Fanfiction Pokemon Delta Sun and Theta Moon

Pokémon: Delta Sun and Theta Moon

you win discord

General info: Delta Sun and Theta Moon (DSTM for the lazy) is a fanfic I've been working on since Sun and Moon's release, and planning started back further minutes after the games were announced! This has been on ff.net, but I've decided after days of debating and the Discord server's backing up to post it here for you guys to read. So... onto the synopsis and the actual story!

The fic's info: DSTM is, at its core, a Sun and Moon fanfiction... but with many twists diverting from the classic novelization. Written in the style of the general Pokémon anime (OS through XY(Z)), this fic explores what a Sun and Moon anime would look like with entirely new characters, goals, rivals, and challenges. Along the way, there will be battles and contests styled like the anime, and even an Island Trial inspired Pokémon League.

Without further ado... chapter one! Just to note, I'm putting each part in a spoiler tag to make the thread look a bit cleaner and distinguish reviews from the story. Also, updates will be every weekend like updates on ff.net.

Spoiler

Prologue and Episode 1: The Dream Begins in Alola!

Hearthome City. A developing, bustling city set in the very heart of the Sinnoh region. With so many people and so many places to go, it's almost like the city is the beating heart of the whole region. Battles, contest, friends, fashion... you name it, Hearthome City has it. Any traveler would stay in the city for awhile, due to the many businesses that accommodate to Trainers and Coordinators. Those lucky enough to reside in Hearthome City have it great- all the relaxation mixed in with the hustle and bustle of one of the largest cities in the Sinnoh region have great reason to say that they would never move from their home.

But as everyone knows, there are some exceptions in life that don't necessarily agree with you.

"And what a beautiful move! But that's what we would only expect at the Sinnoh Grand Festival semifinal rounds!"

"Cindy, turn the TV off."

"Now, Ponyta! Use Stomp on Chimchar!"

"Cindy, listen to your mother."

"Oh, I don't think so! Staravia, get Chimchar on your back and soar outta there!"

"Cindy. I'm going to turn this TV off if you don't stop watching it."

"Right where I want you! Pichu, fire a Thunderbolt straight at those two! We can't lose in the Grand-"

Click!

With the press of a button, the TV's screen went pitch black. The ginger-haired girl sprawled out on the couch took note with a groan. "Ugh, Mom! This was the Grand Festival I was watching!" She turned over and managed to get onto her knees while raising her hands up in a feeble attempt to retrieve the remote. "Give it back!"

"Not until you actually listen to your mother, this is important, Cindy," she responded with a stern face. "Once Dad and I have talked to you I'll give you the remote back."

Cindy crossed her arms and put her stocking clad feet where they belonged, the floor. She looked to where her mother stood, where her father had joined by her side. She simply sat there, waiting for her parents to speak, but more likely for the TV remote to return to her.

It was some time before her father spoke. "So, Cindy... you know how I've been looking for a new job after my old job's company closed down. And your mother... working as a helper in a PokeMart does give us money, but not as much as we want to ensure you have the future we want for you." He looked to his wife and set a hand on her shoulder. "We want our whole family to have the lives we want, and it's very important to you. Ever since you turned fifteen, your future is coming closer and closer every day. I don't know how many times I'll have to reiterate this point... but me and your mother want the absolute best for you."

"Uhuh." The youngest in the room simply picked at her nails, the minute traces of dirt lodged behind her fingernails no more.

"And I really want to help this family earn more. Whatever you may be dreaming of for your future, I want you to be able to pursue it. Like your father, I want- no, I need the best for you. You're important to me. You're so, so important. You're my daughter, I have to give you everything I have to make sure that you're happy." Her mother sighed. "It wasn't easy coming to this decision, based on how much you love Hearthome City..."

"Yep. Totally." Cindy moved to the small braid she had done that morning and mentally debated whether she would redo it later.

"So, me and your mother have come to a conclusion. To help all three of us," her father continued.

"Uhuh. Right." Cindy tapped her toes on the carpeted ground while she imagined herself not in the conversation she was jailed in and probably watching the Grand Festival on TV. She was probably missing the battle. The battle that was in progress was probably long over.

Her mother offered a loving smile. "Well, you don't seem as upset as I thought you would. You're really tough-skinned as always."

"Yeeeeep."

"Okay!" her father exclaimed. "Make sure to pack your bags later this week, we're moving!"

If Cindy were sipping a drink, that drink would've gone all over. However, she had no drink, so her widened blue eyes told the story. A long sharp gasp pieced the previously calm atmosphere of a serious conversation. She opened her mouth to attempt to say something, but no words were forming, let alone rushing to her mouth. Her head slowly swiveled over to her parents, who were both smiling with those motherly or fatherly grins.

"...what," she finally managed.

She saw a paper brochure handed to her, to which she took into her slightly-tanned hands. On the front of the brochure was an image of some islands and some text that would make a better sales pitch on a postcard. The jubilant text read 'WELCOME TO THE ALOLA REGION!' in font that was as bubbly as a Pokémon's Bubble Beam attack.

She opened the paper flaps, to which more happy text greeted her. Images of people and unknown Pokémon to her. There was a boy with a wooden charm settled around his neck, some crystal-like pieces set into it. A girl with a case with the Pokémon Contest logo, the case boasting five colorful Ribbons in the velvet. It read something about a League challenge or a Pokémon Contest challenge. The last section had a beautifully tanned man with a lab coat slung around his shoulders, yet he had no shirt. He had a owl-like creature on his extended arm, and he was smiling at her while adjusting his sunglasses.

Upon turning the parchment over, there was a picture of the shining ocean and many kids and families at play. A nicely decorated sandcastle that looked almost living was in the background, and one of the kids was throwing a dark grey lump with pink spikes into the direction of the ocean. In the sky, Wingull and other bird Pokémon flew. The last picture she noted was the nighttime sky, the happy bubble text proclaiming that this place had the best nighttime sky in the entire world. She finally shook her head to remove some ginger locks that fell in front of her still shocked eyes and focused on her parents.

"W-what...? But..." She sighed, although the exhale was slightly shaky. "But I love Hearthome City! I can't leave!" She stood up and paced around. "I have friends, and I like watching the Hearthome Contest every year it goes live! A-and my friends..." Cindy grabbed her hair and groaned into it. "I hate this already! We're not moving to Aloha-Whatsit!"

Her father sighed, then set a hand on her shoulder. "I was figuring you would react like this..." He looked at his daughter, then smiled. "But there's one thing me and your mother have agreed on when we make the move to Alola." He took the brochure from Cindy and flipped it over back to the side with the man, the boy, and the girl. He specifically pointed to the picture of the girl with black hair and the baggy shirt with the canine-like Pokémon. "Here. Read this aloud."

