-Crystal. When Kukui entered the kitchen Ash looked up from his Z-Crystal, his eyes practically shining from excitement. “Hey, Professor,” Ash jumped up and rushed over to Kukui. To his surprise and pleasure, Ash greeted him with an embrace.

“Hey, Ash,” Kukui laughed as he happily returned the embrace. “How was Ula’ula Island? I’m guessing you beat the island trial?”

“Yeah, though it took some time to get there,” Ash smiled and rubbed his nose. “Kahuna Nanu really didn’t seem to want to be challenged.”

Kukui rolled his eyes. He had never met Nanu, but he had heard a lot about him from Hala and Molayne. “I could have told you that.” Kukui didn’t really blame Nanu for his reluctance. Most people wouldn’t be too happy about being forced into a leadership position that they hadn’t wanted in the first place. Nanu still did his job, he was just very picky about which challenges he accepted, which was his right as a Kahuna.

Ash may have been gone for longer than he had expected, but he had probably had an easier time than most people did with Nanu. Afterall, Ash was incredibly stubborn and wasn’t one to take no for an answer, so Nanu might accept his challenge just to get him to leave. It also likely helped that Ash was a child, as Kukui had heard that Nanu was much kinder towards children than towards adults.

“I could have told you that you would have a hard time with Nanu.” Kukui shook his head. The two of them ended their embrace and made their way back to the couch. Burnet came to join them as well.

Ash frowned slightly and tilted his head at Kakui. “Why didn’t you tell me? I spent the entire first day looking for Nanu, because when I met him I didn’t even know who he was.” Kukui would have found that amusing, as he could easily imagine Nanu being so against doing his Kahuna duties that he would send a stranger off on a wild goose chase. But he found himself getting slightly defensive about Ash’s question.

“I would have told you,” Kukui said, and he absolutely would have. “If you had told me that you were going to Ula’ula Island in the first place.” Kukui hadn’t meant to get so defensive and aggressive about his words, but Ash’s question had caught him off guard. He knew that Ash hadn’t been accusing him of anything, he was likely just a little curious and confused, but it had brought Kukui’s bitter hurt about Ash leaving back up again.

Kukui’s words must have been harsher and more accusatory than he had intended, because Ash was looking at him in startled shock, and Burnet had put a calming hand on Kukui’s arm. He took a deep breath to try to calm himself. He was hurt, but that was no excuse to lose his temper. He had to stay calm.

“What do you mean?” Ash looked at Kukui and Burnet in alarm, confusion and slight guilt clear in his eyes. “I told you...didn’t I?”

Kukui’s hands stiffened at Ash’s words. He felt Burnet take his hand and squeeze it slightly in a reassuring way. “Not exactly,” It wasn’t enough for Kukui to explain what he was feeling, but it was all he could trust himself to say without completely losing it.

Fortunately Burnet had mercy on him and decided to take over. “I was told where he were going,” Burnet smiled at Ash gently. “But think carefully, did you actually talk to Kukui about going to Ula’ula Island?”

Ash frowned and looked at Kukui. “I...I talked to you about Kahuna Nanu. You told me where I could find him.”

Kukui remembered that conversation as well, and Burnet had been told all about it. She had probably listened to Kukui talk back through the conversation dozens of times as he had tried to figure out if Ash had, indeed, mentioned going to Ula’ula Island and he just hadn’t noticed or bothered to remember. Kukui would feel ridiculous if he had let his feelings get so hurt over nothing. He still felt a little ridiculous, but at least he had a reason for it.

“But did you say that you were going to Ula’ula Island?” Burnet asked slowly, patiently.

“I...oh, wow,” Ash’s eyes widened in realization. He looked at Kukui, a look of overwhelming guilt in his eyes. “I-I guess I forgot to.”

Kukui didn’t understand why those words sent a sharp pain through his heart. He had known that it had probably just slipped Ash’s mind, so why did it hurt to hear it being confirmed? It wasn’t as though Ash had gone out of his way to not tell him. It was just a mistake, that was all. He had to get over it, because he could see the guilt in Ash’s eyes. The boy felt bad. It would just be cruel for Kukui to make Ash feel even worse just because he couldn’t get his own hurt feelings under control.

“I-I’m sorry, Professor,” Ash said quietly. Kukui didn’t know what he had wanted to hear from Ash. He didn’t want excuses, and he didn’t want apologies. What could Ash say that would make these hurt feelings go away?

“It’s…” Kukui wanted to say that it was fine, but he couldn’t make the words come out. His hesitancy to speak made Ash even more guilty and anxious, which just made Kukui feel worse.

Fortunately, Burnet decided to step in before Ash and Kukui just dug themselves deeper into the holes they had started to put themselves into. “We’ve all had a really long week. Why don’t we all get some rest? We can pick this up again later.” And Kukui knew for a fact that Burnet really did mean to discuss this again, but none of them were in a good state of mind to do it right now. They needed to take some time for themselves.

Kukui sighed and put a hand on Ash’s shoulder. “I’m glad you’re back,” Kukui smiled at Ash. It was slightly strained, but not forced. Ash laughed slightly and returned the smile with a small one of his own.

Kukui stood up and, at Burnet’s encouragement, made his way outside. Maybe a lap around the beach would help him to clear his head...or a dozen laps.

When Kukui got outside he felt the sea breeze go through his hair. It felt nice, soothing. He wasn’t looking for a comfortable feeling though, he was there to push himself. Being physically active should improve his mood, make him feel better. He just hoped that his mood would last until he had that conversation with Ash, because there was only so long that they could avoid it.

Kukui shrugged off his lab coat and took two of his pokéballs out of his pockets. If he was going to be running along the beach, it may be easier for him to do if he had his pokémon with him. “I hope you two are ready for a workout.” He let Braviary and Incineroar out of their pokéballs. “We’ve got some work to do, and we’re not going to stop until we’re done.”

Kukui didn’t care how long it took, but he wasn’t going to let Ash be so bothered about guilt. Kukui had to get himself to calm down and get over his ridiculous hurt feelings. If he couldn’t do that, at the very least he had to be enough in control that he could give the impression that he was alright. No matter how Kukui himself was feeling, he wasn’t going to let it drag Ash down. It was his responsibility to make sure that Ash was okay. He had to put Ash first, himself second. That was what it meant to be responsible for someone else.

Kukui just didn’t like how it was so much harder for him to do with Ash than with his other students. But was it because Kukui felt so much more responsible for Ash, or was it because Ash was much more likely to find himself in a situation where he might need help, but probably wouldn’t recognize it?

Kukui didn’t know, but it didn’t really matter. He would drive himself crazy if he tried to understand why Ash was the way that he was. That was probably the reason why he was still clinging to that bitter hurt from Ash leaving, because he didn’t understand why Ash hadn’t told him.

Kukui couldn’t do anything to change Ash, and even if he could he probably wouldn’t. However, he could work on keeping his own emotions and thoughts in check, and that was exactly what he planned to do.

 

Chapter 22:
Kukui ran along the shore, with Incineroar running right alongside him and Braviary flying just above the both of them. They had been going on for quite some time, and Kukui could tell that his pokémon were getting bored. Both Braviary and Incineroar had extremely high endurance and could probably continue for a long time, and they usually really enjoyed training, but this wasn't really their style.

Braviary liked new challenges. He liked to fly around while managing heavy weights, or to dodge around obstacles and attacks. Lately Kukui's and Braviary had been working on his speed, so for him to just slow down and casually fly around, it was probably really boring for him.

As for Incineroar, he was definitely not a runner, he was a brawler. Incineroar loved nothing more than to have a battle. He got a thrill out of it. Incineroar was willing to do training, as he knew that he wouldn't be that good of a battle royaler if he didn't have the discipline to train. He just didn't enjoy training that wasn't battling.

Kukui felt bad about making his pokémon do something that they clearly didn't like doing, but he himself wasn't quite ready to stop. He didn't know how long they had been running for, but he didn't feel any better than when he had first started. Kukui didn't want to go home until he had cooled down enough to be completely sure that he wouldn't do or say anything that he might regret.

Kukui had hoped that running would help him, but it didn't seem like it was working for either him or his pokémon. After running for a bit more, Kukui slowed down to a stop. He sat down on a rock right at the edge of the ocean. When the waves hit the rock, Kukui was splashed by stray water and sea spray. It wasn't enough to really soak him, but it felt refreshing and cool. Maybe he would stay here for a bit, just sit and watch the ocean.

Braviary landed on the rock next to Kukui and began to preen his feathers. Incineroar, being a fire type pokémon, had no interest in getting wet at all. Kukui liked to spend relaxing time with his pokémon, doing something other than training, but he knew that Incineroar wouldn't feel relaxed about sitting near the ocean, so he decided to return Incineroar to his pokéball. Kukui would have to make it up to Incineroar later. They would spend some one on one time together, doing something that Incineroar enjoyed.

Kukui closed his eyes and just let the ocean air wash over him. It was incredibly relaxing. Kukui began to think that he had made the wrong decision to run to calm down. Sometimes Kukui was able to physically work his frustrations away, which was what he had been going for. Other times though, Kukui calmed down by putting himself in a relaxing place where his worries would just wash away. Apparently that was what he should have done in the first place. It was just hard to tell what situation would call for which method of cooling down.

Kukui spent a fair amount of time sitting on the rock, just enjoying the calming environment around him and Braviary's company. Kukui had nearly gotten to the point of relaxed where he would feel good about returning home when he was forced to face his hurt feelings head on.

"Hey, Professor!" Kukui opened his eyes and turned to see Ash running towards him, with all of his pokémon right at his feet. "What are you doing out here?"

Kukui took a deep breath. He didn't feel ready to talk to Ash, but he had no idea when he would be ready. And if Ash was ready to talk, if Kukui pushed him away then Ash might close himself off. If Ash wanted to talk, then Kukui would push himself past his own comfort zone and talk.

"I'm just sitting," Kukui scooted over, making room on the rock. "Do you want to join me?"

Ash smiled and sat on the rock right next to Kukui. "Yeah, sure," Ash and Kukui sat in silence for a few minutes. Kukui was tense at first, because while he knew he couldn't avoid this conversation, he wasn't quite ready to have it yet. However, when Ash didn't say anything for a few minutes, Kukui gradually began to relax. He knew that they wouldn't be able to avoid the conversation forever, but Kukui felt better about having it because at least now it wasn't exactly sprung up on him. He knew that it was coming, and he could continue to mentally prepare himself for it.

As the minutes passed Kukui began to wonder if Ash was waiting for him to say something. Before he could even think about what he could possibly say, Ash shifted in that way that children did when they had something they wanted to say. Kukui waited for a moment, and before too long Ash opened up to him.

"You know, Professor, growing up it always used to just be me and my mom." Ash said. "She's fine with me being away from home, but she's still really protective of me. She likes to know where I am, what I'm doing, and who I'm with. I just forget sometimes that not everybody gets worried the same way that she does."

"Ash..." Kukui began, but he didn't know what else he wanted to say. He just trailed off and listened as Ash continued.

"I remember when I was really little my mom didn't want me to go anywhere without her. She wouldn't even let me talk to the neighbors unless I was holding her hand. It was really annoying." Ash laughed slightly. Apparently he had grown up enough that he could find amusement in his previous embarrassment.

"When I got a little older, she relaxed a little bit. Mom would let me visit my friends all by myself. I guess she wasn't too worried because Pallet Town is so small," Ash rubbed his nose and leaned back. "She still liked to know where I was, but sometimes I would be playing outside in the yard, and one of my friends would join me. We would play in our yard for a bit, and then decide to take the game somewhere else. When this happened, I forgot to tell my mom before going. She got really mad at me the first few times it happened, but after that she just kind started to expect it I guess."

Kukui didn't know exactly where Ash was going with this, but he kept quiet and let him finish. "When Mom stopped getting mad at me for not always going to her for permission for everything, I started to not worry about it as much. I'm pretty sure I went on a few sleepovers without telling my mom about them, and she never got mad at me for it. Even when I didn't tell her where I was, she knew me, she knew what I was in the habit of doing, and she trusted me to be safe."

Kukui grimaced. He felt like he was being scolded for being too paranoid. If Ash's mother could calm down and trust him to keep himself safe, then Kukui should be able to do the same thing.

"The thing is, Alola isn't Pallet Town," Ash smiled up at Kukui. "And you aren't my mom. You get worried about different things, and you react in different ways. I mean, my mom probably would be just fine with me going to Ula'ula Island, even if I maybe forgot to mention it to her. But if she even suspected that I would be going into an Ultra Wormhole, with or without her, she would absolutely freak out and ground me for the rest of my life. You knew why I had to go into the Ultra Wormhole, but obviously you aren't very happy that I went to Ula'ula Island without telling you."

"I promise, I'll try even harder to tell you when I'm going somewhere," Ash promised, and he looked sincere. "I mean, with my mom I would try to tell her anyways, but if I forgot, it wasn't that big of a deal. If I forget to tell you though, I guess it kinda is a really big deal."

"I probably overreacted," Kukui chuckled at himself. He had gotten himself so emotionally worked up all week because of a brief lack of judgement on Ash's part.

"Yeah, but everyone does sometimes," Ash reminded him. He was being far more mature about this whole conversation than Kukui thought he would ever be. It was a little embarrassing, but at least one of them was able to tackle the potential hurt feelings head on instead of just pretending that they weren't there in the first place.

Kukui wished that he could do that more often. He didn't get emotionally troubled a lot, but when he did his go-to solution was to hide from his problems and hope that they just went away. He had never really been able to figure out how to just face that kind of thing, not like Ash could at least.

That was something that Kukui would have to work on improving in the future. He knew that it would take effort, but that was to be expected, and was probably worth it. And if Ash could promise to make more of an effort to tell him when he was running off, Kukui could surely work on not getting so hurt if Ash did so happen to forget to tell him. It was only fair, and it would probably make things a lot easier for the both of them in the future.

 

Chapter 23:
Kukui stared blankly up at the ceiling. He didn't know how late or early it was, but he wouldn't be surprised to learn that it was morning, or almost so. He and his students had stayed up late the night before, and Kukui had known from the start that none of them would be getting a whole lot of sleep. It was why they wouldn't be going home from Ula'ula Island until much later in the day. They wouldn't have to be in a rush.

Kukui knew that he should be getting some sleep, that Burnet would probably be disappointed if she knew that he had stayed up all night, but it wasn't just because of his own carelessness this time. Kukui had stayed awake for a reason. They had all stayed up later than usual in the first place to watch the Minior shower. After what the kids had learned last night, Kukui had wanted to be awake just incase one of his kids had felt the need to just talk things through. He would never be able to forgive himself if one of them needed his help, and he'd slept through it.

They'd had a group chat after they had watched the Minior shower. It had been very bitter sweet. All of the kids had been upset after seeing the Miniors disappear, but they'd all expressed their distress in different ways. Some of them had seemed to feel better after talking things through, like Sophocles and Mallow. Lillie and Lana had both been more subdued with their emotions, but in their own ways they'd opened up to their friends. Kiawe and Ash, who were more used to putting the needs of others above their own, had provided their friends with emotional support and comfort, though Kukui had been relieved to see that neither of them had held back their own feelings in the process. This was something that he would have to work on for himself.

All of Kukui's students were handling this whole situation much better than he thought they might, and he was incredibly proud of them because of it. Still, just because they had all benefited from comforting each other didn't mean that none of them would need a little bit of one-on-one reassurances, and that was why Kukui had been awake, just in case any of them had needed him.

So far, the night had been quiet. None of his students came to see him, and if they hadn't come yet they probably wouldn't come at all. If he was lucky, they were all sound asleep. If he was smart he'd be doing the same thing. It had been long enough that even if his students wanted to talk, they would probably be calm enough to wake him up about it. But Kukui had already been up this long, it felt like there would be little point in sleeping now.

Kukui sat up and winced as he felt his bones crack from stiffness. Kukui may be used to sleeping on couches, but Molayne's wasn't nearly as comfortable as his own were. Molayne had gotten his couches for sitting, not for sleeping. Kukui stood up and stretched before he grabbed his lab coat and threw it on. He didn't know what time it was, but he didn't see a problem with taking an early morning walk...or pre-morning walk, depending on just what time it was.

The observatory was dark, but not so dark that Kukui couldn't see his surroundings. He could see his way well enough to make his way into the room where the kids were sleeping. Kukui just meant to check up on them, to make sure they were all okay. They all seemed to be sound asleep...well, almost all of them. Kukui was quick to notice that Ash wasn't in bed. Most of his pokémon were there, but the boy was most definitely missing. Kukui scratched the back of his neck. Why was he not surprised about this? Better yet, why wasn't he worried about it?

Kukui felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Molayne standing there, a calm, gentle smile on his face, which was pretty normal for him. Molayne gestured outside, and Kukui was nearly certain that he knew just what the gesture was for. Ash was out there.

"Thanks," Kukui whispered so quietly that it was barely audible. He didn't want to wake up any of his other students. Kukui left Molayne behind with the other didn't know what Ash was doing out there, but it just wasn't like him to wake up in the odd hours of the night/morning to go for a spontaneous stroll. If Ash was up and about, it was for a reason.

Kukui stepped outside and was hit by a sudden chill of cold air. Kukui shivered and put his hands in his pockets. He hadn't noticed the chill late last night, but it was definitely a lot colder now in the pre-dawn hours. Not cold enough for him to want to put a shirt on, or even close up his jacket, but cold enough to be a bit of a shock.

Kukui saw Ash sitting on the ground close to the railing that overlooked the hills. Pikachu was curled up next to him and seemed to be sleeping soundly. As Kukui walked closer to Ash he could see that he was holding Poipole in his arms, stroking its head gently.

"You're up early," Kukui commented. Ash started and looked up at him.

"Oh, hey, Professor," Ash greeted him with a smile that was smaller than he was used to seeing from the boy, but at least it looked like it was sincere and not forced. "I actually didn't get a lot of sleep last night. Poipole woke up awhile ago super upset, so I brought it out here to keep it company."

Kukui felt a small pang in his chest. "How is Poipole doing?" The strange pokémon had seemed the most upset of all of them about the Minior. Kukui didn't know for sure if Poipole truly understood that Minior was gone, and it wasn't going to come back.

"I think Poipole's doing okay now," Ash said quietly as he looked down at the sleeping pokémon on his lap. "It stopped crying a little bit ago, and fell asleep a little after that. I'm just glad that Poipole didn't try to fly off into space to look for his friend."

Kukui sighed and sat next to Ash. At least it seemed like Poipole understood that its friend hadn't just gone away for a bit. That would make things easier in the long run. "When we get back to Melemele Island, maybe you could see if Torracat would be willing to spend some quiet time with Poipole," Kukui suggested. Afterall, Torracat had been through a similar experience, and knew what it was like to lose a friend. Kukui knew that not everybody dealt with loss in the same way, but he thought that maybe Torracat would be able to sympathize with Poipole and have an idea on how to make it feel better.

Ash smiled and pet Poipole slightly. "That's actually a great idea. Torracat seems like he's doing really good, but I think he might like the chance, to, I don't know, be not okay?" Ash's words trailed off into more of a question than he had probably intended. "Sorry, that doesn't make any sense."

Kukui chuckled. "It makes more sense than you'd think." Even years after somebody had finished their grieving, when it seemed like the healing was done, it could still be really therapeutic to go back and revisit some memories that might have been held back because of the pain. It was great that Torracat was no longer grieving Stoutland's death, but Kukui didn't want Torracat to completely forget about his old friend. Memories may be painful, but that didn't mean that they were necessarily bad.

Ash was silent for a few minutes. Kukui didn't have very many calm, quiet moments with Ash, so he cherished the time while he had it. They just sat and watched as the sky began to light up as the sun slowly began to rise in the horizon. After awhile Kukui noticed a strange look in Ash's eyes. Kukui had become all too familiar with that look.

"You have something on your mind?" Kukui asked. Ash blinked and looked up at him, a small frown on his face.

"I was just wondering about something," Ash said quietly. "Did you know what would happen to the Minior the whole time?"