Cindy merely rolled her eyes, but then complied and cleared her throat. "Ahem... let's see. Start your Pokémon Contest adventure in Alola... collect your five Ribbons that tell your unique story as a Pokémon Coordinator... and enter the Alola Grand Festival and become an Alola Top Coordinator...?!" She looked up at her parents, who were now beaming. "You mean... I... you're going to let me..."

"Yep!" her mother affirmed. "We're really sorry that you have to leave Hearthome... but in compromise..." She ruffled her daughter's ginger hair. "As soon as you get to Alola, you're going straight to the Pokémon Professor's lab to get your first Pokémon. We're going to let you become a Pokémon Coordinator!"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!" the youngest literally screamed. She simply stood as still as a statue, but then began to hop up and down rapidly while making high-pitched squealing noises. "Oh my Arceus, thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She hugged both of her parents and rushed upstiars in what seemed like less than a second.

The father laughed to himself quietly. "There's our little girl... I guess she's really excited to become a Coordinator-"

Before he could finish, Cindy rushed downstairs with an already packed red suitcase. The zipper was already tagged with some scrawly writing, reading 'Alola, where ever we're going'. Cindy smiled at her parents and giggled. "Okay! Let's go and make me a Top Coordinator!"

Her father approached his daughter and laughed, then bent down and took a pencil. He erased some words and replaced them with 'Celestiluna City, Alola'. He stood back up and laughed. "We're leaving for Alola in about a week, so you can spend some more quality time packing."

"And I think you wanted this back," her mother said as she handed the TV remote back to her daughter.

Cindy took the remote into her hands, then nodded and went back to the couch. She turned her TV back on, an interview with one of the Coordinators in the semifinal round she was skimmed out of being conducted. She stared at the screen for a little while longer, then a smile appeared on her face.

"One day, that's gonna be me." She shook her head and laughed. "Alola Top Coordinator title, you can't hide from me."

Episode 1: The Dream Begins in Alola!

From Sinnoh to Alola, a move days in the making. After the hastle of the drive to the airport and the airport system, Cindy and her family are ready to make their grand move to the Alola region! With the promise of becoming a Pokémon Coordinator, Cindy is nothing more than excited! What dreams will await in Alola?

A plane whizzed by the cottony clouds. That is, if you could really see the clouds due to the sun's absence in the sky. The stars were numerous and plentiful in the sky, and if you could look far down, the ocean would be below, waving hello.

In the plane, Cindy's nose was pressed against the glass along with her hands. The Alola brochure was sitting pretty in her lap, and the blanket set on her legs was almost disregarded as it made a reach towards the airplane's floor. Her eyes moved rapidly to the sights outside, from the stars to the barely visible clouds, then back to the shining stars.

She felt a hand settle on her shoulder. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw her mother. "Cindy, you're still awake?"

"Yeah," she responded, albeit very tiredly. "I'm just so excited to become a Coordinator. I can't settle down if it means that when we touch down in Alola I'm going to become Alola's next Top Coordinator!" She sighed with a smile as she leaned back. "I can't sleep. I'm just too excited."

Her mother laughed. "Well, I'm going to assure that you'll fall asleep soon, Cindy. You've never been a night Noctowl." She removed her hand from her daughter's shoulder and leaned back for herself. "But try and fall asleep soon. We'll be unpacking first thing when we get into our new home, and you're not leaving to get your first Pokémon without at least getting your boxes into your room. You want to have enough energy to do that so you can go out and do contest. Understood?"

Cindy smiled while she resumed smudging the already slightly dirty glass. "Understood, mom."

As her mother closed her eyes to catch those forty winks, Cindy remained at her post near the window. 'Every second, I'm coming closer to Alola. Every second, I'm coming closer to becoming a Coordinator. And every second, I'm coming closer to becoming an Alola Top Coordinator!' She smiled at the thoughts her mind was playing for her. 'Feeling a little tired... maybe I'll dream of becoming Alola Top Coordinator...' Cindy felt her eyelids become heavy and her face separate with the glass that needed a desperate cleaning. Like her mother beside her, Cindy fell into the world of dreams as the plane continued its long journey to the faraway island region.

Hours later, enough time for the sun to shine again, the sounds of a plane's wheels screeching on blacktop filled the air of anyone who was dense enough to take a walk in a restricted landing zone. The plane with the colorful sides reading 'ALOLA AIRLINES- ALOLA, BETTER TRAVEL!' eventually rolled to a stop on the runway. Minutes later, the terminal came beside the plane's door, and people started loading out of the flight machine and started the short walk to the main lobby of the airport.

Cindy and her family were some of the last passengers off of the place. With her red wheeling suitcase (properly packed without socks hanging out of every pocket) in her grip, her and her family walked down the terminal and into the airport. Already, everything looked so different.

Spread throughout the airport were circular couches with tall palm trees seeming to piece the center and touch the glass ceiling of the building. She saw many businesses making a sales pitch to make some PokeDollars from their merchandise- cinnamon rolls, muffins, and succulent strips of bacon were being served in a small cafe area. In what seemed to be a book store, many people were purchasing the paperback goods for something to read during a long flight. Stuffed plushes of red and black cats crammed a toy store display, along with green and brown owls and blue seals.

The family navigated through the airport and passed countless small stores as they went. They quickly stopped at a small bakery, only there for a few minutes to pick up a bite to eat. While Cindy's parents bought a muffin each and wrapped them up to save them for later, Cindy was already gorging herself on a gooey cinnamon bun, the sugary icing matting her fingers.

Eventually, Cindy and her family found the exit... or was it the entrance? Either way, they stepped through the revolving doors and quickly located their cab that would take them to their new home. They stepped into the cab, and off they were to their new residence in Alola.

While the car drove, Cindy propped her head up with her hand and looked out the clean glass window. The tall buildings blurred past her. In her mind, she was picturing what a Pokémon Professor's lab would look like. With her mental image in mind, she tried her hardest to find that image in real life. But with how fast they were moving, it was a feat deemed impossible as they swerved around turns and stopped at the designated signs.

As soon as the ride started, it seemed to end. The cab pulled into the driveway occupied by a massive moving truck probably stuffed full with boxes. The family got out, then waved goodbye to the generous driver as they pulled out of the driveway to help and serve other newcomers.

Cindy looked up, where she saw tall skyscrapers live up to their name. She spotted a hill miles away that seemed to boast an observatory with a gigantic telescope. She looked over at her brochure, where she viewed the small town information for her new town. Celestiluna City, the city that touched space.

Her parents walked over to the truck, which the back was open for people to access the contents inside the truck. Cindy walked over to the truck and picked up a red box from the cluster of red boxes, her color coded boxes. She walked up the stone pathway and looked back for a second.

In the front yard was a tall palm tree, perhaps it was taller than the buildings in the central hub of the city. Across the blue-slate street was a fairly large lake a way away, she could maybe make out a small sailboat bobbing up and down. And was that a moving palm tree...? Cindy shook her head. Maybe she didn't get enough sleep on the plane and was seeing things. A moving, living palm tree? That was fantasy.

She entered the house and rounded towards her room. It was empty except for the pale red walls that were a few shades darker than her red shirt. She set the box down on the carpeted floor, then looked out the window in the room. Same view. Same buildings. Same imaginary moving palm tree. Same little boat dancing on the lake. Same observatory on the faded horizon. She was almost starting to get used to the view. She decided to ignore the world outside her window and go outside yet again, only motivated by the urge to run to the Pokémon Professor's lab to pick up a Pokémon.

​

"And... finished! Whew!"

In Cindy's room, a collection of boxes were stacked upon each other, tall enough for the exhausted girl to lean against it and wipe her brow. Her parents were standing in the doorway, holding a box each.

Her father stepped in and counted the cardboard boxes. "Eight, nine... yep, looks like you have it all!" Her father ruffled his daughter's ginger hair and smiled. "So, I assume you're going to be off?"

"Yep! Gotta get to the lab and get my first Pokémon!" She threw a fist in the air. "When I'm gone, make sure to get me a shelf to display the Alola Ribbon Cup with my name on it!" Cindy turned to rush out of the room, but a hand on her shoulder said otherwise.

"Woah, woah, woah. Before you go out and explore Celestiluna City..." Her mother used her other hand not occupied by making sure her daughter didn't rocket away to hand her something. In her hand was a bag that was primarily red, a green bottom, zigzag pattern protruding from the top and bottom and handles, and decorated between the green spikes were black dots that looked like watermelon seeds. "I think you'd be able to use this. You can store lots of things in your bag!"

Cindy took the bag into her hands and smiled graciously. "Thanks, Mom!" She slung the bag over her left shoulder and darted out of the hallway for good. "Oh, and I'll be back before sundown!" she called over her shoulder before opening the front door and leaving.

Celestiluna City was a huge city compromised of many tall buildings and bustling business in the central part. However, Cindy wasn't interested in applying for a business job, she was on a mission to find the Professor's lab and get a Pokémon to become the next Alolan Top Coordinator. It was the only reason she was trotting around a busy city near sundown.

Along the way, she had reached into her bag and had found a electronic device that had an entire map of Alola and information about each city, along with a map of each individual city. Seeing that she was new and this was her first time out in the city, she kept the map handy and looked for anything relating to a Pokémon lab. She did eventually find her location on the map, to which she squealed with delight and started a full-blown sprint towards the edge of the city, which wasn't far away from where she was now.

During her run, she saw some Pokémon, most of them unknown to her. A puppy-like Pokémon walking with its owner, along with a child holding a pink and black teddybear-like Pokémon. She swore she saw another living palm tree, but she focused on a mongoose-looking Pokémon with bared teeth. She smiled as she passed by each Pokémon as her long ginger braid whipped behind her, every step taking her closer to the lab.

She passed by many other houses, some residents still out and enjoying the pleasant weather Alola had to offered for that evening. She was pleasantly surprised by the temperature: Sinnoh was very cold and barely warm enough to take off a heavy jacket. In comparison, people in Alola probably didn't know the meaning of heavy jacket, more or less light jacket. Or a jacket with long sleeves. Either way, she was guessing that Alolans looked at long sleeves and quirked eyebrows at the term. Cindy laughed at her little mental comparisons and leaped into the open air, the concept of gravity forgotten as she soared for a small time frame and closed her eyes in pure bliss-

"W-whoa! Look out!"

Before she could respond to the voice, she crashed right into it first.

Cindy and the bystander tumbled towards the ground. While the girl rolled away, relatively unharmed, the bystander she had almost flattened was still on the ground, moaning about their displeasure. Their mop of forest green hair ruffled with every tiny movement, and a pair of silver framed glasses were at their side.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there!" she hastily apologized.

The person, a boy, sat up and rubbed his head. "Oh, it's fine. Now..." He squinted, then looked around himself and started patting the ground all around him. "Can you help me find my glasses? I'm about as blind as a Zubat without them..." He continued moving his hands through the grass and over the blacktop street. "If you see them, please hand them to me. My parents aren't buying me another pair, I've lost two this month already."

Cindy turned her attention to the frames, then took them into her right hand and handed them to the stranger. He only offered a nod of acceptance before holding them in both hands and pushing the glasses onto the bridge of his nose, right over his dark green eyes. He blinked a few times to make sure he could see, then he smiled.

The girl reached a hand down to help the boy up, to which he accepted and hauled himself back up to his feet. He dusted off his short sleeved green jacket and rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey, thanks for helping me find my glasses." He nudged them again, despite he had put them on mere seconds ago. "What had you in such a rush?"

"Oh, y'know. Just Alola's next Top Coordinator going to get her first Pokémon."

The boy's eyes widened. "Really? I was gonna get my first Pokémon tomorrow but..." He smiled for a brief second. "I suppose I can join you!" He stopped for a second, then extended a hand out while he nudged his glasses with his other hand. "By the way, my name's Allen. Nice to meet you!"

"Cindy," she replied as she took his hand and gave it a firm shake.

Allen looked at Cindy and quickly smoothed his unkempt hair down as best as he could. "So, you said that you're going to Professor Kukui's lab, right?

"Oh, that's his name?"

The boy arched an eyebrow. "You didn't know Professor Kukui's name?" He poked her nose for a brief second. "Come to think of it, I've never seen you before, and I know everyone my age here in Celestiluna City. Did you perhaps just move here, Cindy?"

Cindy fidgeted with her thumbs behind her back. "Um, yeah. Just arrived this morning."

Allen gave a subtle nod of understanding. "Then I'll have to show you..." He put his hands in front of him, palms facing Cindy, then he moved them in a circle each while his palms were still out. "Alola!"

"...what the Distortion? I don't get it."

He once again nudged his glasses before explaining, "it's what we do here in Alola. You know how some regions say, 'hey!' or, 'hello!' when seeing someone? Well, in Alola, we do that and say, 'Alola!'" Allen put his hands down at long last. "Hey, what region are you from originally?"