Kukui closed his eyes. Ash didn't sound upset, like he was accusing him of something, he was just asking a genuine question, and Kukui couldn't blame him for it. "Yes, I knew about it,"

"Why did you let us make friends with a Minior when you knew that it would be gone soon?" Ash was still just being genuinely curious. Still, Kukui couldn't help but let a shred of doubt creep into the back of his mind, that letting the kids befriend a pokémon that he knew would be gone soon, was just a step too far.

"Do you wish I hadn't let you make friends with Minior?" Kukui asked. Ash's eyes widened in alarm.

"What? No, that's not it," Ash said almost desperately. "We had so much fun with Minior, I was just wondering, I guess."

Kukui sighed in relief. Ash wasn't mad at him. "I thought about not letting you kids get close to Minior," Kukui admitted honestly. "But I couldn't bring myself to do it. Friends are just about the best kind of relationship you can find in this life. I didn't want to keep that from you."

"Even if it wouldn't last long?" Ash asked.

"Friendships don't have to last for a long time to be powerful," Kukui pointed out. "It can be scary to start a relationship that you know won't last very long, but I think you'll just both miss out on something incredible if you let that be the thing to stop you."

"Yeah, I guess so," Ash smiled. "I mean, when you think about it, nobody knows how long any relationships will last. There's always something that could happen. If nobody made friends because they were afraid of saying goodbye too soon, nobody would ever make friends with anybody." It was a strangely wise, but still chilling thought to come from Ash. He was just a kid, he shouldn't have to think about all of these things.

"Like you said, what's important is to hold onto the good memories, right?" Ash looked up at Kukui, who nodded.

"Right, that's what makes all relationships, and, really, life, worth it." Kukui said quietly. "It's scary, and hard sometimes,"

"But it's a lot scarier to be alone," Ash finished for him, and that was what it all boiled down to. That was what made the uncertainty and pain worthwhile. People and pokémon thrived on interactions with each other, some more than others. It could be hard sometimes to open yourself up to somebody when there was always the possibility that something will go wrong and it will all end.

But like Ash said, taking the chance was better than being alone.

 

Chapter 24:

Kukui rested his hand on his chin and grimaced as he looked over his notebooks. He had expected the pokémon league to be hard to put together, but he was still surprised at just how much of his time this was consuming. This was something that he really wanted to do, and the work and effort didn't change that, but it also didn't make it any easier.

Burnet put her hand on Kukui's shoulder and rubbed it slightly. "How's it going?"

"Slow," Kukui leaned back and rubbed at his eyes in an attempt to make them feel less heavy. Burnet leaned over him and looked at his notebooks over his shoulder.

"Are these your notebooks?" Burnet asked, an edge of amusement in her voice. She picked one of them up and laughed slightly. "And I thought your handwriting was bad now."

"Tell me about it," Kukui groaned. These were his old notebooks that he'd written in as a child when he was on his own pokémon journey. "You would think that after writing so much my handwriting would get better. If anything, I think it's gotten worse."

"What are you using these old notebooks for anyways?" Burnet sat down next to him.

"When I was little I used to write in unnecessary detail about the things that excited me," Kukui said.

"Used to?" Burnet nudged his arm and chuckled. Kukui rolled his eyes and just nudged Burnet right back.

"The point is, one of the things I was excited about was the leagues that I competed in." Kukui took back the notebook that Burnet had grabbed and opened it up to one of the pages that he had bookmarked. "See? I wrote about how the league was set up, how it was decided who would come in third place. I even made notes about what limitations there were on which pokémon could be entered,"

"And I also see that you wrote extensively about what moves had been banned in the league your theories as to why." Burnet smiled. "Even back then it seems that you had an interest in pokémon moves,"

"Yeah, I guess I did," Kukui agreed. "It just took me a long time to realize it." When he was a child Kukui had wanted nothing more than to go on an exciting pokémon journey. He had started in Alola, but when he'd learned about what children in other regions did he'd wanted that for himself too. He'd left home, eager to travel to new places and meet pokémon that he'd never been able to imagine before.

Kukui'd enjoyed his travels, and he wouldn't change what he'd been through for anything. The longer he was out there though, the more discontent he felt. He enjoyed battling, but not in the way that other people did. All the other kids got a thrill from winning and getting stronger. Kukui also liked to help his pokémon get stronger, but that was mostly just so he'd be able to see the new moves that they got, and the unique ways that they were able to use attacks when they were truly comfortable with them.

It had taken a few years, but Kukui had realized that as much as he loved seeing the world and having adventures, he was never happier than he was in Alola. After so long, he had made his way home, though he had continued training his pokémon and helping them to get stronger. He loved working with his pokémon, but a few months after coming home Kukui realized that as much as he liked working with his pokémon, what he loved even more was to just watch and observe them. That was when Kukui had first started to get interested in pokémon research.

Kukui had started with observing his own pokémon, and then he had moved on to observe wild pokémon in their natural habitats. Kukui had thought that he had been happy making observations and doing research, and then one day a couple of children had seen him working and they were curious. Kukui had patiently answered all of their questions, and it hadn't taken him long after that to realize that as much as he loved doing research, he liked sharing it with others even more. Shortly after that he'd started looking into teaching as a career.

Kukui had been happy just as a teacher, doing his own personal research in his spare time. Then Ash had walked into his life, and once again he'd found something that he hadn't even noticed had been missing from his life. It was strange, Kukui had been happy just being a teacher. He hadn't felt like he was missing anything in his life, but not he couldn't imagine his life without Ash right there with him.

Kukui knew that he felt at home in Alola, but it wasn't until Ash started to live with him did he truly begin to feel like he was living a domesticated life. His home wasn't just where he was, it was who he was with. At first, it was with Ash, and then Burnet had come back into his life, and she was part of his happiness too. Kukui had been happy before meeting Ash and marrying Burnet, but this happiness was different, and he couldn't imagine being truly happy again if he lost either of them.

"Were you going to use your experiences battling in other leagues as your inspiration to put together this one?" Burnet asked.

"That was the idea," Kukui said. He closed his notebook. "Of course, I won't be able to use everything from those leagues. Alola's different from other regions. Not as many people take battling as seriously here, so I'll have to come up with rules to accommodate that."

"What do you mean?" Burnet asked.

"Like how many pokémon one should be allowed to use," Kukui said. "Most people here have less than three pokémon. It might not be fair to let someone like Ash use all of his pokémon when he'll probably be up against someone with just a single pokémon."

"You'll figure something out," Burnet said. At that moment the front door flew open and Ash came running in, his eyes shining with excitement. Ash was holding what looked like a canvas in his arms.

"Professors!" Ash ran up to them, grinning broadly. "Hey, professors!"

"Hey, Ash," Kukui laughed. Ash always had so much excitement and energy, it was contagious. "What's got you so excited?"

"I saw Mina again today," Ash said. "She gave me a painting that she was working on. Do you want to see?"

"We'd love to see it," Burnet said. She and Kukui moved over the notebooks to make some room at the table. Burnet and Kukui scooted over to make some room for Ash to sit with them on the couch. Ash grinned and sat on the couch. He put the canvas on the table and the three of them got a look at the painting. Kukui knew that Mina was a great artist, but this particular painting took his breath away, not because of the skill that he been behind its creation, but because of what the painting was of.

"Is-is that us?" Kukui asked, though there was no need. It was unmistakable, the painting was of the three of them and a couple of their pokémon. They looked so happy and calm, the very image of domestic bliss.

"It's our Alolan family." Ash said eagerly. Kukui stiffened slightly and tore his eyes away from the painting to look at the boy.

"Alolan family?" Kukui repeated Ash's words. It sounded so right, and the fact that Ash was saying it with so much ease made it feel that much better.

"Yeah, see, there's me, you, and Professor Burnet," Ash gestured to their painting selves. "Lana said this was my Alolan family. Our Alolan family, and I liked it so much that I guess I started using it too." Ash saw the way that Kukui was looking at him, and he he frowned slightly in worry. "Do you not like it?"

"What? No! Of course I do!" Kukui said quickly. He didn't know if Ash was talking about the painting or the familial term, but either way he really didn't mind it. "I love the painting, and I-I…"

Burnet put a hand on Kukui's arm, smiling reassuringly at him. She then turned back to Ash. "We both love it, the painting and our Alolan family."

"Oh, that's good," Ash rubbed the side of his nose and laughed slightly in relief. "I was worried you might find it weird, because we're not related, and we haven't known each other for a very long time."

"That doesn't matter," Kukui said. He reached an arm around Burnet's shoulders and put it on Ash's. Burnet leaned close against him, and Ash put his own hand on top of Kukui's. "Family...it's more than just who you're related to by blood, it's who matters most in your life. The people and pokémon that you'll do anything for."

Ash smiled. "Yeah, I guess it is. So...we're a family?" As eager as Ash had been before, he seemed almost shy now, somewhat nervous. Kukui gave his shoulder a small reassuring squeeze.

"Of course we are," Kukui said, and it felt great to say it outloud. "I think we always have been-"

"-It just took some time to realize it." Ash finished Kukui's thoughts. "I didn't even really think about it until after Lana had pointed it out, but afterwards it just seemed so obvious." It seemed like Ash had felt like they were a family for awhile now, but he hadn't really put a proper description to what he was feeling until it was given to him.

"Kukui knows a thing or two about that," Burnet said. "You have no idea how long he's looked at us as a family." Burnet herself didn't know how long Kukui had felt like this, because he'd already started to see Ash as his boy before she'd started to be around again. She was right though, Kukui had been feeling like this for a long time. It had just taken him far too long to feel okay with how he felt. At least Ash hadn't had to deal with that pain. By the time he'd realized that he saw them as a family, Ash had already warmed up to the idea. It sounded like Ash's experience involved a lot less painful soul searching than Kukui's had.

Kukui was just glad that he was past that point. He could relax and let himself enjoy this time he had with Ash and Burnet. They were his family, his Alolan family. He may have managed just fine without them, and even now maybe he'd still be okay if he couldn't have them with him anymore, but he didn't want to let them go. They were his home now, and he wasn't going to just let that go without a fight.

 

Chapter 25:
Ash was upset.

Not that there was anything wrong with that. Kids were allowed to get upset occasionally (really, everybody was allowed to get upset and have a bad day, it was just that it was more socially acceptable for it to happen to kids).

Kukui just wasn't used to seeing Ash like this. He'd seen the boy sad because of his empathetic nature, and he'd seen him worried. Kukui had even seen Ash angry every once and awhile. At this moment though, Ash seemed a little bit sad, worried, and angry, and Kukui didn't know what was wrong. He wanted to talk to Ash about what was going on, but he didn't even know if Ash himself understood just what was on his mind, so Kukui backed off a bit. He hoped that when Ash was ready to talk, he would come to him.

It wasn't until after dinner that Ash finally approached him. Kukui had been downstairs in his room, admiring the painting that Poipole had put on the wall, when out of the corner of his eye he saw Ash coming down the stairs slowly, almost cautiously. Kukui turned towards his ward, and the concern that he'd been feeling for the boy all day suddenly spiked.

Ash was looking at the ground, a conflicted look in his eyes. He was fiddling with the hem of his shirt, rubbing and tugging at it slightly with his fingers. A sure sign that he wasn't just nervous, but truly anxious about something. Most concerning of all though was that Ash didn't have a pokémon by his side, not even Pikachu. Ash had come down to talk to Kukui, and he had done so truly alone.

"H-hey, Professor?" Ash lifted his gaze to meet Kukui's eyes, though he almost immediately looked away again.

Kukui waited, but Ash didn't continue. He needed a little bit of a push. "What's up?"

Ash grimaced and clenched his shirt in his hands. He closed his eyes tightly and continued very quickly. "Am I a bad person?"

"What?" Kukui was taken aback. He didn't know what he'd been expecting, but it definitely wasn't this. "No, of course not. Why would you think that?"

Ash stiffened and his face contorted in such a way that Kukui thought he must be biting his inner lip or possibly his cheek. Kukui didn't know what had caused this line of thinking in Ash, but it really seemed to be troubling the boy, and it bothered Kukui as well. Ash was a sweet kid, and he frequently put others needs above his own. Why would he think even for a second that he was a bad person?

Kukui racked his brain to try to figure out what could have happened to upset Ash like this. Nothing all that extraordinary stood out to Kukui, definitely not anything that Ash had done wrong, except possibly...oh…

Kukui sighed and sat down on his couch. He gestured for Ash to join him, which he did so reluctantly. "So, is this about Rotom?"

"...I just didn't want him to leave," Ash said quietly. "I-I knew that being in the Detective Laki show would have been a great experience for him, and I know that it was something that he really wanted to do, but...I...I…" Ash sniffled slightly and clutched at his knees. "I wasn't ready to say goodbye yet."

Kukui frowned sympathetically and put his arm around Ash's shoulder. He pulled the boy close to him, leading him to lean against his side. "You've gotten really close to Rotom while you've been here. It's okay to not want to say goodbye. It definitely doesn't make you a bad person, or a bad friend." Kukui knew all too well just how hard it could be to say goodbye to someone that you've gotten close to. Kukui felt like breaking down every time he even thought about how Ash's time in Alola was only temporary, and he would go home eventually. If he didn't want to say goodbye, then how could he blame a child for feeling the same way?

"But I tried to force him to stay," Ash's hands shook slightly. "I...it wasn't fair." Kukui didn't know if Ash was saying that what he'd done had been unfair, or if the whole situation was unfair.

Kukui took a deep breath. "Alright, so we both know that you could have handled it better, but after you calmed down you were ready to apologize. Even if you didn't want Rotom to leave, you were willing to let him go. Better late than never, and that's all that matters, right?"

"But I was almost too late," Ash said. "I said some pretty bad things to Rotom. If he'd left before I got the chance to make things right…" Ash trailed off and stared at the ground. Kukui squeezed his shoulder slightly.

"Don't think like that," Kukui said sternly, but not unkindly. "You made up with Rotom. He forgave you. I think it's time that you forgave yourself."

"It's hard," Ash whined slightly. "I don't even know why I got so mad. I've said goodbye to good friends before. It always hurts, but I've never been so mad about it." Kukui furrowed his brow slightly as he considered it. Ash seemed to have found himself caught in a vicious cycle. He was upset, and just getting more upset at himself because he didn't entirely understand what he was upset about in the first place.

"Well, let's think about this for a minute," Kukui was a scientist, if there was a problem or abnormality in front of him, he would go out of his way to figure out what it meant, to find answers. "What was different about this time?"

Ash blinked. He was quiet for a minute, though Kukui didn't know if it was because he was thinking through what had happened and trying to figure out what made this incident different, or if he already knew and was just trying to work up the nerve to say what was on his mind.

Kukui waited until Ash fidgeted. "...He wanted to leave me. He was so...so eager go join the show. He didn't seem sorry about it at all."

"Oh," Kukui nodded. He thought he understood it now. "You know, Rotom may talk like a human, but he's still a pokémon. A ghost pokémon. He doesn't feel or express emotions in the same way as we do. But that doesn't mean that he doesn't have them. I'm sure that Rotom would have missed you just as much as you would have missed him, even if he didn't say it."

"Well, I know that now," Ash said easily. "But at the time…"

"Yeah, I know," Kukui nodded. "Emotions can really cloud our judgement."

"It just doesn't make sense," Ash tapped his fingers against his legs. "I-I don't like how mad I got at Rotom. I feel like such a hypocrite, because I've let...I've let some of my pokémon go before. Sometimes, it was even my idea, because even though it seemed like they were happy while with me, I knew, I could just tell, that they would be happier somewhere else. Why...why couldn't I do that with Rotom?"

Alright, so maybe trying to take the logical approach wasn't the right way to go with this. Ash was clearly still emotional, and trying to reason with those emotions would just frustrate them both in the end.

"It's okay if you don't understand it," Kukui said. "Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that you're trying to figure these things out, but if you can't, there's nothing wrong with that either. Sometimes the only thing you can do is admit to yourself that these feelings are real, even if they don't make any sense, and just allow yourself to feel them. After you calm down, we can tackle the why behind what you're feeling. For right now though, I think the only thing we can do is just ride it out and remember that what you're feeling, this frustration, this hurt, it won't last forever."

"I guess," Ash said, though he didn't sound certain. Ash rested his head against Kukui's shoulder. "It sucks though,"

Kukui chuckled. "Yeah, it kinda does." Emotions were complicated. The good were great, but just like the bad ones, they didn't last forever. And while you were feeling badly, it was hard to even imagine feeling good again. It was hard, but it was all part of being alive. "Did you want to go upstairs and have some hot milk or something?"

Ash relaxed slightly as he considered Kukui's idea. "Actually, can we stay down here for a bit? I don't really want to be around everyone else right now." Kukui was slightly concerned to hear this. Ash was a social kid. He thrived off of the energy he got from being around other people and pokémon. But if Ash was upset now, it wasn't all that unreasonable to believe that he might take it out on others without meaning to, and then he would become even more overrun with guilt. It would probably make things a lot easier if they stayed out of the way, at least for a bit.

"I don't see why not," Kukui said. They both knew that they wouldn't be able to hide from their emotions forever. Sooner or later, they would have to confront these negative emotions, but that could wait until a little later. They could avoid thinking about these unpleasant thoughts for a little while longer though. Just for a bit longer.

 

Chapter 26.

Kukui had heard some strange things about what Ash had been through during his travels, but the strangest part of it all was just how normal the boy seemed to think it all was. Ash had traveled all over the world, seen dozens of legendary or rare pokémon, owned more pokémon than some people had met in their entire lives, and these were just the things that Kukui knew about because Ash sometimes mentioned these things in passing.

It wasn't hard for Kukui to believe that Ash had seen some strange things, so when Ash showed up late for school, rambling about Topu Koko, and today actually being yesterday, and alternate dimensions, Kukui knew that something had happened. All of Ash's classmates seemed to think that Ash had either had a crazy dream, or had let his imagination get away from him. Both Ash and Pikachu were so insistent that it wasn't pretend, that whatever they had been through was real. Kukui didn't completely understand what had happened, because Ash's rambles were barely understandable, and it was so hard to follow that Kukui doubted he'd be able to understand it even if he already knew what had happened.

Kukui didn't really need to understand what Ash had been through. Ash was safe, he seemed to be relatively happy, so Kukui didn't see a problem with it. He still wanted to know what was going on, and he hoped that Ash would remember his promise to tell him about his adventures. Ash wasn't obligated to tell Kukui what was going on, he never had been, but it was a lot harder to be responsible for a child when you had no idea what they were doing during the day.

It took Ash a lot longer to sit still and focus than it usually did. Kukui let it slide this time though. He had never been the strictest of teachers. He knew that everybody had their off days. If his kids weren't in the mood to learn, then Kukui wasn't going to try to force them to focus, because that would just end up frustrating everybody.

Ash did eventually calm down and at least try to pay attention, though he seemed to be at least partially distracted throughout the whole day. Kukui had to try really hard to not allow himself to get distracted by Ash's issues. It was one thing for the child student to be unfocused, and entirely another thing for the adult teacher to be distracted.

The school day passed without any big incidents or events. Everything was incredibly average, and it was nice. At the end of the school day, Kukui was in a good mood, and most of his students seemed to be too. Kukui was sure that as soon as he let his class out for the afternoon Ash and Kiawe would meet in the courtyard for the big pokémon battle they had planned. However, when class let out, Ash seemed more distracted than ever. He started to stare blankly at the wall, a strange look in his eyes, like he was seeing something that wasn't really there.

Kiawe seemed just as confused as Kukui was at Ash's behavior. "Hey, Ash, were you coming?" No response. "Come on, we were going to have that battle, remember?" Ash didn't even look in Kiawe's direction. "Ash!"

Kukui put a hand on Kiawe's shoulder. "Why don't you and Ash reschedule that battle of yours?" Kukui was sure that if Ash was paying more attention, he would insist on having that battle. Ash was always eager to have a battle, but Kukui didn't think it was what Ash needed right now. Despite what the boy seemed to think, it wasn't always time for a battle.

Kiawe looked conflicted, but he didn't argue with Kukui. He just gave Ash one more concerned look before he shrugged and left with Marowak and Turtonator. Soon Kukui and Ash, as well as the boy's pokémon, were the only ones in the room. Pikachu was on Ash's desk, trying to get his attention, but he didn't seem to be having any more luck than Kiawe had had.