At that point, the two started walking along to the lab together. Cindy was not focusing her attention on the speaker, but to literally everything else. The sunset was descending in the distance, the golden rays and streaks of light painting the whole sky it seemed. A flock of bird Pokémon were flying in front of the potential picture in a museum scene. "Sinnoh. Alola's very different from Sinnoh, I can tell you that."

"Isn't that the region where it snows a lot and it's very cold? And the crazy about Pokémon Contest region?"

"Exactly."

Allen chuckled to himself, his mop of forest green hair dancing with his subtle head movements. "Well, now I can see why you want to become a Coordinator. If you become Top Coordinator, that'll be exciting. Alola just introduced Pokémon Contest a few years ago, so we don't have many Top Coordinators. I'm pretty sure the first Top Coordinator in Alola was the Contest Master..." He grinned at his newfound companion beside him. "So maybe you can join him and our other Top Coordinator! I bet you can do it!"

"Really?" Cindy questioned. "I haven't even gotten my first Pokémon yet and you're saying I'm a Top Coordinator?"

He shrugged. "Everyone has the same potential within them. How far you take that potential depends on you. And you look like you can take that pent-up potential pretty far."

Cindy blushed from the compliment and the Alolan heat combined. "That was... very deep and reassuring, thank you."

As the pair continued to amble along on their path to the lab, Cindy took her device, the side listing the name of the device the PokeTab, out of her bag and checked where they were in her new home city. Professor Kukui's lab was in view. While she had the lab in the map's view, she pressed her finger in the screen and pulled up more info on the lab.

Apparently, the lab was located on an outlook overlooking the beach. It was a white modern looking building, but the shingles on the roof were sporadic or missing. And that didn't even compare to the bunch of wooden planks nailed onto the roof, and anyone could deduct that there was once a hole there. The windows were also boarded up, like the house was going to hibernate from a tropical storm. However, it managed to look good at the same time. How that was possible was beyond Cindy's knowledge.

Needless to say, they were almost to the lab. Cindy didn't know what goals Allen was aspiring towards by getting a Pokémon, but she knew that the second she stepped in and picked her adorable starter Pokémon, she was on the road to touch her lucky star that was the Grand Festival.

As Cindy and her newfound friend continue to Professor Kukui's lab, things have shaken up upon meeting Allen! With someone else going to the lab and teaching her about Alola, exciting moments will never run dry! But what is Allen's ambition? Perhaps he could add some company to Cindy's quest to become an Alolan Top Coordinator! Whatever the future holds for the two young Trainers, it's bound to be exciting as the journey continues!

 

wow people actually like this

It's the weekend, so it's time for another chapter! Chapter 2!

Spoiler

Still on the road to Kukui's lab, Cindy and Allen kept each other occupied for the next five minutes of their journey. It was really more of Cindy asking Allen questions about Alola and him, but it made the journey feel shorter.

First thing she learned about Alola was that is was made of four different and separated islands. Allen had explained that Celestiluna City was located on Melemele Island. Along with Melemele Island, she retained the three other island names: Akala, Ula'Ula, and Poni. They each had different activities and unique towns and cities, but the only thing she really remembered was that each island had many Contest Halls: perfect for collecting her five needed Ribbons to enter the Grand Festival.

Second thing was that the Alola region had a newly implemented Pokémon League system. She had heard something about Trial Captains and Island Kahunas and charms... whatever that meant to her. However, Allen seemed very excited to tell all about the League. Cindy had deducted that Allen had some kind of ambition to do that and become Champion of Alola. But Allen had not said anything about why he was heading to the lab to get a Pokémon, so maybe he was just going to escort a newcomer to the Alola region.

The last thing she really remembered was a lecture on the Alola region. Each island had a deity that they celebrated through festivals or something like that. She wasn't really focusing throughout this section of Allen's rambles as she had gotten distracted by what seemed to be another walking palm tree.

Soon enough, Allen stopped several feet in front of a house. Cindy stopped as well, then took a gander at the home. It was precisely identical to the one on her PokeTab. A white modern house with uneven boards probably covering up gaping holes in the home. It was built on an outlook that had a clear view of the cliffs below, and below the rocky sharp cliffs was a beach with waves lapping the sandbanks. Umbrellas were scattered around the beach like little flowers in a field, and people were still relaxing on colorful beach towels as they soaked up the last rays of sunlight.

"So, this is Kukui's lab." Allen turned to face his companion. "Professor Kukui should be in here. But what I've learned from my occasional walks around this area of the city is that-"

Before Allen could finish his though, a massive blast rattled throughout the whole area. The two teenagers looked at the house and saw some wooden boards that were previously nailed to the roof fly away like a Pokémon using Fly. After the initial blast, a plume of smoke replaced the sparks and fire that were coming out of the newly exposed hole before.

"Sometimes... the lab seems... to blow up..." he finished with an arched eyebrow as he continued to gawk at the steady release of smoke.

Cindy felt a bead of sweat run down her face. "So... is it technically safe to enter the lab if it blows up like this?"

Allen simply walked up to the house and opened the rickety door, the hinges squeaking out in protest. "Yeah, probably." A second after making the bold statement, the door fell off of the frame. He nudged his glasses back up onto the bridge of his nose. "Like I said, it's safe. Kukui probably hasn't fixed the hinges in a while."

After some mental debating with herself, Cindy managed to get her feet to walk towards the house. The two walked through the door frame while being careful not to trip over the door, and they were instantly greeted with a different scene.

The inside of the lab was very contradictory to the outside facade. It was nicely furnished and had a small area with a couch and TV. A fairly large section for some Pokémon to play in was also present, and a whole floor to ceiling aquarium with various fish Pokémon swimming around was smack dab in the middle of the room. A few of these Pokémon Cindy recognized, like a Magikarp and Luvdisc. However, everything else was foreign to her. A colorful fish with large teeth and a sea cucumber decoration were also submerged in the water.

The boy moved to the very middle of the room and cupped his hands over his mouth. "Professor Kukui! Professor Kukui! I'm here for a Pokémon!"

From the very back of the room, a few random Pokémon cries from what seemed to be a stairwell in the very back of the house. A few moments later, a door fastened to the floor lifted and a man's head popped up. He focused his attention to the teenagers and smiled. "Alola! Just give me a minute, I'll be right with you!" He ducked back down and more random sounds filled the air, but at long last he finally stepped out of the basement and dusted his snow white lab coat from any dust it may have collected.

Cindy imminently recognized the tanned man as the man she saw in the Alola brochure. The same sunglasses, the same hat with colorful Pokéball design, the same sunglasses that somewhat dulled the still bright shine in his eyes. Like the picture in the brochure, he still had no shirt, the lab coat he wore was simply against his bare chest.

"Kukui!" Allen called out again. "Alola!"

Professor Kukui strode towards the teens and gave that smile that would drop a million girls dead. Or at least, that's what Allen told Cindy about the girls' impression on the Pokémon Professor. "Alola, you two! So, what brings you to my lab? Here to investigate that blast that happened a bit ago?" He laughed. "If so, don't worry! That happens at least twice a day, it's almost part of my schedule, yeah!"

Cindy closed her mouth. How the house was still standing and up to whatever building code Alola set in place was beyond her.

"Well, first things first." Allen motioned to the girl with the ginger hair next to him. "You already know me from the walks I take around here every week, but I'm pretty sure you haven't seen Cindy before." He looked towards Cindy and this time motioned to the Professor. "Cindy, this is Alola's Pokémon Professor, Professor Kukui!"

"Alola, Cindy!" Kukui held his beautifully tanned hand out. "Professor Kukui. The premier professor of Pokémon moves, yeah!"

The girl held her hand out and gave Kukui's hand a firm shake. "Um... Alola, Professor! Cindy." She retracted her hand and stuck her thumb against her chest while puffing it out. "Future Alola Top Coordinator from the Sinnoh region!"

Kukui headed back to a table and laughed. "A Pokémon Coordinator, yeah? Is this what this visit is about, you two?"

Allen gave a wide beam and nodded, shortly after adjusting his silver frames. "Yep! I was gonna swing by tomorrow, but Cindy literally bumped into me and she was actually heading to the lab. So, I decided that I should tag along." He eyed the capsule devices held snug in the man's arms. "Are those the Starter Pokémon?"

"Yeah!" Kukui affirmed. He looked up and threw all the Pokeballs into the open air. They spun around for a while before they all broke open in sync, the white plasma substance landing on the ground and building into silhouettes of three creatures. The chaotic plasma settled with a burst of sparkles, three Pokémon right in front of the two. "And here they are!" He bent down and presented the three Pokémon.

"First up, the Grass Quill Pokémon, Rowlet!" Kukui let Rowlet hop up onto his arm as the man continued, "Rowlet is a Grass Type Pokémon! Along with that, it's also the Flying Type! Get this, yeah, it can fly without making any sounds and has razor sharp feathers! It's somewhat hard to take care of if you lose it and can't find it, but it is mighty cute!"

Rowlet cooed out and started flying around the lab. It settled on the TV in the room and shook its feathers, a few falling loose from the wings. Its feathers did look razor sharp indeed.

"Next up, the Sea Lion Pokémon, Popplio!" Popplio clapped its flippers together upon its name being mentioned. "Yeah, Popplio is a Water Type Pokémon! It's known to swim really fast, nobody had been able to outrun a full-speed Popplio! Its a little bit of an acrobat, and it uses balloons it can snort out of its nose!" As soon as Kukui said that, Popplio decided to demonstrate. Popplio jumped onto the bubble and flipped away while it popped, Cindy's eyes rapidly filling with stars. "Blowing these balloons seems to be a built-in strategy of the species, but sometimes it gets carried away. But its worth it to raise a Popplio!"

Cindy smiled and got down on her knees to hold Popplio. "Aww, aren't you adorable! I think I want you-"

"And last but not least, the Fire Cat Pokémon, Litten!"

The girl, with Popplio still in her hands, literally dropped the Sea Lion Pokémon as she laid her blue eyes on Litten.

Kukui laughed as Litten rubbed against his legs. "Yeah, Litten's a calm and collected Pokémon. It usually doesn't show emotions, but when it does, you'll be glad you're raising a Litten! It can lick up fur and shoot flaming hairballs- it's like it has its own attack! Sometimes, Litten will shed its old fur in a beautiful blaze, something Litten owners say is a treat to the eye-"

"I WANT IT!" Cindy crawled over to the Fire Cat Pokémon and scooped it up in a tight hug. "It's so adorable, I love it! This one's mine! I want Litten! Please let me have this Litten!"

Meanwhile, Litten was squirming and mewling out in protest of the tight hug.

The Pokémon Professor watched and quickly adjusted his hat. "Wow, that is the most excited I've ever seen a young Trainer! Yeah, you can have Litten!"

Cindy stood up with Litten in her arms and let out another high=pitched squeal of delight. She spun around and hopped up a few times. "Yes! Yes! I want Litten! It's so cute! I love this little thing!"

Litten simply eyed its new Trainer and meowed. Cindy practically died of cuteness once again.

Professor Kukui strode over to Allen and merely shrugged. "So, Allen? See your perfect partner?"

Allen turned his head to the TV in the room, where Rowlet was perched. It shook its wings out again and cooed softly. He then looked at the middle of the hardwood floor, where Popplio noted the attention it was getting and posed for attention. Once again, he scanned the room. Rowlet seemed to finally note that is was getting attention and cooed right at the boy. Popplio was busy snorting out another bubble from its nose and trying to float, probably into Allen's face for more attention. Even after more meticulous thinking, none of the Pokémon were striking chords with him.

Kukui seemed to notice Allen's internal struggle. "If you don't see any of the remaining starters an option, I could always get another Litten from downstairs, yeah." He motioned over to Cindy and Litten, the latter's air deprived meows losing the fight to Cindy's constant gushing. "Do you want a Litten like your friend?"

"Um..." He hunched over with a desperate sigh. "I'm sorry if I'm being a burden right now, but I can't see myself with any of these Pokémon." He nudged his glasses which had slid down his nose after he had hung his head. "Once again, I'm sorry, Professor..."

Before Allen could get any further, Kukui pressed an index finger to Allen's lips. "Whoa, you're not being a burden, cousin!" With his other tanned hand, he drew out a marble sized object between his fingers. He then transferred the object to Allen's palm. "I've had many new Trainers come in here and not see any of these Pokémon to their liking. So..." He pointed to the object in Allen's hand. "I just give 'em Pokeballs so they can catch whatever they'd like when their perfect Pokémon comes around!"

Allen turned the object in his fingers. It had a red top and a white bottom separated by a thin black line. When he tapped the white button in the middle, the ball expanded to about the size of a small grapefruit. Anyone could tell that the object was a working Pokéball.

"Allen!" Cindy ran up to Allen with Litten in her arms. "I think Litten likes me! Isn't that right, Litten?"

Litten meowed again, then managed to wriggle out of Cindy's arm and climb up onto her shoulder. Its front paws were in front of Cindy's shoulder while the back legs of the Fire Cat Pokémon dangled behind her shoulder. The girl giggled and scratched Litten's ear with a finger.