Kukui frowned and grabbed a chair, which he dragged over to Ash's desk. He touched Ash's arm, and this finally seemed to drag the boy out of his thoughts. Ash looked at Kukui in slight confusion.

"Is something going on?" Kukui asked

"No, I just…" Ash sighed and looked outside towards the sea. "It's just been a weird couple of days...I mean, day...dream...I don't know."

It sounded like Ash was either second guessing what he had gone through, or he didn't think that he should actually talk about it with anyone else, and Kukui didn't want either to happen. "You said something about an alternate dimension earlier. Care to tell me about it?" Kukui didn't want to push Ash to tell him anything if he didn't want to, but it wasn't healthy to keep things to yourself.

Ash sat up. "Well, it was Alola, but it was different. Everything was dark and colorless, almost completely destroyed. There was only one other person there, and very few pokémon."

Kukui winced. He didn't even want to imagine such a place. "It sounds scary." No wonder Ash had seemed so distracted today. Disturbing images could ruin anybody's day.

"Yeah, I guess it was," Ash nodded. "It hadn't seemed that bad at the time though. I mean, it was sad, and I wanted to help Dia to send Guzlord back through the Ultra Wormhole, but I kinda had fun."

"So, what's wrong?" Kukui asked. He didn't know who Dia was, and imagined that Guzzlord was an Ultra Beast that they hadn't encountered yet, which was unusual. Kukui had a lot of questions, but he wasn't going to interrogate Ash. Dia and Guzzlord didn't seem to be what was bothering Ash, and Kukui wanted to focus on helping him with the matter at hand, even if it meant not having all of the details.

Ash grimaced slightly and pet Pikachu's fur. "I was just thinking about what Dia said when he told me about alternate dimensions and worlds. I didn't really understand all of it, but he said that it was possible that our Alola could end up like his Alola."

"O-oh," Now Kukui thought he understood why Ash had been so distracted all day. It was hard enough to have to see so much destruction and chaos in a place that resembled his home, but it would be downright terrifying to imagine that actually happening in real life, in your own dimension. "Did Dia say how his Alola ended up the way it did?"

"Yeah, but he wasn't very specific," Ash frowned as he tried to remember the details. "I know that Guzzlord did a lot of destruction, but I think Dia said that the environment had been messed up before that, and I think that was what chased away all of the people and pokémon."

Ash sighed and drew his gaze away from the ocean, finally actually looking at Kukui. "Dia said that in the future something could happen in our Alola that would cause it to become just like his Alola, but I don't know what that something is." Ash tapped his fingers on the desk anxiously. "What if we can do something to stop it, but because we don't know what is going to happen, we don't stop it when we can, and our world ends up like that?"

Oh. This was one of those maybe/what if situations, and those were always extremely dangerous to deal with. Nobody could change the past, and they couldn't predict the future, and it could do so much more harm than good to linger on these thoughts.

Kukui got to his feet. "Come on," He grabbed Ash's hand and pulled him to his feet.

Ash looked at Kukui in confusion as he staggered to his feet. "What are we doing?"

Kukui lead Ash to balconies that looked out towards the ocean. Kukui sat down cross-legged on the ground and gestured for Ash to sit across from him. "You remember the meditation we did this morning?" Kukui remembered how Ash had been talking about today actually being yesterday for him. "Or yesterday morning, whichever it was for you."

Ash frowned slightly, clearly not understanding where Kukui was going with this, but he nodded and sat down. "Yeah, I remember." A small smile crept onto his face. "That was really nice."

Kukui grinned back. "It was, wasn't it?" Kukui didn't do it very often, but he always felt really relaxed and refreshed after setting some time aside to sit quietly and reflect. They may have done it just this morning, but Ash was stressing himself out, and he needed to calm down and clear his head. Kukui knew that this was an excellent way of doing just that.

"Just close your eyes," Kukui instructed. "What do you feel?"

Ash sighed. "I, uh, I feel the...the sun on my arms." It was rather warm that day. It was just hot enough that it could get rather uncomfortable to be out for too long, but for just a short period of time, sitting in the shade, it felt really nice.

Kukui nodded, though he knew that Ash couldn't see him. "What else?"

"Um, the wind," Ash said, already sounding much less tense. "It feels nice,"

"What do you smell?" Kukui asked. He was trying to give Ash something else to focus on other than his own hopeless thoughts.

Ash answered much more confidently this time. "The ocean. I can smell it in the breeze."

"Very good," Kukui opened his own eyes to see that Ash was smiling contently. This was a good sign. Ash was calming down, relaxing, which was the whole point of doing this. "Now, I want you to take a deep breath." Kukui breathed in deeply himself, setting the example for Ash.

"Breathe in everything good in the world. Kindness, harmony between people and pokémon, feel it around you, and take it all in." Kukui said. He listened as Ash slowly took in a long, deep breathe. "Now let go of everything bad in you. Any anger you may be feeling, your fear, uncertainties, breathe it all out. Let it go." Ash let his air out, and Kukui saw the tension ease out of the boy's shoulders.

"Take in the good," Kukui breathed in with Ash. "Let out the bad," They both exhaled. "Feeling better?"

"A bit, yeah," Ash sighed, though it sounded more relieved and relaxed than the distressed sighs he'd given earlier.

"Look, Ash, I know it's scary to think about what might happen in the future." Kukui said. "But you can't control everything. Bad things are going to happen, whether we want them to or not. You shouldn't make yourself sick with worry because of things that are out of your control."

"But if we can do something to stop it-" Ash began, but Kukui didn't let him go very far with that line of thinking.

"Then we'll do what we can, of course," Kukui said. "But it won't always be enough, and that's okay. Sometimes, bad things happen, no matter what we try to do to stop them. When that happens, we need to learn how to deal with the bad things that happen, instead of focusing on what we could have done to stop it in the first place."

"I can't just sit around and let Alola end up like Dia's Alola." Ash said. "If I can just figure out what will cause it-"

"That's not something you can know for sure," Kukui said. "Nobody can predict the future, and you shouldn't try to."

"But...what should I do?" Ash asked desperately.

"We can live." Kukui looked out towards the ocean, and Ash followed his gaze. "We can try to learn from the past, and you can prepare for, but not completely predict, the future. If you spend too much time focusing on what's already happened, or what might happen, you might find yourself missing out on some absolutely extraordinary things."

"So...you think I shouldn't worry about it?" Ash looked confused.

"I want you to not stress about it," Kukui said. "Life is too short, and way too wonderful, to spend all of your time thinking about what could happen, do you understand?"

Ash frowned slightly, not exactly in disagreement, but like he was actually considering Kukui's words. "Yeah, I think so,"

"Good," Kukui smiled. "Well, it's a nice day. We can stay out here for a bit, if you want,"

Ash cocked his head slightly and looked at Kukui. "Actually, do you think there are some waves out right now?"

"Well, the ocean's probably not completely smooth," Kukui said. "There probably aren't any really large waves right now, at least, not in front of our house." Kukui's home was right next to the ocean. It would have been very poor planning if someone had put a beach house in a place that frequently got large waves. "But if you want to surf a little, I think there will be just enough waves to do that."

"Yeah, that sounds really nice right now," Ash grinned.

"Well, let's go do that," Kukui stood up, and Ash got to his feet too. "I'm sure Burnet would love to join us," She was better at surfing and water activities than Kukui was, and it was even her day off, so should already be at home. "We can even pick up some malasadas on our way home."

Ash smiled broadly at that suggestion. There were a lot of small things that could make Ash's day. Pokémon battles were one of them, and malasadas were another. "Let's go!"

Kukui laughed at Ash's enthusiasm. The boy had seemed so upset. Kukui was sure that he hadn't completely gotten rid of all of Ash's concerns about what could happen. All Kukui had done was successfully distract him from worrying thoughts. Kukui knew they would be back, because unwanted thoughts and stressful concerns always showed up again sooner or later, but at that moment Ash was content, and Kukui thought that had to be enough for right now. It may not last forever, but at that moment Ash was excited to just enjoy that day, which was great.

After all, today was going to be the only day like it, so they might as well enjoy it.

 

Chapter 27.

Kukui had always been of the opinion that children learned best from a hands-on method. He tried to give that to his students as much as he could, but sometimes it still wasn't enough. Kids couldn't just learn what they were told to learn, they had to learn how to be more independent, to become their own people. Kukui encouraged his students to grow by giving them the task to give themselves a project to do. This way, the project was something that the kids would be passionate about.

Kukui tried to do this regularly, but sometimes he tried to take things a step further, both for their benefit, and for his. Sometimes he clung too tightly to his students, especially since Ash had started living with him. He couldn't force the kids to stay young and dependent forever though. So Kukui forced himself, and his students, out of their respective comfort zones as he saw the kids off to do their research projects on Poni Island...alone.

Of course, the kids wouldn't be alone, as there was nothing wrong with them getting help from each other. And if there was any real emergency, they could always talk to Nurse Joy, who had already agreed to keep an eye on them, or they could even call him if they needed to. The point of these research projects weren't to overwhelm the kids and make them do more than they were ready for, but if they didn't push themselves, they wouldn't grow, and Kukui would fail as a teacher.

Kukui had been so upset when Ash had gone off to Ula'ula island on his own, because he'd wanted to be a part of the boy's life. It was hard to let go, even just a little bit, but Kukui liked to think he was getting better.

What really helped though was that Ash seemed to remember how upset Kukui had gotten when he'd run off to Ula'ula Island without really telling him. Though Ash really didn't have to, at the end of the first day, when the kids had gathered back at the Pokémon Center for the night, Ash had used their video phones to give Kukui a call.

"You know, you really don't have to do this," Kukui said, though he couldn't help but let his appreciation show through. "I know you kids are okay,"

"Yeah, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to call you anyways," Ash said. "You and Burnet call each other almost every day when she's not at home, just because you like to talk to each other. I just wanted to do the same thing,"

Kukui chuckled. He put his elbow on the table and rested his chin in his hand. "Yeah, you're right," In some ways, Kukui was still used to being a teacher instead of a guardian. Kids usually just came to him when they were excited to share something they'd found, or when they needed something. It was really strange, but really nice, to know that Ash was going out of his way to talk to him just for the sake of talking, because he wanted to.

"So, how was your first day on Poni Island?" Kukui asked. "Did any of you make much headway with your research projects?"

Ash grinned and rubbed his nose. "Not really," Ash admitted cheerfully. "We made a new friend though, and it was really fun, but also really weird."

"See, that's what I want to hear," Kukui smiled. It didn't matter that the kids hadn't made any noticeable progress in their projects. The whole point of these projects was that it took time. It wasn't supposed to be something that they could figure out in just a single day. While Kukui wanted his students to accomplish their goals, it wasn't the end of the world if they didn't. What was even more important about this whole thing was that the kids enjoyed themselves and made this whole thing a good experience, and it sounded like that was exactly what they were doing.

Ash eagerly began to tell Kukui about just what kinds of things they'd gone through that day. Kukui was in awe that Ash could sound so excited to share that he had been accused of being a thief by a lonely, brash little girl, and had had another run in with Team Skull.

"Sounds like you've had quite a day," Kukui said. Even though they were on completely different islands, it felt like they were just sitting together after dinner, talking about their day. It felt really casual and familiar. It was domestic, in the best kind of way. Kukui could sit here all night, just talking to Ash, listening to how excited he got about, well, everything. Ash loved seeing new places, meeting new people and pokémon. It was probably his favorite thing in the world.

When Ash happened to mention how he'd been looking for Tapu Fini, Kukui remembered something he'd been concerned about when he'd dropped the kids off. "You really have your heart set on doing the Grand Trial, don't you?"

Ash nodded, not looking the least bit discouraged. Kukui didn't know if it was because Ash truly thought that the Island Guardian would not only come see him, but also agree to battle him and acknowledge it as a true Grand Trial, or if it was just in Ash's nature to act like everything was going to turn out okay, even though it probably wouldn't.

"I really want to complete the four grand trials," Ash said, though it wasn't necessary to say. Anybody could tell how desperate he was to complete the Grand Trials. It was the only thing on his mind. What Kukui didn't understand was why.

"You never told me why you're so eager to complete the Grand Trials," Kukui commented. "What's the rush? It's not a race or a competition."

"I know," Ash said somewhat sheepishly. "It just kinda feels like something that I have to do,"

"Can you explain why?" Kukui asked. He didn't really mean to question the boy, and would be really upset with himself if it got Ash to begin questioning himself, but he really wanted to understand what was going through the kid's head.

Fortunately, Ash didn't seem upset with Kukui's question, he just looked thoughtful. "Uh, at first I wasn't really in a hurry." Ash said. "I wanted to do the Grand Trials because it was a challenge, and I always get so psyched when faced with a challenge."

"What changed?" Kukui asked.

"Actually, it was your announcement that you were making an Alola pokémon league," Ash laughed slightly. "I wanted to complete all four Trials before competing in the league."

Kukui hadn't known what to expect, but it definitely hadn't been that. "You know the Alola League isn't going to be like in other regions. There probably isn't going to be any qualifying for the league. Anybody who wants to compete will be able to." Maybe in a few years they would be able to incorporate a qualifying system. Probably not collecting eight gym badges, but something along those lines.

Whatever system they chose to use, Kukui thought he could say for certain that they wouldn't have the Grand Trials be the qualifier. It just wouldn't be fair. Some foreigners may refer to the Grand Trials as gym challenges, but Kukui had experienced both, and he could say with confidence that it wasn't the case. They may be similar, but there was one big difference.

While both involved battling, the gym battles were focused more on the strength, raw power, and strategy. It really was all about the battle. The Grand Trial itself may be a battle, but many people would say that the biggest 'trial' was getting your challenge accepted in the first place. If the Island Kahuna didn't think your heart was in the right place, or they disagreed with the way you raised your pokémon, or even if they just didn't like your personality or attitude, you wouldn't even get a chance. The Grand Trials were just as much a test of character as it was a test of battling capabilities.

A lot of talented trainers completed the island Grand Trials, but there were many who had no interest in them. And then there were the very capable, very powerful trainers who just couldn't get the Kahuna's approval to take the trial. No, the Grand Trials would have to remain separate from the Alolan League. That was the only way to keep things fair.

"Yeah, I know I don't technically have to, but...well…" Ash trailed off.

"You feel like you do," Kukui sighed. He didn't understand it, but there were a lot of things he didn't understand about the boy.

"I mean, I've battled in a lot of leagues before," Ash said in an uncharacteristically quiet tone. "But I always had to do something to prove that I was worthy to be there."

Kukui frowned slightly. "You don't have to prove yourself to anybody. Nobody does."

"I know," Ash said somewhat desperately, and Kukui knew that Ash really did know, but it obviously didn't change how he felt. "But I feel like I have to prove it to myself."

Kukui wanted to try to convince Ash that this wasn't necessary. He was a great trainer, and a great battler, and he didn't need to take the Grand Trials to be able to say that. However, Kukui realized that if he was in Ash's shoes, if there had been an Alolan League after he'd come back from his little journey in Kanto, Kukui would have felt wrong to just compete without doing anything. Kukui remembered how hard he had worked to get the eight gym badges, and how satisfying it had been when he'd gotten the last one. And then there'd been the excitement he'd felt about the gym challenges just being the beginning. If Kukui'd had the opportunity to compete in an Alola League when he was younger, he would probably do something incredibly similar to what Ash was doing, because it would feel wrong otherwise.

"I get it," Kukui said, and he did. "But Ash, I want you to promise me something, okay?"

Ash immediately looked more attentive. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure how you'll do it, but I'm sure you're going to figure out how to complete the Poni Island Grand Trial." Kukui said, and he meant it. If anybody could complete a Grand Trial when there was no Island Kahuna, it was Ash. "But if you don't complete the Grand Trial, I want you to promise me that you won't let that keep you from competing in the league."

Ash's eyes widened and he looked a little conflicted for a moment before he sighed, gave Kukui a small smile, and nodded. "I won't, I promise," And Kukui relaxed. Ash may forget things sometimes, and he got caught up in his own head all the time, but Kukui knew that he wouldn't break a direct promise. Ash would keep his word.

Kukui glanced at the clock and grimaced slightly, though he also couldn't help but laugh at himself when he saw the time. "It's getting late, and I'm sure you'll be running off on a lot of adventures tomorrow, so I should probably let you get some sleep."

"Yeah, okay," Ash gave him a large grin. "Goodnight, Professor,"

"Goodnight, Ash," Kukui returned. They ended their call, and Kukui leaned back against his seat. It felt great to talk to Ash, even just for a little bit, but for some reason the conversation left Kukui feeling absolutely exhausted. Maybe Ash wasn't the only one who should be turning in early tonight.

Kukui heard the door open. He turned to see Burnet coming in. "I'm home,"

"Welcome back," Kukui said. "You're back late," She was usually back from Aether Paradise before sundown.

"And you're crashing early," Burnet came over to the couch and nudged for Kukui to scoot over, which he did so. Burnet slid right next to Kukui and curled up against his side. He put his arm around her and pulled her close. "Long day?"

"Long couple of minutes," Kukui said. "Ash called to check in,"

Burnet gave him a knowing look. "I wonder why he would bother to do that," She said in a teasing tone that made it clear that she knew just as well as Kukui did that Ash had been prompted by the memory of Kukui's reaction to him going to Ula'ula Island.

Kukui rolled his eyes and gave Burnet's shoulder a small squeeze. "I'll have you know that I'm handling this a lot better than I did last time,"

"I know you are," Burnet kissed his cheek. "You both are. You're giving Ash a little room, and he's handling his freedom with responsibility."

Kukui smiled. "He really is," He couldn't explain how happy he had been when Ash had called. He was also honored that Ash had told him about what had been bothering him. Kukui didn't know just how stressed Ash actually was about this, and he didn't know how much he had helped to ease the boy's mind, but he was glad that he knew anyways.

Kukui still didn't know how Ash would be able to find Tapu Fini and complete the Grand Trial, but he desperately hoped that he accomplished his goal. Not because Kukui felt it was necessary, but because he knew how disappointed in himself Ash would be if he didn't manage to complete all four Grand Trials before competing in the league. At least Kukui knew that the boy would still compete, but he didn't want him to feel conflicted and guilty while doing so.

Kukui was sure that Ash would be able to figure out a way to do this, and it was probably going to be in a very unconventional way. Whatever he did though, Kukui knew that these next few days would be very interesting for his students, and he was glad that he had been able to give them this opportunity.

 

Chapter 28.

Kukui smiled to himself and leaned against the front door as he watched Ash train with Torracat. The fire type pokémon had always been passionate about its training, but Kukui didn't think he'd ever seen such an intense fire in its eyes. Torracat was taking its training seriously. Kukui raised an eyebrow when he saw Torracat use fire blast. It hadn't had that move before. Kukui knew that he probably shouldn't be all that shocked, because Ash had just gotten back from Poni Island, and it wasn't all that unusual for Ash's pokémon to learn a new move while they were gone, but it was still always surprising to see.

"Good job, Torracat," Ash said eagerly. "I think you're really getting this move down,"

"You guys are doing great," Kukui walked off the porch towards the beach. He made a note to tell his Incineroar about Torracat's progress. Incineroar seemed really fond of Ash's Torracat. Sometimes Kukui regretted that it was such a secret that he was the masked royal, because he knew that Torracat and Incineroar would like to be around each other more.

"Torracat's trying really hard," Ash knelt and scratched his pokémon's ears. "I think it doesn't want to let down Stoutland. Torracat meowed proudly. Kukui frowned slightly in confusion. He knew that Stoutland was really important to Torracat, even though the older pokémon was now gone, that much hadn't changed. But he didn't really understand why Ash was bringing up Stoutland now. It felt out of place.

Ash must have noticed Kukui's confusion. He gave Kukui a small, sad smile. "While we were on Poni Island, some of us got lost in Tapu Fini's mist." Kukui blinked in shock. He'd heard of Tapu Fini's mist, how it allowed people to see their departed loved ones. He'd never met anyone who had experienced it.