Allen smiled, then turned back to Kukui. "Thanks for the help, Kukui!" He eyed the Pokéball in his hands and slipped it into his pocket. As he turned to leave, he felt a strong shoulder.

"Before you and your friend head off..." Kukui also got Cindy's attention and used his hands to give the teens an item each. The items were a red-orange color and had a screen that seemed to be turned off. It was rectangular in shape and had a lid on a hinge that closed. Along with a top screen, it had a bottom screen with various colorful buttons and some circle pads. "These PokeDexes will come in handy during your adventures, yeah! Try starting it up and scanning Litten!"

Cindy rotated the device in her hands and flipped it open. She pressed the start button and extended her arm, to which Litten precariously traversed and jumped down to the floor from. It sat on the ground and mewled as Cindy bent down to better scan it. Soon enough, the device beeped and displayed a picture of Litten was displayed on the top screen while facts and what seemed to be moves were listed on the bottom screen.

Litten, the Fire Cat Pokémon. Litten is a solitary Pokémon who doesn't show its emotions on the outside. It builds up fur in its stomach while it grooms its fur, and it can launch fiery hairballs. The appearance of the hairball can change based on how Litten coughs.

"Wow, this is so cool!" Cindy squealed. She continued to poke around the Pokédex until she saw the time in the corner. "Oh, I gotta get back home! My parents are going to be so worried!"

Allen approached Cindy's side and gave a nervous grin. "Well, if you need to get home... I can walk you home." He pushed his glasses closer to his forest green eyes. "I don't mind, really."

The girl gave a nod of approval, and they were out of the lab after that. Cindy tried to close the door, but then reminded herself that she really didn't need to when the door was on the wooden porch. She just offered a wave to the local Pokémon Professor as she tried to get Litten back into its Pokéball, which wasn't working as Litten simply trotted beside her.

After a good while of walking, the full moon was out and dimming any stars in the sky near its proximity. Cindy and Allen had split up somewhere along the way, the girl having recognized the small landmarks on the way home, like the lake. The boat was absent, another reminder that it was early in the night. Somehow, she managed to find her house, so she walked up the stepping stone walkway and entered the door.

As soon as she entered, she was crowded by two over excited parents. They were asking questions rapid-fire, usually along the lines of "did you get a Pokémon?" or "can I see the Pokémon?" or "Fire, Water, or Grass Type?" Cindy simply bent down and let Litten jump onto its perch on her shoulder.

"So, this is Litten," she responded. "Litten is the Fire Cat Pokémon, and... y'know, Fire Cat... Fire Type... you get the deal."

Her father approached Litten and patted its head a few times. "Litten, huh? It seems to go well with you. Just take extra care to make sure we don't set the new house on fire, we just bought it!"

Just as quickly, her mother also patted the head of the Fire Cat Pokémon. "What a darling Pokémon! Do you think Litten can sleep in my bed tonight? I'd love to have a cuddly Pokémon to fall asleep with!"

Cindy laughed and drew out Litten's Pokéball. "Litten's safe with me, so I'll have to decline on letting you borrow Litten. Now, back in the ball to relax." She withdrew Litten into its Pokéball, but the capsule broke open seconds later. The plasma settled back into the shape of a Litten for what seemed the millionth time that day. "C'mon, Litten. Why don't you like your Pokéball?" She withdrew the Pokémon again, but the Pokéball opened again and Litten purred and rubbed against Cindy's legs.

"If you ask me, I don't think Litten likes being inside its Pokéball," her mother deducted. "I think some Pokémon are just like that. If Litten doesn't like being in its Pokéball, then maybe you can cuddle with it tonight."

The teenager bent down to set a hand on Litten's furry head. "So, you just don't like being in your Pokéball?"

Litten meowed and licked its Trainer's hand.

Her mother looked at the time on her watch and clicked her tongue. "It looks like it's getting late. I don't know about you, but I'm tired. Why don't you get some sleep as well, Cindy?"

Cindy found herself involuntarily yawning, Litten seeming to do the same. "I suppose you're right..." She walked over to her room and smiled. "Well, see you tomorrow! Goodnight!" She opened the door and let Litten slip into her room as well, then she closed the door behind her.

As Cindy's busy day comes to a close, she has more than enough to think about. With two new friends, one human and one Pokémon, it looks like Cindy is certainly prepared for a long and exciting journey! The adventures in Alola seem to keep coming, and our hero is expecting more to come as she sets off on her journey tomorrow! What adventures and misadventures will Cindy and Litten stumble into? The answer is uncertain yet beckoning as the journey continues!

 

im seriously concerned that people like this

Back again, this time with chapter 3!

Spoiler

Episode 3: A Catch of a Pokémon!

Somewhat early in the morning, Cindy struggled with the sheets on her bed as she tried to escape the bed. During the whole blanket fiasco, Litten was watching somewhat tiredly from the floor in a tight ball. Cindy managed to get the sheets off of her, so she stood up and looked down at her Pokémon. She then went over to her vanity and picked up a hairbrush.

It was finally the day.

"Can you believe it, Litten?" she asked her Pokémon as she ran the hairbrush's bristles through her long ginger hair. "Today, we go out on our grand adventure and I'll become Alola Top Coordinator!" She spun around while her nightgown followed with silky movements. The girl then set the brush down and went into her closet to change into something more adventure appropriate.

Meanwhile, Litten hopped up on the messy bed and licked its paw.

It seemed like only seconds passed before Cindy burst out of the door with a huge smile. She looked at herself in the mirror and made sure everything was perfect. Her bright red shirt was wrinkle-free and tied back with a green hair tie to prevent sagging, and her blue shorts looked tailor made for the Alola heat. Her grey boots had been in great condition ever since she got them for her fifteenth birthday, and her previously free-flowing hair was tied up in two green ribbons and snug in a braid.

She strode over to her nightstand and picked up her bag, then looked back to Litten. "So, you ready? We've gotta practice for our first contest, wherever that may be!" Cindy pulled out the tablet device from her bag and poked around for a bit. She then nodded to no one in particular and put her determined foot forward. "My PokeTab says that our first place to go is Hau'oli City, so let's go there!"

Cindy extended her right arm out, to which Litten hopped upon. It jumped towards her shoulder, its front paws securing it in place while its Trainer ran right out the bedroom door and into the main room of the home.

She gave her parents a wave before she rounded to the front door. She grabbed the handle and yanked it open, then she ran right into the outside light. Already, people and their Pokémon were hard at work or play. She saw the little boat on the lake, and a few moving palm trees she had just learned to accept. She was going to run towards the trail that lead to the next city, and pretty much nothing was in her way.

She kept running with a smile full of joy as she passed each home. Once, she looked over to Litten, who was seeming to have the time of its life as well. Somewhat carried away by her state of ultimate bliss, she jumped up and attempted to reach the clouds that were lazily floating above-

"W-whoa! Cindy, look out!"

It seemed Cindy was still in midair as she face palmed. "Ugh, not again..."

Gravity took over once again, and gravity pulled Cindy back to earth and tumbling into Allen again. The two rolled away from the impact, this time both of them seeming relatively unharmed unlike yesterday's scuffle.

Allen was the first to stand up. He nudged his glasses back up and held a hand out. "Whoa, were you in a rush or what? I've never seen anyone move that fast!"

Cindy giggled with an embarrassed blush as she took Allen's hand and hauled herself back onto her boots. "Well, just a little excited to start my journey. The faster I get out there, the faster I can start collecting my Ribbons!" She spun around and clasped her hands near her heart. "And when I collect my five Ribbons, it's Grand Festival time!"

"Well, sure hope you have lots of fun on your journey." Allen looked behind him to his home, then bit his lower lip. "Um... I really want to ask something of you, but I don't want to be a burden in your adventure." He waved a hand. "Y'know what? Just ignore anything I said. I don't need to ask."

The girl quirked an eyebrow. "Um... you can ask. I literally have no idea what you're trying to say, so I don't really know how to respond."

Allen twiddled with his thumbs, most likely out of nervousness. "Well... I wanted to know..." He took a deep breath before rambling, "Iwanttomaybejoinyou!"

"...what the Distortion did you say? I didn't pick up a single word-"

"I said... I want to join you on your adventure."

Cindy simply eyed her... was Allen a friend yet? Regardless of the status of their acquaintanceship, she smiled and gave a nod. "Sure you can! I bet it would get lonely with only me and Litten."

Allen was not present to respond. It was like he literally disappeared. It was only when she turned her head to Allen's home did she see her new traveling companion at the door with a green backpack on his shoulders. It appeared he was talking to his mother. Cindy approached the scene, where she saw Allen's mother pinching his cheeks and mumbling some worried comments.

His mother noted Cindy and pleasantly gasped. "Oh, and there's that girl that will take care of you!" She turned to Cindy's face. "Promise to take care of my little boy for me?"

"Mom!" the boy commented, displeased.

"Um... I guess so."

The mother pinched her son's cheeks again. "Promise me you'll super careful and that you have fun, sweetie!" She let go of his face and ruffled his hair.

Cindy grabbed Allen's hand and dragged him away from the home as he gave a wave towards his mother. Now on the sidewalk, she let go of his hand and started her excited sprint. Like she expected, Allen joined in as well. Together, the two teens and a Pokémon whooped in joy as they finally left Celestiluna City and started the long journey towards the dreams they aspired to.

When she thought of 'Pokémon journey', Cindy thought of grand expeditions and crazy battles along the way. The sun on her back and her Pokémon defending her from any rabid beasts. A heroic journey through lush forests and dramatic and dangerous treks through barren deserts. Her and her friend back to back, battling their dominance and showing everyone who dared to get in their way the strength of them and their Pokémon. The nighttime sky reflecting millions of stars as they crossed huge oceans and even swam below them to find treasure. It was the exact image of the concept of a Pokémon journey told in stories.

All she really saw was a dirt path and trees.

Cindy looked to her left. Trees. To her right. More trees. In front of her. A dirt path. Not what she was really expecting.

She mindlessly pulled out her PokeTab and looked at the map. She sighed as she noted the location of Hau'oli City, the nearest Contest Hall settled in that city. Before that, they had to pass two other towns, a settlement named Hou'omaka Town and a smaller town named Iki Town. None of those towns possessed a Contest Hall, so she really had no choice but to pass by the towns.

Meanwhile, Allen was by Cindy's side, absentmindedly tossing his Pokéball up and catching it. He was vigilantly scanning the road and the trees around it, all for a Pokémon he could train as his. Even after minutes of nothing but silent walking, no Pokémon came up to greet him. He was really starting to get either depressed or annoyed by the lack of Pokémon that came his way.

"So... where are we going, exactly?" Allen finally asked.

Cindy looked over to him and presented the PokeTab. "Well, in order to get to Hau'oli City, we have to get by Hou'omaka Town and Iki Town. So we're going to be going through those little settlements, then we go to Hau'oli City for my first contest debut!"

"So, we're just passing by a few cities to get you to Hau'oli? And then you'll enter the Pokémon Contest and get your first Ribbon after you sign up?"

She nodded. "Yeah, pretty much the plan I have in place." She looked at the Pokémon on her shoulder. "Isn't that right, Litten?"

Litten meowed and sneezed shorty after.

He nudged his glasses back up to his nose and gave a small nod of approval. "Well, that's fine by me-" He was stopped as he tripped and fell flat on his face. He rolled over and looked at the thing he had tripped over. "What in Arceus' name...?"

The object in question was beige and dark brown. It had sporadic white bumps on it. However, the thoughts of it being a rock were short lived as the rock seemed to unfurl and come to life. It wasn't a rock: it was a sleeping Pokémon on the road.

The Pokémon seemed to be canine-like and it had bright blue eyes, much like Cindy. It looked up at Allen and barked something.

"Whoa... a Pokémon!" Allen pulled out his Pokédex and flipped it up, an image of the Pokémon appearing on screen

Rockruff, the Puppy Pokémon. Rockruff has an incredible sense of smell, it will never forget an odor after smelling it once. It is a friendly and social Pokémon, and it greets others by rubbing them with the rocks on its neck. When it gets older, it becomes more and more reckless.

The Rockruff noted the Pokédex and growled, its front paws firmly on the ground as it growled in displeasure. It wildly barked, but it did not move. On Cindy's shoulder, Litten hissed at the Puppy Pokémon.

Allen poked at Cindy's shoulder and then pointed to the Rockruff. "Look at that Pokémon!" He took his Pokéball out and sheepishly grinned. "Um, since I have no Pokémon and I really want to catch this Rockruff... do you think you and Litten can help wear Rockruff down so I can catch it?"

"Um... sure!" Cindy extended her arm out and moved it upwards, Litten soaring through the air and landing on all fours, ready to battle. "Alright, Litten, this will be our first time battling, so show me what you're made of! Ready?"

Litten mewled and stared Rockruff down with an equal amount of displeasure.