"Who exactly got lost in the mist?" Kukui asked. He knew that it may be a private matter, but he felt like this was something he should know. These were his kids, his students. He felt like he should know when they found themselves in emotional situations.

"Well, there was me, Pikachu, and Torracat," Ash said. "We saw Stoutland again. It taught Torracat fire blast." Ash frowned slightly. "I think Lillie and Gladion were in the mist, and they were looking for their dad, but they didn't see him. Hapu said it was because he was still alive." No wonder Gladion had come back with them, both him and Lillie had been eager to talk to their mom. "And I think Mallow saw her mom,"

...Oh.

"Is she doing okay?" Kukui asked. He'd thought that Mallow had seemed a little more emotional than usual when he'd last seen her. She had been clinging desperately to her dad and brother.

"Yeah, she's okay," Ash said, and he sure sounded like he knew what he was talking about. "When Hapu first told us about the mist, Mallow seemed really upset, but she really seems okay now." Well, that was a relief. He understood how you could get closure from talking to your departed loved ones, but Kukui also knew that it could make it harder to move on, to suddenly be confronted with something that you may avoid thinking about.

"Actually, when we first got lost in the mist, before we ran into Torracat, I was a little worried that I would see…" Ash trailed off, looking a little confused, maybe a little guilty.

"Who?" Kukui pushed lightly. He sat on the sand, and Ash joined him.

"Well," Ash pulled his knees a little closer to his chest and wrapped his arms under his thighs. "I thought I'd see my...my dad."

Kukui frowned slightly. He hadn't heard a word about Ash's father, either from the boy or from his mother. "So your dad's gone?"

Ash nodded and looked out towards the ocean. Torracat curled up next to him. "He died when I was just a kid, but even then I didn't really know him very well. He spent a lot of time away from home, exploring other places."

"What happened to him?" Kukui asked. It felt like an inappropriate thing to ask, but if Ash's father had visited other places, if he was where Ash got his adventurous and somewhat reckless spirit, then it was very possible that something had happened to him. But Kukui imagined that if Ash's father had died while he was away from home, that the kid's mom wouldn't be as willing to let her son go off on his own as often as he did.

"I think he got sick," Ash said matter of factly, like he wasn't the least bit bothered by it. Kukui hadn't met a lot of adults who had recovered this much after the death of a parent, and yet Ash sounded just fine. "I remember, he came home, and he stayed. I thought my mom would have been really happy, or maybe a little mad at my dad for being gone for so long, but she mostly just seemed sad. They were both sad."

"At first, I didn't know what was going on," Ash continued. "But then my dad pulled me aside one day and explained the whole thing to me. Back then, I didn't really understand what death was, but my dad didn't stop trying to explain it to me until I got that he wasn't going to be home for very long, but that he wasn't leaving me like he had before."

Kukui liked to think that he knew Ash fairly well at this point. Sometimes Ash had a hard time remembering things he'd been told. He imagined that Ash's attention span had been even shorter when he was younger, so for his dad to take the time to explain something like this to him, and for it to stick after all these years, he must have been a special man.

"Are you mad at him?" Kukui asked. "You said you were worried about seeing your dad." Kukui didn't know why else the boy wouldn't want to see his father again.

Ash shook his head without hesitating for even a second. "No, I mean, it's not his fault that he died. He didn't ask for it to happen." Ash was quiet for a moment before he continued. "I just wasn't sure if I wanted to see him. I mean, I don't need to see him, not like Mallow needed to see her mom, or Gladion and Lillie needed to see their dad."

Kukui gave Ash a strange look. "You're really okay with your dad being gone?"

Ash shrugged. "Honestly, I'm used to it, because he was gone so much," Ash said. "I wasn't ever all that close to him. I only really felt like he was my dad when he came home because he was sick." Ash smiled fondly. "He spent every day with me, and he told me all about pokémon, and all the adventures he'd had with them. He made me want to go on a pokémon journey for myself."

"When it finally happened, yeah, I was sad at first, but I knew it was coming," Ash stretched his legs out. "I was just really glad that I actually got to spend some time with him before it happened. I got my closure, I don't need it again,"

"Besides," Ash turned and looked towards Kukui. "I haven't really seen him as my dad for a long time. I mean, I love him, but dads are supposed to be like moms. A dad is supposed to be there whenever I need him. He's supposed to give me advice, try to keep me safe," Ash gave a small laugh and rubbed his nose. "Maybe be a little overprotective sometimes." Kukui couldn't help but laugh along with him. He knew it probably wasn't the case, but he felt like Ash was calling him out.

"Honestly, you're a lot more like a dad to me than my actual dad ever was," Ash said casually, like he was just stating a fact. Kukui's eyes widened as he looked at the boy, who didn't seem to realize just what the significance of what he was saying. Ash's eager grin dimmed slightly and turned into a look of confusion as he noticed how shocked Kukui looked. "Uh, did I say something wrong?"

Kukui shook his head and grinned fondly at the boy...his boy. "No, you didn't say anything." He just about made Kukui's day, and he knew that he would probably end up talking Burnet's ear off about it as soon as he saw her.

Kukui knew that Ash already saw him and Burnet as his Alolan family, but this felt so much more significant. Family was such a broad term. Close friends and pokémon could be considered family. A dad though, that was a very specific title that could only belong to so many people. Sure, Ash hadn't directly said that he saw him as his dad, but as far as Kukui was concerned, he might as well have.

Ash frowned slightly as a thought seemed to come to him. "Do you think that he's upset that I didn't really want to see him? What if he was waiting for me in the mist, but I didn't show up? What if he's mad at me?"

"I really doubt he's mad at you," Kukui assured the boy quickly. Sure, he'd never met the man, but if he was anything like Ash was, Kukui couldn't imagine him getting mad or holding a grudge over something like this. "I'm sure your dad would be happy just knowing that you're happy." Because from what Kukui had heard, Ash's father, while he may have been absent a lot, there was no denying that he cared about his son.

A slow, small smile crept onto Ash's face. "Yeah, I guess so." He didn't sound entirely convinced, but he definitely sounded like he felt a little better about it, and for right now, that was good enough for Kukui.

Ash looked back towards the water. "I hope that Lillie and Gladion are able to find their dad."

"Yeah," Kukui agreed. He smiled slightly to himself when he felt Ash lean against him. "Me too."

 

Chapter 29.

Kukui had a television, but he didn't really watch it all that often. Sure, there were a couple of shows that he enjoyed, and it was nice to have the chance to watch events that happened around Alola without actually having to be there, but watching television was more of an occasional indulgence than a hobby.

Kukui soon realized that Ash felt the same way about television. The boy was much more eager to get out in the world and experience things for himself than sit down and watch someone else have adventures. Especially if the person he was watching was just a fictional character.

And Ash's attention span was too short for him to sit still and do nothing but watch for an hour or two.

Kukui had gotten used to Ash only watching television when he was hanging out with his friends who had an interest in watching something. Ash only seemed to get truly into shows for the sake of other people. Ash seemed to enjoy Alolan Detective Laki, but sometimes Kukui thought that all of Ash's excitement was because it was something that Kukui and especially Rotom enjoyed. Ash was certainly the kind of person to get excited about someone else's excitement.

If there was one thing that Ash was good at, it was surprising Kukui. The professor had thought that he'd understood Ash's almost nonexistent interest in watching movies and shows, and then the boy had started watching every show, movie, and documentary he could find that featured Karpy, the newly evolved Gyrados.

Kukui leaned against the couch and watched Ash curiously. The boy had his eyes glued to the television, which was showing a segment specifically about Karpy's evolution, and how it affected his acting career. Ash had been looking forward to watching this thing since he'd first heard about it. He'd been so passionate about it that Kukui had to step in and convince Rotom to miss out on a rerun of one of its favorite Alolan Detective Laki episodes.

Kukui wasn't judging Ash for wanting to watch something. People could easily watch too much television, but Kukui didn't think that Ash's interest in Karpy was getting to a concerning level yet. However, it was beyond that point that Kukui could have an interest in it. He wanted to know where this sudden interest is coming from.

"It's nice to see that Karpy is just as successful as a Gyrados as he was as a Magikarp." Kukui commented. He himself wasn't an avid Karpy fan, but he could appreciate a good movie just as much as anybody else. Kukui especially enjoyed seeing especially talented Pokémon actors, and Karpy had been up there with the best of them. Kukui really was happy that Karpy's acting career hadn't suddenly ended because he wasn't seen as small, cute, and sweet anymore.

"Me too," Ash smiled, a genuine look of relief in his eyes. "I think that Karpy was really worried about that."

Kukui frowned slightly at Ash. He vaguely remembered an afternoon when his students had all come over, talking eagerly about an eventful day on a tv set they'd had. Mallow, Lillie, and Lana had apparently landed themselves acting gigs on accident, and Kukui still didn't understand how that happened. Sophocles, Kiawe, and Rotom had all been starstruck about having the opportunity to meet and even work with Karpy. Ash had seemed most excited about getting to see a pokémon evolution, but there'd been a strange look in his eyes, something like lingering anger, sadness, and slight guilt. Kukui was seeing that same look now. Something was clearly on Ash's mind.

"Why were you worried about that?" Kukui asked.

"Watch Karpy," Ash grimaced and gestured to the television. Kukui sat down on the couch next to Ash and turned his attention to the screen. It looked like it was showing the shooting of a scene between Karpy as a Magikarp, and a Yungoose. He watched with fascination as a scene began to play out like you would expect it to in a movie, but then when Karpy was supposed to give a tearful goodbye to the Yungoose, it flashed.

Kukui blinked and leaned closer to the screen. "Was that…"

"Karpy was about to evolve just then," Ash said. "This happened a couple of times. I've seen a lot of pokémon evolve, and I've even seen a couple of pokémon resist evolving just like that, so I had an idea of what was going on, but I didn't do anything about it." Ash's brow furrowed and he clenched his fingers on the edge of the couch. "I should have, though."

Kukui was taken aback. Ash sounded far too guilty about something that had turned out alright in the end. "What could you have done? Taking care of a pokémon and whether they evolve or not is ultimately up to the trainer."

"I know," Ash narrowed his eyes at the screen, though Kukui thought that Ash's feelings were directed towards himself more than at what they were seeing on the screen. "I know, but Karpy's manager and director were completely oblivious about what was happening. They just wanted Karpy to do the scene."

Kukui frowned as he saw Karpy flashing on screen again. It was obvious to him what was happening. How could Karpy's flashing and voice deepening be anything else? It was times like this that Kukui really disliked the committees that were dedicated to entertaining the public. Oftentimes, they didn't treat their performers or competitors in the way that they should. They didn't care if battle royalers cheated if it made the battle more exciting to watch. They did nothing to help a child who got knocked out in the middle of a race if it got in the way of their little competition. And if they had a pokémon that was in the middle of evolving, they either didn't notice what was happening at all, or they chose to ignore it because it made their work more convenient.

"I just feel so bad for Karpy," Ash said with a frown. "I mean, he's doing okay now, and that's great, but you should have seen it when he first evolved. Karpy completely freaked out. He was panicking."

"Well, changing so suddenly can be a shock to anybody," Kukui said. Especially when the change was as drastic as changing from a Magikarp to a Gyrados.

"Yeah, but it wasn't all that sudden," Ash pointed out. "Evolution usually happens naturally. It takes a lot of effort to resist it. If anybody knew what was happening, it had to be Karpy."

"Well, if Karpy didn't want to evolve, it's understandable that it took time for him to adjust." Kukui said. Ash shook his head.

"I thought so too, but Karpy just calmed down way too quickly for that," Ash's eyes darkened again. "He was so upset, but he calmed down as soon as George showed that he was happy for him. Karpy was just fine with being a Gyrados when he knew that there was a producer who was glad that he had evolved." Ash took a deep breath and began to fidget with his shirt. "I think that Karpy was just so upset about evolving because he thought it wouldn't be what people wanted from him."

Kukui sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He was always disappointed and slightly upset when he saw trainers pushing their pokémon to do something they didn't want to do. Far too often pokémon had no interest in evolving, but because it was what their trainers wanted they had little choice but to go through with it. On the other hand, there were cases like Karpy's where a trainer wanted their pokémon to stay cute and small forever, even if their pokémon were more than ready for a change. Kukui always hated to see this kind of one-sided relationship between trainer and partner. They were supposed to be partners.

"But Karpy's fine now," Kukui tried to help Ash feel better. This just wasn't the kind of thing that the boy should feel guilty about. "His manager and directors couldn't be happier for him,"

"That doesn't make it any better," Ash frowned, and he looked so sad. "It doesn't change the fact that Karpy was so scared of disappointing his trainer that he ended up hurting himself."

Kukui frowned at Ash. The boy was rather empathetic, and it was regular for him to get distressed for someone else's sake, but this seemed like a little much, even for Ash. "Is there something more to this?"

Ash was quiet for a moment before he sighed and leaned back against the chair. "...I'm worried that I hurt some of my pokémon like that." Well, that would certainly explain why Ash seemed to be taking this so personally. "There have been a couple of times when I tried to pressure my pokémon to evolve. I thought it would be so cool, and it would make them strong, so even when my pokémon didn't seem interested in it, I tried to insist, like I thought I knew better than my own pokémon what was best for them." Ash stiffened and drew his shoulders in on himself a little bit. "I even tried to do it with Pikachu."

Kukui let out a breath. He wasn't upset with Ash, because children made mistakes like that all the time. It became a real problem when the trainer was older and should know better. He could tell that Ash was upset with himself though, and he was beating himself up over these things.

"I used to have a really bad relationship with one of my pokémon," Ash continued quietly. "My Charizard used to disobey me all the time. It acted out, and for a long time it didn't listen to me. "And I...I thought it was all Charizard's fault." Ash bit his lip and brought his legs up to sit cross legged on the couch. He rocked slightly. "I didn't understand why Charizard would get such an attitude. He was so nice as a Charmander, but that all changed when it evolved, and I didn't get why." Ash sighed. "I think I understand now."

Kukui leaned towards Ash slightly, feeling concerned. "...Did you pressure Charmander into evolving?"

Ash shook his head. "No, but I think Charmander might have thought that I was pushing him to stay a Charmander. I didn't mean to, but I think that's what happened. I mean, he evolved into Charmeleon, and then very shortly after that it evolved into Charizard, just because it wanted to. Maybe it made itself stay a Charmander, even though it was ready to evolve, because it thought that it was what I wanted from it. Maybe it was scared to upset me because it thought that I would abandon it."

Kukui put his hand on Ash's head, pushing his hat down slightly. "That's an awful lot of maybes to be worried about," Kukui said. "Has Charizard ever told you that it felt pressured?"

Ash hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. 'No, but-"

"And is Charizard still upset with you?" Kukui asked.

Ash lifted his head and looked up at him. "Well, no. Me and Charizard are good pals again."

"So don't worry about it," Kukui said. "You don't even know if your Charmander felt pressured into anything. Sometimes pokémon just change when they evolve, and there's not always a reason for it." Kukui shifted so he was facing Ash more, looking him straight in the eyes. "But even if you did accidentally make Charmander feel like he shouldn't evolve, you still shouldn't blame yourself for it. Charizard's fine now. Whatever it was upset at you about, it's obviously forgiven you for it, so now you need to forgive yourself."

"But...but I might have hurt my pokémon," Ash said.

"On accident," Kukui said sternly. It was an important point to make. It was always a bad thing to hurt someone else, but it was always worse if you wanted to hurt them, or if you didn't care, which clearly wasn't the case for Ash. "You know better now. You've changed. Look, it's great to learn from your mistakes, but it doesn't do anyone any good for you to beat yourself up about what you did in the past. Sometimes you've just got to tell yourself 'I messed up, I'll try to do better', and then move on."

Ash considered Kukui's words for a moment before giving him a small smile. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He didn't sound entirely convinced, but at least Kukui had put the idea solidly into his head. Hopefully with time, Ash would really come to accept it. Kukui sure hoped that was the case, because in his own opinion, it was a lot harder to grow and become a better person if you're always thinking about what you've done wrong and how you could have done it better.

"You know," Kukui leaned back and looked towards the television, where the screen was showing a preview for Karpy's newest movie. "I think that being a Gyrados shows off Karpy's acting skills even more than being a Magikarp did."

Ash grinned broadly and looked at the screen. "Yeah, I mean, anything can look cute, but it takes skill to be able to do both that and the intimidating look. Karpy's a real triple threat."

Kukui blinked, stunned for a moment at Ash's exclamation before he burst into laughter. Only Ash would proclaim that a pokémon who could do two different things was a real triple threat. Kukui knew that Ash sometimes just didn't think through exactly what words he was using, but he wouldn't have the kid any other way.

It certainly made their lives more entertaining, that much was for sure.

 

Chapter 30
Kukui yawned and rubbed his eyes, scowling slightly. He was tired and annoyed. He'd gotten to sleep early last night, but he was still exhausted. He'd stayed up all night the night before last, and it usually took him a couple of days to recover from an all nighter. It wasn't anything he wasn't used to though. Kukui frequently made the decision to stay up all night, or at least not go to bed until the early hours of the morning. He just got so caught up in what he was doing and either couldn't or didn't want to shut his mind down enough to get some real sleep.

It had been awhile since Kukui'd had such a late night, but he was still used to this kind of thing. He wasn't all that affected by it. A little tired, but nothing that he couldn't handle. He definitely wasn't tired enough for it to affect his mood. It wasn't the reason why he was annoyed. No, Kukui was irritated because he wasn't the only one who'd been up all night.

"A-A-Alola, Professor," Ash yawned in greeting as Kukui came into the classroom a little later than he normally would. Kukui frowned as he saw all of his students looking at him, their eyes slightly dull. They were even more tired than he was, and he didn't blame them at all.

The reason they'd all been awake was because there'd been an Ultra Beast emergency in the middle of the night. Being the Ultra Guardians, Kukui's students had to try to deal with it. Having a mission interrupt their good night's sleep was bad enough, but they'd been out all night trying to find the Ultra Beast, Pheromosa. They hadn't even been able to sleep the next day, because they hadn't been able to catch Pheromosa that night, and had to go out in the middle of school to try to catch it.

After all of that, being awake for nearly two days straight, the kids had to then return the Z-Crystals that Pheromosa had stolen to their respective owners. They may have been able to get a decent night's sleep after that, but that wasn't enough for them. They were all way too tired, and Kukui knew that none of them were in any state to get any school work done.

Kukui had expected as much though, which is why he had something else in mind for today.

"Alola, class," Kukui said with slightly less enthusiasm than he would normally say it. He was quiet and sympathetic towards his students. "I thought we'd try something new today." No one complained, it just wasn't in their nature, but Kukui could tell that they were on edge and tired just thinking about what he had planned for them, because his lessons were usually quite exciting and active. They usually loved it, but not when they were so tired.

Kukui smiled slightly, amused by their caution. "It's okay, you'll like it, I promise." Kukui pushed his desk as far against the wall as it would go. "Let's clear up some space first, alright?" His students all looked confused, but they shrugged and did as he said.

"We're going to have a bit different of an adventure today." Kukui laid down on his back, looking up to the ceiling. "Join me," Ash and the other kids still looked confused, but also curious and eager to see what he was up to. Ash laid down next to him, and soon all of them were resting on the floor. "Now, I want all of you to close your eyes." Kukui gave them a moment to do what he'd said. "Now, think of a place that makes you feel relaxed. Maybe it's in a serene forest, maybe at the top of a secluded mountain. Who knows, maybe it's even in outer space, or another dimension. Honestly, it's up to you. There's no wrong answer." Kukui waited for a minute, giving his students more than enough time to properly think of something.

"Do you all have something in mind?" Kukui finally asked. He heard a chorus of 'yeah' and 'yes's. "Alright, now think about every single detail of your surroundings. What colors are there? Are there any wild pokémon around? What sort of sounds would you hear? What do you feel?" Kukui asked these questions slowly, leaving space in between so his students would have time to consider them.

Because Kukui was asking for more detail, he gave them more time to think about it. He waited in silence for about five minutes. If he was working with anybody else, he wouldn't give them nearly as much time, but he knew his students. All of them were determined, creative, and self-motivated. They could come up with enough details to fill whatever time Kukui decided to give them.

As Kukui waited, he listened to his students' breathing. It was noticeably calmer and slower than it had been when they'd started. The kids were beginning to relax. This was a good sign.

When Kukui heard Ash beginning to fidget slightly, he decided to give them more to consider. "Imagine your family and friends are all there with you. Imagine them clearly in your mind, as though you're actually looking right at them. What are you all doing? What would you talk about?" And that was Kukui's last question. His students would imagine this scenario, being in a place that they liked, surrounded by people who loved them, for a long time. By the time any of them couldn't think of anything else to imagine, it wouldn't matter at that point, because Kukui hoped his students would all be asleep before then.

That was Kukui's end goal with this exercise, to get his students to relax enough that they would fall asleep. Kukui knew that he could have just told them 'we're taking a nap in class today', and they probably would have gone along with it, but he liked this plan better. For one thing, this way his student's weren't as likely to feel like they were being babied.

For another thing, actually trying to sleep in the middle of the day was a lot harder than one would think. Whenever Kukui tried, it either took him forever to get his thoughts to calm down enough to allow him to fall asleep, or he would eventually just give up. Kukui didn't want his students to get bored of trying to sleep when they clearly so desperately needed it, so he'd decided to try this little exercise. If he could help them to slow down their minds and relax their bodies, they'd be more likely to actually get some rest.

Kukui wished there was more he could do for his students. They were shouldering so much responsibility, more than should be expected of them. Kukui knew that they were more than capable of dealing with Ultra Beasts, but that shouldn't mean that they had to do it. There had to be more trainers, older trainers who had more experience, who could handle these issues. The Aether foundation may specialize in researching Ultra Beasts, but couldn't the employees get some hands-on research in and study the Ultra Beasts while dealing with them themselves?

Kukui had never been completely on board with this whole Ultra Guardians thing. It was a great idea in theory, but Kukui certainly had a problem with the fact that his students were the only Ultra Guardians. This was a lot of work for just six people, let alone six children.

They were just kids, they shouldn't have to worry about fighting Ultra Beasts on a regular basis. They should be concerned with school, hanging out with their friends and family, training and getting to know their pokémon. A child's job should be discovering the world around them, not saving it.

Not for the first time Kukui found himself getting irritated with Lusamine. He tried not to judge his students' parents too much, but he wished that Lusamine was just as dedicated to being a parent as she was to her work. He wished she would think twice about sending her daughter and her friends to fight Ultra Beasts. Especially after everything that her family had gone through with Ultra Beasts.

Lilie had been traumatized by years because of a bad experience with an Ultra Beast. Mohn had gone missing through an Ultra Wormhole. Lusamine herself had been fused with an Ultra Beast that had made her attack her own children and their friends. Lusamine should know better than anybody just how dangerous Ultra Beasts could be, and she still didn't hesitate to send a bunch of children after them.

Maybe Kukui would have a word with her about this. He may even ask Burnet to join in the conversation as a mediator. Kukui knew that Burnet cared about Ash and the other kids, and she also knew Lusamine fairly well, because of her work with her. Burnet understood enough about both sides that she may be able to help them stay on track and have a discussion instead of devolving into an argument.

Kukui sat up and looked towards his students. It looked like his plan had worked, as they all looked to be either asleep or at least dozing. Hopefully they would stay that way for at least a few hours. Kukui just hoped that there wasn't a new mission for the Ultra Guardians. If Lisamine tried to give the kids yet another assignment so soon, then Kukui would forget about even trying to be civil about this. He wouldn't hesitate to give Lusamine a piece of his mind, because these kids needed a break. Someone else could handle an emergency for today. Lusamine herself could do it, she was definitely more than capable.

Hopefully it wouldn't come to that though. The kids were asleep, Burnet had told him that she would let him know just as soon as they had even a glimpse of unusual activity, and everything was quiet for now. Kukui was still frustrated with Lusamine, and worried about his kids, but at the moment, nothing was wrong. Kukui knew the peace and quiet wouldn't last, and he wanted to prepare for the worst, but that could wait just a little longer. Right now, he should enjoy the peace and try to get some sleep himself, because he really was tired too.

Maybe he'd feel better after a nap.

 

Chapter 31
Kukui frowned and put his hands into his coat pockets. He closed his hands around his pokéballs. Incineroar and Braviary were like his brothers. They were always there for him when he needed them. Even when they were in their pokéballs, Kukui always felt better just knowing they were there. Kukui didn't always need to rely on his pokémon as emotional supports, but when he needed them, it was nice to not have to worry about it.

And today, after unexpectedly being confronted with his past, he definitely needed support from his pokémon, and his family.

"Hey, Professor, are you okay?" Ash asked in a concerned, quiet voice. They were walking home from the pokémon school. Ash had been strangely quiet the whole time, even though he would normally talk Kukui's ear off on the way home. Kukui had a lot on his mind, so he was stuck in his own world a bit, but he hadn't meant to worry Ash so much.

"I'm fine," Kukui said, but it just didn't sound convincing to him so he fixed it. "Well, I will be fine...later." Even though that was the truth, it still didn't sound convincing. He sounded like he was an emotional mess, which was odd, because Kukui didn't really feel like an emotional mess. Kukui just felt...honestly, he didn't even know how he felt. He hadn't even fully processed what had happened. He just felt somewhat numb.

Ash stopped walking, and Kukui paused with him. "Is this because of Guzma?"

Kukui sighed. "Yeah, that's a big part of it," It had been so long since Kukui had seen Guzma, so to see him show up so suddenly at the pokémon school was concerning, and difficult to deal with. "He hasn't changed at all since the last time I saw him," Kukui had been surprised to see Guzma, and it was unnerving just how angry and bitter he was, even after all this time. It was like all of Guzma's frustrations had lingered and festered until he had been completely consumed by it. "At the same time though, he's so different that I barely recognized him." It was like the Guzma that Kukui had seen today was a combination of all of the worst parts of the Guzma that Kukui had once known.

"So you did know Guzma," Ash gave him a small smile.

"I used to," Kukui frowned and looked out towards the ocean. He tightened his grip on his pokéballs.

"Were you guys friends?" Ash asked, sounding genuinely curious, like he honestly didn't know. Kukui didn't blame him, sometimes he didn't even know how to define the relationship that they'd had. Acquaintances didn't seem to cover enough, but friends didn't seem quite right either. Even when they'd been on decent terms with each other, things had still been tense and often competitive between the two of them.

"Sometimes we were," Kukui said. Years ago, it had seemed like they'd had no one else except for each other. It was hard to not consider someone you were so close to a friend. "Other times, we just couldn't get along and it seemed like we hated each other."

"Oh," Ash nodded as though he understood. "So, you were rivals."

Kukui blinked. He'd been trying to figure out how to define his relationship with Guzma for years, and here Ash had put a word to it in mere seconds. "Yeah, I guess you could say that, though not in the way that you and Kiawe or Gladion are." He'd heard Ash refer to both the other boys as rivals, but he was friends with them first and foremost.

"Of course not, but there are lots of different kinds of rivals," Ash said. "A rivalry can be two friends who just have similar goals, so it's more like a friendly competition than anything. But a rivalry can also be with two people who have completely different ways of doing things, so it's kinda a battle of ideals." Ash grinned and rubbed his nose. "Or a rivalry can happen because there's not a lot of respect between people."

Kukui carefully thought about it. At first it seemed like the second situation fit their situation best. He and Guzma definitely had different ideologies. Ever since he was a little kid Kukui had been fascinated with Z-moves and even today he was passionate about it, while Guzma had always been frustrated with the very concept of Z-moves because he didn't completely understand them.

But actually thinking about it Kukui realized that their passionate differing opinions naturally lead to them both thinking that the other was wrong. That was just the nature of disagreeing. OKukui normally thought that there was nothing wrong with a little healthy disagreement, but when those opinions were bordering on obsessive and were fueled by bitter anger, those differing opinions could easily turn into complete disrespect.

Kukui was worried that this was what was going on between him and Guzma, that there was disrespect on both sides.

Ash seemed to notice that Kukui's mood had worsened. "I've had a lot of different rivalries. A bunch of them were good friends the whole time. One of them we started as friends, and then we just started hating each other for a long time before we went back to being friends. This one rival though, I just couldn't get along with him from the start. Paul didn't think how i was training my pokémon was effective, I thought he was too mean to his pokémon. It took us a long time to even admit that the other wasn't just a good battler, but a good trainer."

They respected each other. Right now, Kukui would give anything to have that kind of relationship with Guzma. "What changed?"

"Chimchar," Ash smiled. "Paul had this Chimchar that he saw a lot of potential in, but no matter what he tried, he just couldn't get it to the level that he wanted. Paul eventually decided that the effort wasn't worth it, and he released Chimchar. I had Chimchar join me, and I was able to help it get even stronger. Paul was able to see that my way of training my pokémon can bring out more than just friendliness, and working with Chimchar I realized that just because Paul was tough on his pokémon doesn't mean that he's unfeeling towards them." Ash laughed slightly. "I mean, it also helped that we saw each other more and more, so we didn't just know how the other trained, but we also got to see it in practice for ourselves."

It sounded pretty incredible, but it definitely wasn't something that could work for everybody. "I don't think Guzma would be all that up for learning my point of view," Kukui said. He reluctantly thought to himself that he would probably be just as hesitant to really know what Guzma's intentions were. They were both at fault here.

"Honestly, I didn't think that Paul would be up for it either," Ash at Kukui and gave him a small smile. "I just thought I'd say something because you don't look very happy about your current relationship with Guzma. I thought you might like to know that you can change it, if you want."

Ash was so optimistic. As much as he'd seen and been through, he was still naive about the world, but Kukui wouldn't want Ash to be any other way. Kukui didn't agree with Ash's idealistic view, but it was nice to think about, and it was something to at least consider. And who knows, maybe if children could change from being rivals to having a mature respect, then two people who used to be so close could repair their relationship...and now Ash's optimism was spreading.

Kukui had felt so horrible earlier, and he still felt off and it would take him time to feel better, but maybe that was just what he needed. Maybe time was all he and Guzma both needed. Not time apart from each other, because they'd had more than enough of that, but time dedicated to actually improving their relationship.

Maybe Guzma wouldn't be interested in it, but Kukui liked to think that his old friend had at least some desire to return to the way that the things had been before, back when their relationship had been at its best. If Guzma had even a tiny interest in being friends again, then maybe they had a chance after all...Not that big of a chance, because they were both way too stubborn and passionate for their own good.

But Ash was pretty stubborn and passionate as well. If he could change, maybe they could too...maybe.

 

Chapter 32
Kukui was usually a pretty easy going guy, but everybody had their limits, and there were a few things that he had little patience for. Badly organized public events where the people in charge cared more about the success of the event than the safety of the participants. People who treated their pokémon badly and had no intention of improving themselves. People who didn't have the Alola spirit, and resented those who did.

Another thing that caused Kukui to feel anger boil up within him anytime he thought about it was Malie City. He knew he was being unreasonable and silly, but he couldn't help it. Everybody had something silly that they got angry at even though nobody else could understand it. Kukui had tried to explain his annoyance to Burnet once, but she'd just laughed and kissed his cheek, telling him that Malie City was just for fun, a harmless tourist trap that actually educated the people in Alola about the cultures of other places.

On principal, Kukui had no problem with it. In fact, he loved the idea. Unlike many people in ALola, Kukui had been to other regions, and he loved everywhere he'd been. He loved seeing just how different the region's culture and tradition was from Alola's, and what he liked even more was seeing how similar they were. Kukui loved Alola, but other regions were incredible as well, and he would love to share that appreciation with his people.

Malie City was not the way to go about doing that.

The region was meant to be inspired by the Johto and Kanto regions. The buildings and architecture had clear influence from the Johto region. People who weren't all that familiar with regions outside their own, whose only knowledge about other cultures came from what they'd seen on the television, would think that the architecture was authentic. It really wasn't.

Now, the architecture on its own wasn't all that insulting. It wasn't exactly like the buildings in Johto, but it was a nice homage. Kukui still got annoyed when people stared in awe at the 'Kantonian' buildings. Kanto and Johto may be right next to each other, but culturally they were completely different.

If it was just the architecture, Kukui wouldn't have a problem with it. He would roll his eyes a bit, but still smile fondly at the somewhat familiar looking buildings. What Kukui really didn't like about Malie City was that they turned the Johto influence of their buildings into their main tourist attraction, and then they built up on it.

They started offering tours, renting out 'real' Johto outfits that looked like mockeries of traditional Johto outfits that they'd worn only for special occasions, certainly not every day. As far as Kukui was concerned, the people of Johto and their culture weren't there for tourist amusement. They were people, not stereotypes.

The cherry on top of the cultural monstrosity was the Kantonion gym. One of his favorite things about Kanto had been the gym and leagues. Each of the gyms had their own personality and style, and they all represented something beautiful about the Kanto region, at least as far as Kukui was concerned. The so called 'Kantonion' gym at Malie City was none of that, it was the biggest stereotype in Malie City, and yet the people at the gym frequently proclaimed how 'real' and 'authentic' the gym was.

The Kantonion gym in Malie City had a ninja theme, which in and of itself wasn't all that bad, as there was a ninja culture in Kanto, except the Kantonion gym made it seem like everybody in Kanto practiced the art of ninjutsu. The architecture of the building was also inspired much more on temples in Johto than ninja dojos, and yet in Malie City they were talked about as if they were interchangeable.

It was an innocent enough mistake, except that for many people in Alola, Malie City and the Kantonion gym were their only exposure to the regions of Kanto and Johto. If they ever went to visit these regions and saw sacred temple in Johto, they may just think that there were ninjas living in the place. In this case, someone visiting Kanto or Johto could really insult somebody because of their ignorance.

Kukui loved the Kanto region too much to see Malie City and its more touristy attractions as just a place to have some innocent fun. He didn't like the place, no matter how many excuses he heard for it. So when Ash had told him that he and his friends were going to Malie City and asked if Kukui wanted to join them, his answer was immediate.

"Absolutely not," Kukui said without a second thought. Ash seemed surprised about Kukui's bitter tone.

"A-are you busy?" Ash asked. Kukui shook his head.

"No, I just don't like Malie City." Kukui said honestly. He felt like it had become a mockery and insult to everything great about the Johto and Kanto regions, and he had only ever been a visitor to those regions. He imagined that natives to the Johto or Kanto regions, or even from Hoenn or Sinnoh, would be insulted as well...actually…

Kukui frowned slightly. "Are you sure about going to Malie City?" Kukui asked. He didn't want to tell Ash what to do, as ultimately it would be his decision, but his tone made it clear that he didn't think it was a good idea. Ash frowned at him.

"Do you not think I should go?" Ash asked, and Kukui knew that if he truly advised that Ash not go to Malie City, the boy would trust him and stay home. That wasn't exactly what Kukui wanted.

"I think you should do what you want," Kukui said, and he meant it. Ash was old enough to make his own decisions. "Just...do you know what Malie City is?"

Ash's expression brightened. "Lillie said it's like visiting a city in Johto," Ash laughed and rubbed his nose. "But Kiawe said it's a Kanto city, so I'm not sure."

"It's a little bit of both," Kukui said with a slight grimace. "At least, that's what Malie City claims, and the inspiration is definitely there, but, well, it's not all that accurate."

Ash chuckled. "I kinda expected that. I mean, every region is so different, even from city to city. And I have been to Malie City when I went to take the grand trial on Ula'ula Island," Kukui had nearly forgotten that Ash had, in fact, been to Malie City. "The buildings looked like a mix between Alola and Johto. It was awesome. I just thought that the rest of the city, the part we would be exploring, would be the same,"

"Uh, not quite," Kukui grimaced. If Malie City was combining elements of Johto and Kanto with Alolan culture, Kukui would be fine with it. It would somehow feel more authentic to him. The Alolan people loved their region, and that love would shine through and leak into Johto and Kanto regions. Even if it wasn't any more authentic, more heart would be behind it.

"To me, Malie City feels like what you would see in a movie. More of a caricature than anything, except everybody else thinks that's how it really is." Kukui said. "I just don't like it. But everybody else enjoys Malie City, so you might have fun there. I just want you to know what you're getting into."

Ash thought quietly for a moment. "I think...I want to give it a try." Ash beamed broadly. "I love Kanto, but it's such a small region, and some people only know of Kanto for being small, or think that makes it not as good. From what I've heard, Malie City has a lot of love for two regions that I really love. If I wanted to go to a Johto or Kanto city, I could just go back home." Ash's eyes seemed to sparkle with sincerity and innocence. "But I also love Alola, and I want to see two regions that I love through the eyes of another region I love. I want to see what Alola loves about Kanto and Johto."

Kukui didn't like Malie City, and that hadn't changed. He was passionate about his opinion, but he could tell that Ash was passionate about his, and Kukui actually really respected Ash for that. The boy was a Kanto native, but not only did he expect cultural inaccuracies, he almost seemed to be looking forward to it. He saw any positive view about his home region and neighboring region as an honor, no matter how inaccurate that view may be.

Kukui really admired Ash for his view. He was much more mature about it than Kukui was. The man actually hoped that Ash's opinion didn't change after visiting Malie City.

"I look forward to hearing about your trip," Kukui said, and to his surprise he actually meant it. He really wanted to hear about what Ash, someone from Kanto, thought of Malie City after being there. "How about after you all get back we have a lesson in class about the cultures of Johto and Kanto, see how Malie City compares."

Ash smiled brightly, a sweet smile that Kukui really loved seeing from Ash. It was so pure, like he couldn't be happier or more content. "That sounds really great, Professor," Ash said. "Oh, maybe in Malie City they'll have food actually from Kanto or Johto, and we can use that food and make some malasadas based off of them to share with the class."

"Kanto and Johto inspired traditional Alolan treats," Kukui grinned. "That sounds like a great idea. I'm sure you can find some ingredients that we can work with."

"I'll keep an eye out for something," Ash said, and he sounded excited. Ash may travel a lot and wasn't home very often, but it was clear that Ash really loved his home region. As much as Kukui didn't like Malie City, maybe going there and being exposed to something that at least somewhat resembled his home would be good for him.

Just as long as Kukui didn't have to go to Malie City himself, because he still didn't like that place.

 

Part 33
Kukui couldn't keep a fond smile off his face. He didn't stop to think about his past and childhood very often. With his early adult life, Kukui went out of his way to not think about it because it was just too painful. It was stained with the bitter relationship that he'd come to have with Guzma. As for Kukui's childhood, it wasn't that he actively avoided thinking about it. He'd had a nice enough childhood. The only reason he didn't think about it all that often was because it was so long ago, and he had so many other things on his mind, like the present, the future of him and his family, and the wellbeing of his students.

Today though Burnet had found his old book of pokémon super moves. He hadn't seen that thing in ages, or the photograph that he'd hidden away in the pages. In a single moment he was bombarded by memories of his being a little kid.

Kukui didn't actually remember a lot from when he was five years old. Just a few strong moments stuck out to him. He remembered that he carried his book around with him everywhere he went. He remembered watching Hala's matches, but he couldn't remember the details of any of those matches, just that he'd been there.

The only thing that Kukui remembered with strong detail was the day that he'd met that boy, the Move Kahuna. When he was really young, Kukui didn't have a lot of friends. He was too absorbed in watching pokémon battles to try to find some other common ground with his peers. He probably could have bonded with some other pokémon fans if it weren't for the fact that when he was little, Kukui had been a real arrogant brat when it came to pokémon moves. It was a little embarrassing to remember, and Kukui didn't really blame the other kids for being a little off put about his untamed enthusiasm.

Back then, Kukui hadn't minded not having many friends his age. He got to watch Hala's battles, and he was friends with all the pokémon in the forest. He even had his own pokémon, despite his young age. As a little kid, he hadn't thought that he'd needed much more than that.

And then he'd met the Move Kahuna, an older kid who encouraged his enthusiasm for pokémon and battles, and someone who shared that enthusiasm with him. But Kukui had met a lot of people who enjoyed battling. What stuck out to him about the Move Kahuna was that he was kind. The older boy loved to talk about what he was excited about, but he was just as eager to be quiet and listen as Kukui had gotten excited.

Something that a lot of adults forget about children was that a big thing that they wanted was to be acknowledged as an equal. The Move Kahuna had known more about battles than Kukui had, but he didn't act like he knew more. Move Kahuna had listened to Kukui's knowledge just as much as he gave his own, and he'd also patiently provided answers and encouragement to Kukui's questions.

Move Kahuna had been older and more experienced than Kukui, and they'd only known each other for a short time, but Move Kahuna had still treated him with respect, like they were equals. Move Kahuna hadn't just talked to Kukui, he'd talked with him, and that meant a lot to a five year old child.

Kukui had never forgotten about the boy. Even when he wasn't actively thinking about him, Kukui was impacted much more than the older boy would probably ever know. Sometimes Kukui wondered what happened to Move Kahuna. He would have liked to see him again.

"Hey, professor," Kukui looked up to see Ash staring at him, looking amused. "You look really happy."

"I'm just feeling really sentimental right now," Kukui said. "Burnet found an old picture of me as a little kid, and it's just bringing back a lot of fond memories."

"A picture?" Ash's eyes widened excitedly. "Can I see?" He sounded so eager that Kukui couldn't help but laugh in amusement.

"Yeah, sure," Kukui shrugged. It was a little embarrassing, but Burnet had seen the picture, it was only fair that Ash could as well. "It's in a little book on top of my desk downstairs." Without another word Ash dashed downstairs. Kukui didn't know what was so amazing about his childhood that had Burnet and Ash so excited. Maybe he should talk about his past a little more. It shouldn't be such a secret to his wife and surrogate child.

Kukui had expected Ash to come running back upstairs in a matter of seconds. Kukui knew that his book of pokémon super moves was the only one on the desk. It should be easy enough to find. He didn't know what was taking Ash so long.

After almost a minute Kukui looked towards the stairs. "Ash, is everything okay down there?" He called out. A moment later Ash came up the stairs, the book in his hands. Kukui frowned slightly when he saw a somewhat serious, very confused look on Ash's face. The boy seemed deep in thought.

After a moment Ash looked up to Kukui. "Is this your book?"

Kukui didn't understand Ash's confusion. "Yeah, I've had it since I was a child," Kukui held out his hand and Ash handed him the book. Kukui opened it and pulled out the picture of him and Litten. He held the picture out to Ash and pointed to the book tucked away under his younger self's arm. "See?"

Ash slowly accepted the picture, staring at it in awe that Kukui just didn't understand. Ash looked up at Kukui, and then back to the picture, and back to Kukui. "This...this is you?" Why did he sound so confused. Kukui knew that some kids had a hard time imagining adults as ever being anything other than adults, but he hadn't thought that Ash was that way.

"Yes, it is," Kukui said.

"But...but that's Roarie," Ash said quietly. Kukui froze and stared at Ash in shock. That name...the only other person who knew that name was Move Kahuna, how could Ash possibly…

"Move Kahuna," Kukui said breathlessly. A look of recognition flashed in Ash's eyes. He knew that nickname, which meant...but how was that possible?

Burnet looked from Ash to Kukui, looking completely lost. "What's going on with you two?"

Ash didn't look away from Kukui. "Me and Torracat met someone in the forest today. We battled, and we helped a Totem Trevenant,"

"Elder," Kukui felt a pang in his chest at the thought of his old friend. "It died a few years ago." Sometimes Kukui still went into that forest to visit the spot where Trevenant's tree was.

"Yeah, I saw that," Ash said with a small, sad smile. "But I also met Elder today, and it was fine." Ash's brow furrowed in confusion. "How could I meet a pokémon that's already dead?" Technically, pokémon could be spirits after they passed, same as humans could sometimes. Ghost type pokémon like Trevenant were especially likely to return as spirits, but Kukui had the feeling that it wasn't what had happened.

"I think I may have an idea," Burnet said with a gentle smile. She looked to Rotom Dex. "How about you show them that picture you took today?"

Rotom Dex, who always loved to show off its discoveries, was only far too eager to show them its latest picture. Kukui and Ash both leaned in towards Rotom Dex's screen and stared in shock at the picture. It wasn't the best quality, but it was obvious to both of them just what pokémon they were looking at.

"A-a Celebi?" Kukui stared at it in awe.

"...oh," Ash blinked and looked back at Kukui. "Time travel. I guess that's how I was able to meet Elder."

"So...you were actually…" Kukui had a hard time wrapping his head around it. It just didn't seem possible, and not just because of the time travel.

Ash didn't seem nearly as caught up on just what his experience that day meant. He just seemed excited. "I guess you met me before I even came to Alola."

"Burnet chuckled slightly. "I'm pretty sure he met you before you were ever born." They were both treating this like it was just the most normal thing in the world. They were able to joke and laugh about it, but they didn't know what this meant to Kukui. They had no idea what this meant to him at all.

Kukui had to take a long moment to gather himself before he fully understood it, and once he did, he couldn't hold himself back. Kukui blinked as he felt his eyes get wet. He wrapped his arms around Ash's shoulders and pulled him close. Kukui took in a deep breath as he held Ash tightly.

"Professor?: Ash shifted ever so slightly, not in an attempt to pull away, but to make himself more comfortable. "Are you okay?"

"I've never been better," Kukui gave a wet laugh. "You have no idea how much you've changed my life,"

"What?" Kukui could hear the confusion in Ash's voice. "What did I do?"

What didn't he do? Kukui didn't think he would ever be able to show his appreciation to the boy who had helped him to become who he was, and now, he could do just that. "Ash, you...you taught me what I should strive to be like. When I was little, I was so excited and impatient. I wanted to experience everything, and I wanted it all right then."

"Is...that doesn't sound like there's anything wrong with that," Ash said. "I get really excited too."

But when I met you that day...today...whatever you want to say," Kukui pulled back just enough so he could look Ash in the eyes. "You were still excited, but you were also really soft spoken."

Ash blinked. "I was?"

Kukui nodded. That much he was absolutely sure of. "You showed me that I could be eager while not being too intense, and I've tried to live that way since then."

"I...how did I do that?" Ash still looked extremely confused. "What did I do?"

"It wasn't in what you did or what you said," Kukui said, because after all this time he barely remembered the specifics, but he distinctly remembered how he'd felt while talking to Ash that day. "It was how you did it. You didn't talk to me like I was a little kid, but you didn't expect me to know more than someone my age normally would. You just...let me be who I was, and yet also encouraged me to be better. It was that balance that I wanted to adopt myself and what I've been trying to do with my students. If it weren't for you, I promise you, I wouldn't be who I am today."

"I...I didn't even do anything that special," Ash said.

"You were kind," Kukui said. "You treated me like I mattered, and that my opinion mattered, and while you may not understand why that's special because it's just who you are, it's just about the best thing you can do for someone."

Ash seemed to be taking his words to heart, which Kukui was relieved about. Ash was such a good kid, and Kukui didn't want that to be something that he grew out of. It would be a horrible tragedy if Ash became hardened by the world. "Just...never change," Kukui pulled Ash close again. "Never stop being kind. You have no idea just how much you affect the people around you."

"I...I'll do my best," Ash said sincerely, and Kukui trusted his word. Ash was gentle and kind because he cared about people, and he wasn't shy, so he wasn't afraid to show it. Ash leaned into Kukui's embrace. "You know, it was really cool to get to know you a little more today,"

Kukui chuckled. He didn't know if Ash was talking about when he met young Roarie, or when he heard Kukui talking about just how much of an impact he'd had on him, but he didn't know if it mattered. Knowing Ash, it was probably both. "Ash, the greatest joy in my life has been getting to know you." As a child who looked up to a cool older kid, or as an adult who was the temporary guardian of an amazing boy, Kukui's life had definitely been changed because of Ash, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

 

Chapter 34
Kukui yawned and stretched as he walked down the beach. He felt sore all over. It had been an incredibly long day, and he would have an equally long day tomorrow, and the day after that. His lifelong dream was finally becoming a reality. He was excited, but also absolutely exhausted. It wasn't easy to organize a whole pokémon league, especially since he was doing it practically on his own. Kukui knew that all of this work would be worth it, but that didn't mean that he didn't need a nap...or the chance to sleep for a week when all of this was over.

Kukui had to practically drag his feet up the steps to his house. It was much later than he would normally come home. The sun had set hours ago, and Kukui knew that Ash and Burnet were probably already asleep. Kukui was a little disappointed that he probably wouldn't be able to see them until morning, but it wasn't anything he hadn't expected. This was just one of the sacrifices that he would have to make for the next coming weeks.

Kukui blinked rapidly to try to get his eyes to be less heavy as he opened the front door and went inside. All of the lights were off, so the first thing that Kukui did was turn on the kitchen lights. He was really tired and just wanted to go downstairs and get some sleep, but he really shouldn't yet. Kukui hadn't eaten anything since lunch, nearly twelve hours ago.

Kukui opened the fridge with a frown as he tried to think of something filling, but would be quick to make. He didn't really feel like eating anything, but he knew he really should. He needed to be responsible about eating food when he needed it, not just when he thought he wanted it.

Kukui sighed and closed the fridge door. He turned to the rest of the kitchen and blinked at what he saw. The kitchen wasn't exactly dirty, but Kukui could see clear signs that it hadn't exactly been cleaned very well. Kukui could see water streaks on the counter, like too much water had been used when washing things down, and they hadn't been dried properly. There was a thin line of dirt on the floor, like someone had tried sweeping, but couldn't figure out how to get all of the dirt into the dust pan. Kukui also thought he saw foot shaped smudges on the counter, just beneath some of the higher cupboards. It looked like Ash had tried to clean the kitchen.

Kukui grinned fondly as he grabbed a sponge and quickly cleaned up the smudges and streaks. He also wiped up the small amount of dirt on the floor. In just a minute of effort from Kukui, the kitchen was completely clean. Ash may not have done a perfect job, but he'd done good enough, and Kukui really appreciated it.

As Kukui put the sponge back in the sink he noticed a covered bowl sitting on the counter. It looked like there was a note on it. Curious, Kukui leaned over to look at the note. From the handwriting he could immediately tell that it was from Ash.

Hey, Professor. Professor Burnet worked late today, so I thought I'd make dinner for all of us. I'm not sure how good it is, but it was a lot of fun to make! I made a really big mess in the kitchen though. I tried to clean it, but I don't know how good I did.

If you don't like what I made, that's okay. I just made it up as I went. You really don't have to eat it, but you should at least eat something.

I hope that putting together the pokémon league is going okay. I can't wait to compete in it! I'll see you tomorrow, Professor,

-Ash

Kukui smiled as he saw the note. Ash was always willing to go above and beyond to help out around the house, but there was a difference between a child doing ocasional chores, and them cooking and cleaning for the whole family because the adults were too busy. When Ash had first come here, Kukui had been planning on taking care of the boy. He never would have guessed that Ash would take care of him and Burnet as well. He really appreciated it.

Kukui set the note on the counter and uncovered the bowl. He had expected a simple dish, something like eggs or rice. He was really surprised when he saw a poke bowl. It wasn't exactly a complicated dish, but certainly more than Kukui would expect a child to make. Kukui picked up the bowl and gave the food a try.

It wasn't anything absolutely extraordinary, and Kukui hadn't expected it to be. Ash was a child, not a professional chef, or even anybody who was in the habit of making food for himself, let alone for others. It wasn't half bad though. Actually, Kukui thought it was better than some of the things he'd thrown together when he was on his own and couldn't be bothered to put a lot of effort into anything.

It was only after Kukui started eating did he realize just how hungry he was. He ate all of it in record time. It wasn't a perfect dish. Ash had gone a little overboard with the spices and flavoring, so it was a little uneven, and some completely raw vegetables had been added that didn't really go with the raw fish, but it wasn't the biggest mistake in cooking that someone could make.

When Kukui was finished he quickly washed the bowl and utensils and wet them aside to dry. He turned the kitchen light off as he made his way out. He was beyond ready for bed, but there was one more thing he wanted to do first.

Kukui knew that Ash was probably asleep, as he should be, but he just wanted to see him. Kukui had been gone all day. He hadn't seen Ash since school, and he hadn't truly spent some time with the boy for nearly a week now.

Kukui climbed up the ladder and peeked up into the loft. Ash was there, sprawled on the couch, looking like he was going to fall off of it any second now. Kukui chuckled slightly when he saw the way that Ash's blanket was more on the floor than over him. The only reason that the blanket hadn't fallen completely was because a corner of the blanket was trapped between Ash's legs.

Kukui climbed the rest of the way into the loft. Ash may have a tendency to push his covers off of him, but Kukui at least wanted to try to get Ash more comfortable. He moved to the boy and pulled the blanket back up over him. Ash shifted and whined slightly. The boy opened his eyes ever so slightly and blinked at him.

"...Professor," Ash seemed to snuggle more into his blanket. "You're home,"

"Sorry about waking you," Kukui apologized. Ash shook his head.

"I don't mind," Ash said. "It's good to see you. It feels like so long since we've seen each other, even though we were both at school earlier,"

Kukui grinned. "I know the feeling," He really did. "I saw the food you left out earlier,"

Ash grinned, looking more awake suddenly. "Did you like it?"

"I loved it," Kukui said. The food may have just been okay, but the fact that Ash had made it for him and Burnet was what Kukui loved more than anything else. "What made you decide to go for a poke bowl?"

"I remembered Burnet making it once," Ash said. "And I used to help my mom make sushi and sashimi. They seemed really similar, so I thought it would be okay." Now that Kukui was thinking about it, Ash's poke bowl had flavors that were a lot more like Kantonian sashimi than Alolan poke.

"It definitely worked," Kukui assured Ash. "You really didn't have to make dinner for us though." Kukui felt bad just leaving Ash to his own devices for the evening, he shouldn't have had to make food for himself, let alone for Kukui and Burnet.

"I know," Ash acknowledged. "But I wanted to." And how was Kukui supposed to argue with that? He could tell that Ash really meant it, that he'd really wanted to make dinner for them. Kukui may not think that Ash should have to take on that much responsibility, but if it was what he really wanted to do, and it wasn't doing him any harm, why should Kukui discourage that?

"How is the Alolan league going?" Ash asked, and there was an excited spark in his eyes.

"It's definitely coming along," Kukui sat at the edge of the couch, just in front of Ash's feet. "The activities committee is trying to convince me to let them be a part of this."

"Why don't you want their help again?" Ash sat up. "I thought the activity committee's job was to put together activities. I thought they were pretty good at it."

"They're good at making things entertaining to watch," Kukui admitted. He could give them credit for that. "But they often prioritize that over the safety of the participants, and I don't want any part of that." Kukui would rather struggle to figure things out himself than allow the activities committee to take over and ruin everything. This was Kukui's dream, and he wasn't about to compromise it just because it would be easier.

"Is there anything else you're having a hard time with?" Ash asked. "Maybe I can help."

"Honestly, it's just some last minute planning I have to come up with," Kukui said. "I'm mostly just trying to figure out if we should have a referee aside from the Island Kahunas.

Ash frowned slightly. "You want a fifth referee? Why?"

"I want the matches to be as fair as possible, and exactly who is looking over the match contributes a lot to that," Kukui said.

Ash nodded. "Oh, yeah, because some referees might say that a match is over as soon as a pokémon is slightly dazed, and another might wait for a long time, giving the pokémon time to recover."

"Exactly," Kukui said. "I know the Island Kahunas will do their best to be impartial and fair, but sometimes it's not something you can help." Ash looked confused, so Kukui decided to share some specific scenarios he had thought of. "Like, think of Hau. He's planning on joining the league, right?" Ash nodded. "I wouldn't want Hala to referee any of Hau's matches, because they're related."

"Do you think that Hala would show favoritism towards Hau?" Ash asked with a small frown.

"No, I don't," Kukui said honestly. He knew Hala too well to believe that he would let his own personal opinions about an individual cloud his judgement and responsibilities. "But others may think that he would, and I don't want anybody to think that the league is rigged or unfair."

"I never thought of that before," Ash grinned. He seemed genuinely interested in what Kukui was saying. "Is Hala and Hau the only refereeing you don't want?"

"Honestly, I would prefer it if no Island Kahuna ends up looking over a match that any of the participants have any firm connection to," Kukui said. "But I also want all of the referees to be over the same number of matches. I can't even plan ahead as much as I would like to, because we don't know exactly who is going to be competing."

"You've really put a lot of thought into this," Ash said with a smile. "I can't wait for the league,"

"Neither can I," Kukui said honestly. He could probably talk about the league for hours, and he knew that Ash would be more than happy to listen to what he had to say, but just because it was something that they both wanted didn't mean that it would be a good idea to go through with it. "It's late, and we have school tomorrow," Kukui put his hand on Ash's head, ruffling the boy's hair a bit. "We'd better get some sleep."

"Yeah, okay," Ash laid back down. "Goodnight, Professor," Kukui gave Ash a small smile as he got to his feet.

"Goodnight," Kukui adjusted the blanket, folding more of it over Ash so that the weight of the blanket wouldn't just pull itself down. "I'll see you in the morning." Kukui lingered for a moment in the loft, watching as Ash tried to snuggle with the blanket. Finally Kukui pulled himself away from watching his ward and climbed back down the ladder. He made his way downstairs, ready to get some sleep, eagerly looking forward to tomorrow.

 

Chapter 35
Kukui felt completely drained, partially physically, but mostly emotionally. The Alola League had finally started. It was supposed to be one of the best days of his life, but he felt like he was going to be sick. It felt like everything was falling apart, and he didn't know what to do about it.

For so many years Kukui had wished that he'd be able to get a second chance to make things right with Guzma, and now his old friend was competing in his league. This should be just the chance he was waiting for, but it was already going wrong. He had invited Guzma to join the League. He'd meant the invitation, and he still did, but not like this.

Guzma hadn't joined the League because he wanted to have fun, or because he wanted to prove to the people of Alola that you didn't need to use Z-moves to be an accomplished trainer. No, Guzma was competing because he wanted to ruin Kukui's league. This was his form of revenge, and it didn't feel right, and really wasn't fair. This wasn't what his League was for. It wasn't what battling was for.

"Professor?" Kukui swallowed thickly and tried to steel his expression when he heard Ash's quiet, cautious tone. He had freaked out and completely lost himself after his confrontation with Guzma. He'd worried his students enough for today, he didn't want to make Ash any more concerned than he already was.

"What's up, Ash?" Kukui asked.

"I was wanting to ask you that," Ash gave him a small smile. He sat down on the grassy area of the audience seats right next to where Kukui was. "Team Skull was really horrible today."

"They were minor annoyances," Kukui said. "Nothing I couldn't handle."

Ash's smile fell slightly. "So is this all just because of Guzma?"

Kukui let his composure slip. "I don't know what I was expecting from him, but it definitely wasn't this." The hate and raw anger in Guzma's eyes, and the way that it had all been directed straight to him, it hurt. "I feel like if only I had done things differently, maybe-"

"No," Ash said sharply in a tone that just didn't suit him at all. Kukui turned in shock towards his student. Ash's brow was furrowed and he was glaring at the grass, which he was clutching tightly in his hands. "It's not your fault," Ash took a deep breath before looking up at Kukui, the glare in his eyes replaced with an almost sad looking determination. "Please, Professor, even if there was something you could have done to make Guzma not so mad at you, that's not your responsibility."

"For a relationship to work well, it's everybody's responsibility to put effort into it." Kukui pointed out grimly.

"Well, yeah, but that doesn't mean that if Guzma doesn't put effort into it, that you should have to put in enough effort for both of you." Ash said. "That's not how it works, and it's not fair to you." Ash loosened his tight grip on the grass. "I know you really want to make things right with Guzma, but if he doesn't give you a chance that's not your fault, it's his."

Ash was right, Kukui knew that he was, but it was hard to accept. He didn't like the thought that there was nothing he could do if Guzma wouldn't let him. He felt like the only thing he could do at this point was keep Guzma's focus and anger on him. He didn't like how Guzma's anger made him feel, but it was better than if Guzma directed that anger at anybody else. Nobody deserved that undeserving hatred, especially not Kukui's students.

He knew that Guzma was ruthless and unforgiving when it came to battling. There wasn't necessarily anything wrong with that, except that Guzma was so focused on winning that he frequently forgot that the point of a pokémon battle should be to have fun and connect with your pokémon.

Kukui was hoping that his students don't forget what was the most important thing. He wanted them all to do their best and give it their all, but not if it meant losing their values.

Kukui looked over at Ash, his student and ward who cared so much about him. Ash had been so upset and even angry on Kukui's behalf. It was touching, but also a little bit concerning.

"Ash, I want you to promise me something," Kukui said sternly, but not unkindly. This was really important, and he wanted Ash to understand it, but he didn't want to force the boy. This had to be Ash's choice.

"What do you need?" Ash asked quickly. He was eager to please Kukui, which was great, but also part of the problem.

"There's a chance that you might face Guzma in the league," Kukui said. It was complete chance who face who throughout the League. Ash might face Guzma in his first match, or all the way in the finals, but what Kukui had to say was just as applicable no matter what point in the league it may happen. "If you do battle him, I want you to promise me that you won't let your frustration get the better of you."

Ash frowned slightly in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I know you're upset with Guzma," Kukui said. "And I appreciate that you're upset on my behalf, but I want you to do your best to not let that affect your battle."

"Why not?" Ash asked. He didn't seem completely against the idea, but he definitely wanted to understand why, which was fair.

"Because that's not what I think battles should be for," Kukui said. "Battle for yourself and for your pokémon. Battle to get stronger, not to get revenge."

Ash frowned thoughtfully. "It's supposed to be a pokémon battle, not a fight."

Kukui brightened slightly. "Yes, exactly." Ash got it. "There are situations where defensive anger can be powerful and useful, and even times when a pokémon battle can be appropriately used that way, but this isn't one of those times."

Ash picked at the grass. He was silent for a moment before he spoke up in a quiet tone. "...When Team Rocket tries to steal pokémon, having a battle to stop them is okay. But when someone's just being a bully or a jerk, fighting with them would just be doing exactly what they're doing. Giving in to a bad attitude."

Kukui gave Ash an appreciative smile. "Guzma only joined the League because he's let his anger over the years build up and get the better of him. I feel horrible about it, but I really don't want any of you kids to make the same mistake that he did. Don't let your anger, even your righteous anger, rule your whole life."

Ash smiled at Kukui. "I'll try really hard, Professor," Ash said sincerely.

"I know you will," Kukui felt more reassured than he probably would have if Ash had just promised him like Kukui had asked him to. Ash hadn't given him any guarantees, but he's assured him that he would try his best, and Kukui knew he would. People sometimes let their emotions get the better of them, it was just part of being human. Even if Ash promised he wouldn't, he still might get caught in the moment. But Ash had just said that he would try, and that was honestly all that Kukui could ask for.

 

Chapter 36
Kukui couldn't stop smiling. The Alolan League had finally started, and it was everything that Kukui could have wished for and more. He watched every single battle, and all of them filled him with so much excitement he felt like he could burst. Even better than that though was that the audience seemed to really be enjoying it as well. Alola had never been as concerned with pokémon battles as other regions were, so Kukui had been a little worried that the league wouldn't really draw people in. Kukui didn't really care about numbers or popularity, but he loved battling, and he wanted to share that love with everybody in Alola. He wanted a small child to watch the league battles and enjoy them so much that they get inspired to learn how to battle for themselves.

That was Kukui's dream, and if he didn't see it happening right before his eyes, he would hardly believe it. In between battles Kukui would often catch children and adults alike battling or training just outside the stadium, so excited about what they had just watched that they wanted to try the moves and strategies out for themselves. The people were excited, and Kukui was excited to see it all happen. This was what a league was for.

Usually after matches Kukui would either walk around and observe the audience's excitement, or he would stay in the stadium and watch as the next battle began. After Ash's battle with Hau though, Kukui felt the need to congratulate and talk to his ward.

Kukui had been trying to distance himself a bit from the participants of the league, especially before their battles. He didn't want to show favoritism towards his students. They all knew that he was quietly cheering them on, he didn't have to make it public. After some of their battles though, Kukui felt the need to check in on them. After Lillie had battled her brother, Kukui had made sure to tell her how proud he was of all the progress she'd made, and how well she had done, even though she'd lost. After Mallow had lost her battle, Kukui had told her how happy and proud he was that she had given it her all, even though she'd probably known the whole time that she was going to lose. It can be difficult to keep trying when you think you're going to fail, but Kukui didn't want any of his students to just give up when things looked hopeless. He wanted them to be proud of themselves and what they had done, and hold their heads high, and that was just what Mallow had done.

Kukui also congratulated his students when they won their battles,, commenting on how much stronger they were. All of them were trying so hard, and Kukui wanted all of his students, whether they won or not, to know that he recognized all of the work they had put into their training.

"Ash!" Kukui called out to his student. Ash was sitting in the waiting room of the pokémon center backstage, probably waiting for Rowlet to be healed from its tough battle.

"Professor," Ash practically lit up. "Did you see the match?"

"I wouldn't have missed it for anything," Kukui tilted Ash's hat down playfully. The boy chuckled. "You were great,"

"It was all Rowlet," Ash said proudly. "It trained so hard to learn a new move just for this battle,"

"I noticed that," Kukui said excitedly. He always loved seeing pokémon moves in action, and he always got excited to see a new move, or a move used in a new, unique way. "How did Rowlet train?" Pokémon could learn moves naturally, but they could also work really hard to learn a move a little early. It didn't always work, but it was so satisfying when it did.

"Toucannon taught him," Ash said. "They worked on it for so long, and it didn't seem like Rowlet was able to quite get it in time for the match. But then Rowlet was able to use feather dance, and it was so cool!"

"Feather dance?" Kukui frowned slightly. He vividly remembered seeing Rowlet's new move, and he knew exactly what feather dance looked like, and they didn't match up. "That wasn't feather dance."

"What?" Ash looked shocked. "That's the move that Toucannon was showing Rowlet though."

"Yes, but that may not mean that was the move that Rowlet picked up," Kukui said. "Learning moves can be really hard, especially when it's being taught by a pokémon of a different species, because different pokémon perform the same move in different ways. If Rowlet was trying to mimic Toucannon's method of doing feather dance, it's not completely out there to think that this method caused Rowlet to learn a new move entirely."

"Why do you think Rowlet didn't learn feather dance?" Ash asked.

"Because while there are a lot of ways that the same move can be done, on their most basic level every move should look basically the same, regardless of the pokémon that uses it," Kukui said. "You saw Toucannon use feather dance?" Ash nodded. "Did it look anything like how Rowlet used it?"

"Well, no," Ash admitted. "I thought that was because Rowlet was feeling under pressure when it dodged the attack."

"See, that's another thing," Kukui said. "Feather dance doesn't dodge an attack. Do you know what it does?"

"It, uh, it lowers the opponent's attack, doesn't it?" Ash said. "That's why we tried to learn it, because we knew that Decidueye was physically stronger than Rowlet. We had to fight smarter,"

"It was a good plan," Kukui said. "But did you see Decidueye's attack lower?"

"No, I guess not," Ash's eyes widened in realization. "When Rowlet used feather dance, it was able to dodge the attack,"

"Not dodge," Kukui corrected. "Rowlet didn't dodge. Rowlet diverted the attack to another target. Feather dance doesn't do that, but there is a move that does," Ash thought about it for a second. Kukui wanted him to figure it out for himself, but the boy seemed to need another hint. "Tell me, what did Rowlet's feather dance look like?"

"It looked like a really feathery copy of Rowlet," Ash said immediately. His eyes widened. "Or a substitute."

"Exactly," Kukui grinned. "Maybe it's still too early to say, but what I saw out there, it didn't look anything like any feather dance that I've ever seen, but it reminded me a lot of substitute."

"Huh," Ash looked towards where Nurse Joy had taken Rowlet to get him recovered. "Can Rowlet even learn substitute?"

"Almost any pokémon can learn substitute," Kukui said. Only a select few learned it naturally, but most any pokémon could learn it if they put effort into learning it.

Ash looked taken aback, but still pleasantly surprised. "Rowlet learned substitute? That's so cool!"

"We'll have to watch Rowlet use his new move a little more," Kukui said. "Just once may not be enough to tell in this case,"

"Can you help me figure it out later?" Ash asked.

"I would love to," Kukui said. "It may be best if we wait until the league is over, when we both have time to work with Rowlet, but there is nothing that I would like more than to work with you two."

"Ash," One of the nurse Joys stepped out of the back room, holding a cheerful looking Rowlet in her arms. "Your pokémon is all healed."

"Thank you so much!" Ash jumped up and took his Rowlet from Nurse Joy. Ash ruffled Rowlet's feather's slightly and hugged him. "You were so great, Rowlet. That new move of yours was so cool." Rowlet chirped and nestled closer to Ash. "We should see if we can figure out how to use it for the next rounds."

"Good luck in your next battle, Ash," Kukui said. "I know you're going to do great,"

"Thanks, Professor," Ash said cheerfully. "We're going to try our best,"

"I know you will," Kukui said. Ash always gave it his all in everything that he did. No matter how far Ash got in the competition, whether he won the whole thing or lost in the next round, Kukui would be so proud of him. He was proud of all of his students. He really had the most incredible kids, and Kukui couldn't wait to see just how far they all went, not just in the league, but in their lives.

 

Chapter 37:

After the pokémon league, Kukui, Ash, and Burnet all returned home together. Kukui immediately sat down on the couch and sat back. This was the first time since he had started organizing the league that he got the chance to really sit down and relax. He'd really loved the league, but he was absolutely exhausted.

Ash joined Kukui on the couch and turned on the television. It was playing back highlights of the league. Kukui grinned as they watched. "Haven't you gotten enough of the league?"

"Not at all," Ash said eagerly. "I could watch matches like this all day,"

"Honestly, so could I," Kukui laughed. "You really were extraordinary, you know."

"Thanks, Professor," Ash grinned and took his eyes away from the television to look at him. "What was your favorite part of it?"

"I loved seeing how far all of you have come," Kukui said, and that was true. His students had all come so far, and he was proud of the progress they had all made. "But my favorite part was being able to battle with you,"

"I loved that battle," Ash's eyes brightened. "It was so much fun."

"It really was," Kukui grinned just at the memory. "It's been so long since I've had a battle like that. I'm sure my pokémon really enjoyed it." They loved battling just as much as Kukui did, but they didn't take the opportunity very much.

"They were all so strong," Ash said. "I didn't even know you had all those pokémon. I just knew about Braviary, and for the longest time I didn't know about it either."

"I wasn't trying to hide them from you," Kukui said apologetically. "My pokémon just like their privacy. Many of them are from other regions, and they attract a lot of attention. They don't really like that too much,"

"Oh," Ash was quiet for a second. "Hey, I know they don't like other people, but I haven't met your sixth pokémon before. Can I...can I meet them?"

Kukui grinned. "Of course," He pulled out his six pokéballs. He figured all of his pokémon deserved to come out and enjoy some celebration tonight. He tossed his pokéballs in the air, letting them all out at once.

Braviary shrieked and flew up to the loft where he decided to perch. Venusaur yawned, stretched, and walked towards the kitchen to watch Burnet as she put together a special meal for all of them. Incineroar went immediately towards Ash's newly evolved Incineroar and began to growl enthusiastically with him. Empoleon began poking at Melmetal in fascination. Lucario saw that the pokémon league was on and sat down on the couch to watch it with them. Then there was Kukui's sixth pokémon, the one that he hadn't used in their battle.

"Ash, this is Ninjask," Kukui gestured to his pokémon. Ninjask hummed excitedly and flew around. Kukui knew his pokémon was both excited to finally meet Ash, who Kukui had told all of his pokémon about, and Ninjask just wanted to show off.

"Wow," Ash jumped to his feet. Pikachu, who had been sitting on Ash's shoulder, leaned forward and sniffed at Ninjask. "I mean, I don't know what pokémon I was expecting, but it wasn't this,"

"I never thought I'd get Ninjask either," Out of the corner of his eye Kukui saw something on the screen. He turned and smiled as he saw what match they were showing. Ash against Guzma. "An old friend gave it to me."

"A friend?" Ash frowned slightly in confusion. When he saw Kukui looking at the match he turned to see it for himself. Understanding came to his eyes. "Guzma gave you his pokémon?"

"He trained really hard to evolve Nincada," Kukui said. Ninjask finally noticed the television and hummed happily when it saw Guzma on the screen. He landed on Lucario's lap and began to watch the match intently. "Do you know what can happen when you evolve Nincada?"

"It evolves into Ninjask," Ash said immediately. He was thoughtful for a moment. "And then I think it's old shell kinda turns into a pokémon too. Shedinja, right?"

"Right," Kukui nodded. "Guzma didn't know if he was ready to train another pokémon, so he took Shedinja and asked me to look after Ninjask." Kukui put his hand on Ninjask's head, petting it slightly. "Ninjask has been with me for years, and I know it really likes me, but sometimes it still feels like I'm just holding onto it for Guzma."

"Ninjask is yours," Ash said instantly. "Even if Guzma had it first." Ash rubbed his nose slightly. "I think Ninjask would have left or let you know by now if it didn't accept you as its trainer. In my experience, pokémon are pretty good about speaking their minds about that kind of thing,"

Kukui chuckled and scratched behind Ninjask's head, slightly under its armor, just where it liked it. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Is Ninjask good at battling?" Ash asked eagerly.

"Well, it's not all that strong," Kukui said. Most bug type pokémon weren't, but the key to being a good trainer of bug type pokémon was recognizing that strength wasn't everything. Strategy was important. That was part of the reason why Kukui had always been a little disappointed in Guzma. His friend was so determined to prove that bug pokémon weren't weak, but when he was faced with a battle where his pokémon might be overpowered, instead of coming up with a strategy, he would run away. Hopefully, after his battle with Ash, Kukui would see a change in Guzma.

"Ninjask is fast though," Kukui said. "I doubt you'll ever meet a pokémon that's as fast as it. If you know how to use that speed it can be really hard to beat."

"I wanna see," Ash said enthusiastically. "Can we have a battle?"

"Don't you think your pokémon are all battled out?" Kukui asked. Ash's pokémon may be all healed from the league, but mentally they still needed a break.

"Yeah, probably," Ash frowned slightly. "What if I use one of your pokémon?" Lucario's ears twitched and he turned to look towards Ash.

Kukui considered that. "That could work," Kukui looked towards Incineroar. Of all his pokémon, Incineroar was most at ease working with someone else, and it might be really good for Ash to be familiar with how an Incineroar battles. Before Kukui could say anything to Incineroar though Lucario got to its feet. Lucario looked intently at Kukui. The pokémon was really eager.

Kukui blinked in shock. "You want to battle?" Of all his pokémon, Lucario was probably the most solitary. It was really cautious around other people. "You understand you would be working with Ash, right? Not me," Lucario nodded, and it almost looked even more excited. Kukui grinned. "Well, if you're sure, who am I to stop you?" He stood up. "Let's go,"

"Yeah," Ash got up. He smiled eagerly at Lucario. "You ready to do this?" Lucario smiled and nodded with just as much excitement. It had been awhile since Kukui had seen Lucario so eager to battle.

When they got outside Lucario put a hand on its chest and closed its eyes. Its black aura sensors on the back of its head stood up on end. Ash closed his eyes and stood just in front of Lucario. He looked really at peace and seemed to be trying to feel for something. Finally Lucario opened its eyes, smiling. It put a hand on Ash's chest and made a questioning noise. Ash laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, I can feel it," Ash said. Kukui didn't know what he was talking about. Before he could ask though Ash and Lucario both turned towards him, ready to go. "We're ready!"

"Let's go," Kukui gestured for Ninjask to come join him.

"Use extreme speed!" Ash called out quickly. Lucario suddenly moved so quickly that it seemed to disappear. Ninjask began to flutter around anxiously, looking for their enemy, and suddenly Lucario appeared and hit Ninjask. Kukui couldn't help but grin. Ash knew that Ninjask was fast, so he had Lucario use a fast move to land the first hit. It was a smart move.

"Slash," Kukui cried out.

"Meet it with close combat," Ash grinned. Lucario dove forward and met Ninjask head on with its own attack. Ninjask's speed should have given it an advantage, but slash was a normal type move while close combat was a fighting type move. Kukui knew that sometimes when you were putting move against move, it wasn't just strength that determined which one beat out. The typings of moves helped determine how the moves did against each other.

"Use leech life," Kukui said. It wasn't an extremely powerful attack, but it could give Ninjask back the health that it had lost when it had been hit by close combat. "Follow it up with X-scissor." Ninjask's leech life had caught Lucario off guard and made it vulnerable to the next attack.

"Get out of close range," Ash called out. Lucario kicked at Ninjask to hit it away so it could move. Lucario ran down the sand and returned to Ash's side. Slash and leech life were moves that involved being right up close to the opponent. It was smart of Ash to want Lucario to stay out of range.

That was fine though. Ninjask didn't have to be nearby to land a hit. It had ranged attacks. "Ninask, use shadow ball."

Ash grinned and Lucario smirked. They seemed to be waiting for just this. "Meet it with aura sphere!" Lucario gathered his aura energy much quicker than it normally did, and Kukui's eyes widened when he saw that the aura sphere also looked larger than usual. Kukui could feel the power coming off of it even from this distance.

Just before the shadow ball hit Lucario, it released its aura sphere. Lucario's attack broke through the shadow ball, and continued on to hit Ninjask straight on. The aura sphere was so powerful that it sent air and sand flying. It took awhile for things to settle. By the time Kukui could see through the sand, it was too late. Lucario had taken advantage of how clouded things were and struck while neither Ninjask nor Kukui could see what was going on. Before they could do anything, Lucario struck with a dragon pulse, knocking Ninjask out.

"Yes!" Ash ran up to Lucario and wrapped his arms around it. Lucario smiled proudly at Ash, who laughed and scratched behind its ears. "Yeah, you were awesome."

Kukui knelt down and nudged Ninjask awake. "It's been awhile since we've battled together, hasn't it?" Ninjask's wings drooped slightly. It was disappointed. "Hey, none of that. You may be out of practice, but you still did incredibly. I couldn't ask for anything more," He helped Ninjask return to the air. Ninjask hummed and flew over to Lucario. Ash followed just behind him.

"That was really impressive," Kukui put his hands on his hips and grinned. "Lucario, I've never seen you use an aura sphere like that before," Lucario nodded and looked at Ash. The boy and the pokémon just stared at each other for a moment before Ash gave a small laugh and rubbed his nose.

"No, it's not thanks to me," Ash said in slight embarrassment. "This was all you." Lucario shook its head insistently. Kukui watched their interaction in confusion. It was odd, but it looked a little like they were having a conversation.

"Can...can you understand Lucario?" Kukui asked.

"Well, kinda," Ash grinned at Ninjask and congratulated it on the battle. "I don't really hear words, but I can sense what Lucario's thinking and feeling." Ash said this like it was a completely normal thing.

"Does this happen often for you?" Kukui asked.

"Well, not super often," Ash said. "Sometimes when I meet Lucarios and Riolus though, I just kinda connect with them. I think it's because of aura." Lucario nodded eagerly, gesturing to Ash.

Kukui looked at Ash curiously. "Maybe you have a similar kind of aura to Lucarios and Riolus." Kukui didn't know a lot about aura. He knew that it was like the inner energy that every person and pokémon had, but that was the extent of his knowledge.

"Yeah, something like that," Ash said. "I can't really make any aura spheres like Lucario can, but I can, I don't know, lend my energy to Lucario." Ash shook his head. "I didn't even try to do anything, it just felt right, you know?"

"Fascinating," Kukui had heard of people that could do something like this, but he'd never met one before. "I guess that's why Lucario really wanted to battle with you," It must have sensed Ash's aura.

"Yeah, I guess so," Ash grinned. "I don't think it's a big deal though. I mean, aura is just energy. The way Lucario uses aura, it takes that energy and brings it out. That's kinda what Z-moves are,"

"Yeah, I guess they are," Kukui hadn't really thought of it like that before.

"Speaking of Z-moves," Ash looked excitedly at Kukui. There was something that he really wanted to say, something that Kukui thought might have been on his mind for awhile now. "How are you so good at Z-moves?"

"What do you mean?" Kukui asked.

""Well, whenever I get a new Z-crystal, it can take me awhile to figure out how to actually use it, even if I've used Z-moves before and had a really close bond to my pokémon. But you were able to use Gigavolt Havoc with Naganadel, and you could use Guardian of Alola with Tapu Koko." Ash said. "I kinda get it with Naganadel, because it lived with us for a long time and was part of our ALolan family, so you had a bond with it, but I didn't think you had that much of a connection with Tapu Koko. And Guardian of Alola looked like a really powerful move. I thought it would be really hard to do, but it almost looked easy for you,"

"Well, for one thing, I have more experience than you do," Kukui reminded Ash. "Actually, I thought that it would be hard to do the move with Topo Koko, but it came really easily to me," Kukui grinned. "Z-moves have always come really naturally to me. It's part of the reason why Hala decided to train me." Kukui shook his head. "I remember, when we were younger Guzma used to get really mad at me. He thought I was just showing off."

"That's awesome," Ash looked at Kukui in awe. It was a little unnerving, to be looked at like that. Kukui didn't really put all that much training into performing Z-moves. It had always come easily to him, and it felt weird for someone to be so impressed by something that he hadn't put too much effort into. He felt like he didn't deserve that admiration.

"I think it's like you and aura," Kukui said. "While it may seem impressive to some, with you and aura and me and Z-moves, it's just something we can do. No big deal," Ash grinned.

"That makes sense," Ash said. "I still think it's cool though."

"Well, I still think your aura is pretty cool," Kukui said. Lucario nodded quickly in agreement. It was really interested in Ash's ability. "Not many people can get Lucario this excited." It wasn't the aura itself that Kukui was intrigued by, but just what it could mean. It let Ash connect to some pokémon in a way that many people couldn't do, especially not so easily.

"Ash, Kukui," Burnet called to them from the front porch. "Dinner's ready,"

"Awesome," Ash's eyes lit up, like it often did when there was food. "I'm hungry," He turned to Lucario and Ninjask. "You guys ready for some food?" The two of them nodded excitedly. "Let's go," Ash took Lucario's hand and pulled him towards the house. "Come on, Professor," Ash said.

Kukui laughed. "I'm coming."

 

Chapter 38:

It was late at night and Kukui was half asleep, just beginning to doze off when he heard Ash talking upstairs. It wasn't that unusual for Ash to stay up a little later than he should to talk things through with Rotom, especially when he had something on his mind. Kukui knew that Ash felt conflicted about what he should be doing during vacation.

Kukui wanted to assure Ash that there was really no pressure for him to do anything special for vacation. There was nothing wrong with staying at home and enjoying the time off with family and pokémon. He knew that Ash wouldn't be reassured. Ash didn't like to just stay in one place for a long time. He was an adventurous spirit. He was also hard on himself. Nobody pushed Ash harder than he pushed himself. If Kukui even implied that he wanted the kids to better themselves in some way during vacation, which he did, Ash would go above and beyond.

No matter how much Kukui tried to explain that you don't have to do anything extraordinary to become a better person, It would go just in one ear and out the other with Ash.

Kukui didn't want to discourage Ash from talking through something that was so important to him that he felt the need to stay up so late to discuss it with Rotom, so Kukui let him be. He continued to doze off, just listening to Ash's voice that was just muffled enough for him to not understand the words themselves. Suddenly though Kukui heard a loud exclamation that he understood all too well. Though Kukui had been half asleep just moments before, he found himself wide awake.

Kukui sat up, Ash's words ringing in his head. He had just barely heard it, so Kukui knew that it was quite possible that he had just misheard Ash, but he really didn't think he heard. The exclamation had been said with so much confidence and conviction, and what Kukui had heard made sense with what he knew Ash had been trying to figure out.

Deep down, Kukui knew that he hadn't misheard anything. Ash wanted to go home, back to Palette Town, and then find a new place to travel to and explore.

Kukui had known that it was only a matter of time. Ash had decided to stay in Alola to go to the pokémon school and get to know the culture, people, and pokémon of Alola. Ash had been to all four of the Alolan islands, he'd really embraced the culture and spirit of Alola, and school was out for a long vacation. Ash had accomplished everything he'd come here to do, and much, much more. There was a lot keeping Ash here, but Kukui knew that there was a lot calling him away. He'd known that all along, but it was odd to think that it was actually happening.

Kukui got out of bed and went to Burnet's side. He shook her shoulder to wake her up. Burnet had been half asleep, just like Kukui had been. She rolled over and blinked when she saw the expression on his face. He'd let his shields fall more than he normally would. Despite knowing that this was coming, Kukui still felt vulnerable and caught off guard, and it seemed to be apparent.

"Is something wrong?" Burnet sat up and brushed her hair out of her eyes. "What happened?"

"Nothing's wrong," Kukui said, and it was technically the truth. Ash wanting to go home wasn't exactly wrong, and it wasn't really right, it just was. "I just think that we should have a family meeting tonight."

"Tonight?" Burnet looked at him in concern and confusion. "Why can't it wait until morning?"

"It's important," Kukui said. "If you really want, it can wait until morning, but I don't think I'd be able to sleep tonight, and I don't think Ash will be able to either."

"Well, in that case," Burnet got to her feet and gave Kukui a quick kiss. "If it's that important to you, of course I don't mind doing it now," And Kukui knew she meant it.

"Come on," Kukui led the way upstairs and turned the kitchen light on. Burnet went to the fridge and pulled out some pinap berries and a pitcher of lemonade. Kukui raised an eyebrow at her. "What are you doing?"

"It's a little warm tonight, and I thought we might all need something to relax," Burnet cut some of the pinap berries in half and began to juice them. She poured the juice into three glasses, filling them just a third of the way or so, and then filled the rest with the lemonade.

"Professors?" Ash looked down over the loft. "I thought you were asleep."

"I wanted to talk to the two of you," Kukui said. "How about we all go out onto the porch and just chat for a bit?"

"You called it a family meeting earlier," Burnet said with a small frown.

"It can be a chat and a family meeting," Ash commented as he scaled down the ladder. He went into the kitchen and grabbed two of the glasses of pinap lemonade that Burnet had put together. Burnet took the last glass and the three of them made their way outside to the front porch. The night was a little warm and somewhat stifling, but the ocean breeze and juice helped to cool them down so the heat wasn't too uncomfortable.

"So, what's up?" Ash asked. The three of them sat on the steps of the porch, with Ash in the middle.

"I heard you talking to Rotom earlier," Kukui said. "I know I've asked this earlier, but I wanted to ask again." Kukui had to be sure of what he had heard. And even if Ash wasn't planning on going home now, this was a discussion that they should have at some point anyways. "Ash, what are you planning on doing for vacation?"

"Oh," Ash grinned excitedly, though there was a small hint of sadness in his eyes. "I, well, I was thinking of going home for a little bit."

"Well, I think visiting your mom during vacation sounds like a great idea," Burnet smiled gently. She gave Kukui a questioning look, obviously wondering why he was making such a big deal about this.

"What about after vacation?" Kukui asked pointedly. Ash paused slightly and looked at Kukui in slight alarm. He looked a little nervous. Kukui smiled at Ash and nodded encouragingly at him. He was upset about this new development, but the last thing Kukui wanted was for Ash to think that he was upset with him. Kukui needed Ash to know that he supported him, no matter what.

"I don't know exactly what I'm going to do," Ash admitted. "But I know that I want to explore more of the world." Burnet's smile fell ever so slightly.

"You're...not going to come back to Alola," Burnet realized.

"I mean, it's not like I'll never return to Alola again," Ash said. "I can always come back for a visit, but...I just don't think I'll be staying here." Ash blinked and Kukui noticed in alarm that his eyes were wet. "I'm...leaving Alola." Ash's face scrunched up ever so slightly and he drew inwards. "I'm actually leaving…"

As someone who regularly worked with kids, Kukui knew how it looked when they were emotional and just barely holding it together, and that was how Ash looked now, though he seemed to be trying very, very hard to hide it. Kukui wasn't entirely sure how he should respond, even after all this time working with kids. Some children liked to be comforted and held, while others wanted to deal with it on their own because they didn't want to be seen as weak.

When Kukui heard Ash sniffle and choke back a small sob, he made up his mind. Kukui put his glass of pinap lemonade down next to him and pulled Ash's glass away from him too. He then put his arm over Ash's shoulder and pulled the boy close. Ash let out a very small whine as he leaned into Kukui's chest. He didn't begin to cry, but Kukui could feel how wet Ash's eyes and cheeks were, and he heard how the kid's breathing was staggered and short. It was almost like Ash had completely skipped the actual cry, and skipped straight to the distressed, emotionally exhausted after effects.

"It's okay," Kukui tightened his hold on Ash, rubbing his upper arm with the hand that was draped over Ash's shoulder. Burnet scooted closer to them and took Ash's hand.

"I don't…" Ash seemed to choke on his words as he burrowed closer to Kukui. "I love Alola so much," Ash let out a watery laugh. "I don't want to leave."

"No one's forcing you to," Burnet said quickly. "You can stay here as long as you want,"

"I know," Ash nodded. "But…" Ash trailed off.

"But?" Kukui urged.

"But I want to see more places," Ash said. "I want to see just how big the world is, and everything that's out there. I want...I want to see everything from here to the horizon, and then everything from there to the next horizon, and then the next one, and the next one." A small smile slipped onto Ash's face. "I want to see it all."

"So it's not about you wanting to leave or stay" Kukui nodded in understanding. "It's that you want to see more of the world, but you're sad to leave," Kukui knew that if there was a way for Ash to both see the world and stay in Alola for a longer time, the kid would do it that way without hesitating. Some people, such as traders and sailors, were able to find a compromise, but Kukui didn't think that Ash would be completely content with that particular method. Ash didn't have a problem with the sea, but he certainly didn't love it as much as Lana did. Kukui doubted that Ash would want to spend the majority of his time out on open water.

"I'm always a little sad when I leave a region or say goodbye to some friends," Ash said. "But it's never been this bad. Not even when I was first leaving home."

"But you still want to leave," Kukui commented. It wasn't a question. He knew what Ash wanted. Still, Ash nodded. "It's okay to be sad about leaving. It means seeing new places and getting to experience new things, but it also means saying goodbye to what you've gotten used to." Kukui smiled sadly. "This is what we'd call bittersweet,"

"Like a haban berry," Ash said. "It feels really bitter right now, and kinda makes me want to just stay here, except when I think of all the adventures waiting out there for me," Ash tensed as he grinned excitedly. "It'll be really sweet, I know it will,"

"I'm sure it will be," Kukui said encouragingly. He'd left his home to go on adventures. He knew how it felt, to both be excited about what was to come, while still being sad about what he was leaving behind. Change was really hard, and some people thought it was better to just stay where they were. There was nothing wrong with that, but Kukui knew that it wasn't for Ash. Sooner or later, Ash wouldn't be able to stay where he was. He would decide to leave. If Ash felt that this was what was best for him right now, Kukui thought he should follow his gut, or he might come to regret it.

"Oh, we'll miss you so much," Burnet wrapped her arms around Ash as well, bringing the three of them into a slightly awkwardly positioned, but very comforting hug. "Wherever you end up, they'll be incredibly lucky to have you,"

"Most definitely," Kukui agreed. "Do you know when you want to leave?"

Ash shook his head. "I haven't really thought a lot about that," Kukui should have expected as much. Ash wasn't exactly in the habit of planning out the small details, and he'd only decided that he wanted to go home just a few minutes ago. "Soon. I think the longer I stay, the more I won't want to leave,"

"I guess we'll have to start looking for flights back to Kanto," Kukui said. Ash shifted slightly and looked up at him.

"You're...you're really okay with me leaving?" Ash asked.

"I would love it if you stayed here forever," Kukui said honestly. "But I knew this was coming sooner or later, and I can't hold you back. Whatever you want to do with your life, I want to help you make it happen." No matter what, Kukui was going to support Ash, even if it hurt.

Ash grinned and leaned back against Kukui again. "Thank you,"

"What about your pokémon?" Burnet asked. Ash frowned slightly.

"I don't know," He admitted. "Pikachu goes with me everywhere, but a lot of pokémon don't really like to travel all over the place. Especially if they're traveling in a region that they're not used to. It's why I leave most of my pokémon at Professor Oak's lab, so they can have a stable home and I can still visit them, but I don't know if Lycanroc and the others will like that as much,"

"Why not?" Kukui asked. If it worked for all of Ash's other pokémon, why wouldn't it be okay for these ones?"

"Lycanroc's home has been with you since before I even got here," Ash said. "I know that my Incineroar would love to learn more from yours. Rowlet has friends here, and wherever Rowlet is, Melmetal will want to be," The two of them really were close, and always had been. "Melmetal's also a really rare pokémon. I don't want it to attract unwanted attention, and that might happen if it goes to another region." Especially if Melmetal was staying with Professor Oak, who was a really renowned scientist. People from all over the world knew about him and visited his lab.

"Well, our home is always open to them," Kukui said, and Burnet nodded. Ash looked up at them in slight shock and appreciation.

"You'd let them stay here?" Ash asked. "It wouldn't get too crowded."

"Your pokémon are as much a part of our Alolan family as you are," Kukui said. "They'll always be welcome," Kukui hoped that Ash knew that he too was welcome here anytime.

"I'll have to talk to them about it first," Ash said, which Kukui had expected. Ash tried really hard to not make decisions for his pokémon. He wanted them to have a say in their own lives, which was a wonderful trait for a trainer to have. "But thank you." Ash took a deep breath and brushed away his stray tears with the palm of his hand.

The three of them fell into silence. Kukui grabbed Ash's glass and handed it back to the boy, who began to slowly sip at it. Kukui took a drink as well. The lemonade was warmer than it had been, but still cooler than room temperature. Kukui was suddenly extremely grateful that Burnet had thought to make them some drinks. The taste, which was more sour than sweet, with just a hint of spicy heat from the pinap berry, was not something that they could just finish off in a moment. Sipping at the drink, really enjoying the flavor, was really the only way they could drink the lemonade. It gave the three of them something to do as they sat there, just enjoying each other's company.

They all knew that this would end soon, even just in a few days, but they were all planning on enjoying it for as long as they could.

The sweet and sour pinap lemonade almost felt appropriate for this situation. Kukui was happy for Ash, and he was also excited at just what kinds of experiences Ash might find. Saying goodbye was really hard though, and very sad. Kukui hadn't been wrong when he'd said that it was bittersweet.

 

Chapter 39:

Ash's flight left first thing in the morning, so they had to wake up before dawn. Burnet stayed up all night helping Ash find and pack up all his things. Kukui was more than willing to help, but he decided to let them have this. Kukui had plenty of one-on-on chances with Ash, and they'd spent the entire evening as a family, just enjoying each other's company. Kukui decided to familiarize himself more with Ash's pokémon, who had all decided to stay in Alola, and gave Burnet and Ash some privacy to just enjoy each other's company before the boy left.

Very early that morning, when the skies were at their darkest, they began to load up the car. Ash was very quiet and withdrawn, almost somber. Kukui knew he was sad to go, he was pretty upset about this too, but this shouldn't be a devastating time, but a happy one. This wasn't exactly an ending, just the start of a new beginning, a new chapter.

Kukui looked at Burnet and gave her a small smile. She returned his smile, nodded, and instinctively put a hand on her stomach. They'd gotten the news a few days ago. Burnet was pregnant, and was already a few weeks along. They hadn't told anybody, as the pregnancy was still very early on and there was always the chance that something may go wrong. They wanted to wait a few weeks before telling anybody.

But Ash was leaving at dawn, and they wanted to tell him in person. They may not talk to anybody, but Ash wasn't just anybody, he was part of their family. He deserved to know.

"Ash, we have something to tell you," Kukui said. Ash's slightly depressed expression slipped to one of curiosity when he saw the broad grins on Kukui and Burnet's faces.

"What's going on?" Ash asked.

"Well," Burnet came up next to Kukui and he put a hand around her shoulders. "You know you'll always be a part of our family, so we thought it was right for you to know that we are expecting a new addition to our family."

"A new addition?" Ash frowned slightly in confusion. He looked at how excited Kukui and Burnet were, and the way that Burnet had her hand over her stomach. It took a long moment, but Ash's eyes finally widened in realization. "A-are you…"

"We're pregnant," Kukui said. Ash's expression lit up.

"No way!" Ash grinned eagerly. "That's so awesome!" Ash ran towards them and hugged the two of them in much the same way he had when they had first announced they were getting married. Kukui laughed and held Ash and Burnet close to him. This happiness, this excitement, this was what he thought today should be all about.

"Do you know if it's going to be a boy or a girl?" Ash asked.

"No, we don't," Burnet said. "It's still too early to tell, and we don't think we want to know."

"You're going to keep it a surprise?" Ash asked. They nodded. "That sounds like so much fun. I can't wait to meet them,"

"I was hoping you would say that," Kukui said. "It'll still be quite some time before the baby is born, but when it happens, I hope you'll come by for a visit to see them for yourself."

"I'd love to," Ash said eagerly. "I mean, I don't know where I'll be in a few months, but I'll definitely come sometime."

"You're welcome here whenever you like," Burnet said. "No excuse is necessary."

"I know," Ash said, his smile dimming slightly. "I still can't believe I'm leaving."

"You may be leaving Alola, but that doesn't mean that Alola will leave you." Kukui said. Ash frowned slightly.

"What do you mean?" The boy asked.

"I mean the spirit of Alola," Kukui said. "Do you know what the word alola means when I greeted you guys in class?"

"Well, Mallow told me that alola is what you guys say as hello," Ash said. "She said it also means goodbye,"

"Well, not exactly," Kukui said. "We use it as a greeting, but alola, and the spirit of Alola, is more than that. It's about love, happiness, a connection to each other and the world around us. When I say alola to you kids, it's my way of connecting with you, and my wish that you find joy in your life. When I say alola as goodbye, I'm saying the same thing, that I hope that wherever you go, and whatever you do, you are happy with it."

"That sounds really nice," Ash's smile returned. "Alola is so great,"

"It really is," Kukui said. "I hope you remember the spirit of Alola and keep it with you."

"I'll definitely try to," Ash said. He glanced up at the sky and frowned. "Wow...it's almost time."

"Yes, it is," Kukui's mood dimmed slightly. He was trying so hard to be optimistic about today, but it was hard. He wouldn't be surprised if tonight, when it fully hit him that Ash was gone, he would end up crying himself to sleep, or sobbing like a child into Burnet's shoulder. He was doing his best to be strong for Ash's sake, because this whole thing was hard enough for the boy. Once he was gone though, Kukui would break down. He already knew that it would take him a while to really accept and move on from this.

Burnet put a hand on Kukui's arm. "We should probably head to the airport, before it gets too late." Burnet was the first to pull away. She grabbed the last of Ash's bags and made her way to the car, leaving Kukui and Ash on their own. They looked at each other for a long moment before Ash leaned against Kukui and wrapped his arms around him. Kukui held onto him. Neither of them knew what to say, but maybe that was okay. They didn't have to say anything. Sometimes, silence spoke louder than words.

Besides, anything that Kukui had to say, he'd already said it before. Ash knew that he was part of their family. Kukui knew that Ash loved being here and saw Alola as a second home. Talking about these things again could do some good, but it could also easily get both of them really emotional and distressed, and that wasn't what they needed right now.

Kukui held onto Ash for as long as he dared before he pulled back. It really was time to go. He rubbed Ash's back slightly before he wrapped his arm around the boy's shoulder and led him towards the car. They weren't going to say goodbye, as that felt really permanent and sadder. They were going to say alola; see you later, be happy, and I'll remember you while we're apart.

Because Kukui really would remember Ash. He didn't think he'd ever be able to forget this fun, kind, wonderful boy. Kukui hadn't really thought ahead very much when he'd invited Ash to come stay with him. It had been a very spur of the moment kind of decision, and Kukui didn't regret it for one second. Having Ash living with him, it was one of the best things that had ever happened to Kukui in his life. It may be hard to see Ash leave, but Kukui still wouldn't give all these experiences, the good and the bad, up for anything.