Not even seconds after the command was given to fight, Rockruff sprang into action. It charged headlong at Litten and crashed into it with the rocks on its collar. Litten flew back a considerable amount, landing near the feet of its Trainer.

Cindy noted Litten's location and bent down to set it back on its paws. She picked her Pokédex up and looked at the moves Litten currently knew. "Um... okay! Litten, use an Ember attack!"

Litten got back into the swing of things and focused on Rockruff. It opened its mouth, then released a spew of fire towards Rockruff. The flames seemed to consume Rockruff, but it only left the Puppy Pokémon with minor scratches. After the Ember attack, Rockruff started another charge at Litten.

"Litten, dodge it!" Cindy involuntarily commanded.

Before Rockruff could make contact again, Litten jumped away and onto a tree near the scuffle. The Fire Cat Pokémon slowly climbed down the tree and semi hid behind Cindy's legs.

Meanwhile, Allen watched from the sidelines and seemed to be studying the battle with every fiber of his existence.

"Now use Ember again!"

Litten emerged from its Trainers legs and once again sent searing hot flames at Rockruff. It seemed Rockruff was hit critically based on how the opposing Pokémon flew backwards into a tree. The bark, now with a considerable Rockruff-sized crater, housed the mini meteor itself.

Cindy looked at her Pokédex again and pointed a finger outwards. "Go up and use Scratch!"

The Fire Cat Pokémon meowed out, then ran towards Rockruff with its claws glowing bright white. Before Litten could get any closer and rake Rockruff with its claws, a slew of sand was kicked up by Rockruff's tail and into Litten's face. Not long after, Rockruff slammed into Litten again with the sharp rocks on its neck.

On the sidelines, Allen nudged his glasses again. "Wow... now this is a Pokémon battle, and I'm not even watching two experienced Trainers battle each other..."

"Try another Scratch!"

The Fire Cat Pokémon charged up another attack, but Rockruff said otherwise. It rammed into Litten, Litten's Scratch attack slowly fading away as the Fire Type was almost thrown into its Trainer. Litten got up and growled, a small ember leaving its nose as it snorted.

"Litten, get up!" Cindy called. "If I'm gonna become Top Coordinator, we're gonna have to use some move combinations, and we'll start our practice here! I want you to use Ember, then use Scratch on the Ember! Maybe we can get something to work here!"

Litten looked up, then shot up a misshapen sphere of fire. When the Ember came closer to Litten, it protruded its claws and jumped towards the Ember with the glowing claws on a crash course towards the fire. When contact was made, a blast of smoke occurred that temporarily obstructed anything going on. When the thin smoke finally settled, Litten was on the ground, but its claws were still out and literally ablaze with fire.

Cindy gasped and later squealed. "Oh my goodness, it actually worked!" She pointed a determined finger towards Rockruff. "Now use that paw and Scratch Rockruff!"

It seemed Rockruff had a plan of its own as it too, like Litten, charged towards the other. However, Litten had the upper edge and gave a firm slash to the wild Puppy Pokémon. It was consumed by flames for a second and thrown back towards the tree. The sturdy tree almost shook upon the force of Rockruff's second impact, and the Pokémon fell fro its crater and onto the ground. It seemed to not want to battle anymore, but it kept growling at Litten and the two Trainers.

At that point, Allen ran to the makeshift field and chucked the Pokéball away from his hand and shouted, "Pokéball, go!"

The Pokéball landed squarely on Rockruff's weakened head, where the wild Pokémon was converted into a plasma-like substance and sucked into the capsule device. The top closed down and sealed the Pokéball while the device widely shook. Both Allen and Cindy inched closer to the Pokéball every second it shook. It seemed the Pokéball's shaking was becoming weaker and weaker every time until it ultimately stopped. The middle button, which was flashing red the entire time, finally ceased.

Allen moved his hand to pick up the Pokéball, then smiled. "I... I caught my very first Pokémon!" He gave an excited laugh. "Cindy, thank you so much! Without you, I wouldn't have this Pokémon with me!" He spun around with the Pokéball and then held it up. "I just caught a Rockruff!"

Cindy smiled and let Litten hop back to the perch on her shoulder. "Well, it was no problem. Seeing that it would've broken out of the Pokéball if I hadn't stepped in to weaken it..." She gave a quiet giggle while tilting her head somewhat to the side. "No biggie! Happy to help a friend!"

"Well, let's get you outta there, buddy!" The boy adjusted his glasses as he threw the Pokéball up. It broke, then the plasma that spilled out formed into the smae Rockruff from a few minutes ago. He bent down and put a hand on Rockruff's head. "Hey, buddy! How are you today- OW!"

He looked at his hand, where Rockruff had a firm grip of the hand with its teeth. It growled, then jerked backwards slightly.

"Whoa, Allen, that has got to hurt..." Cindy turned her head away. Litten was already jumping towards Rockruff and hissing. It got next to the Puppy Pokémon and swatted its paw a few times. Rockruff finally let go of its Trainer's hand and tried to bite Litten's tail.

Allen held a Pokéball up. "Rockruff, return!"

As soon as Rockruff was back in its Pokéball, Cindy bent down next to Allen and looked at his hand. "Is your hand okay? That looked like it really hurt..."

"No worries," he responded, "I don't think its teeth are that sharp just yet. Just a few scratches." He sighed. "I guess I'm gonna have to work extra hard to gain Rockruff's trust, huh? But the Pokémon you struggle with the most are the ones that are the strongest... at least, that's what I've heard."

Cindy let Litten hop back onto her shoulder. "But what if Rockruff never trusts you? What if it starts disobeying you in a battle?"

The boy shook his head and adjusted his silver frames. "Nah, one day I'll get Rockruff's trust. Believe me, when it hears that we're going to battle those Trial Captains and Kahunas and then go to the Alola League Conference, it'll realize that trust is of utmost importance."

"Well... I sure hope so..." Cindy responded with some trepidation. "Rockruff doesn't seem to like you that much right now." She stood up and offered a hand for Allen.

After Allen was back on his feet, he clipped the Pokéball to his belt and smiled. "There's no need in worrying about it right now. We'll find somewhere to train, but for now, we should get to Hou'omaka Town. We'll find somewhere to get to know each other better there."

Cindy shrugged, then looked at Litten. "I suppose, and we need to heal our Pokémon from that battle they had. Ready to go, Litten?"

Litten licked its paw, looking quite content now that Rockruff was gone.

The two agreed with Litten's silent notion, then they were off again. Cindy held her PokeTab in one hand and concluded that they could reach Hou'omaka Town in less than three days. With more resolve to hurry, the two picked up the pace and started another friendly sprint along the trees and dirt path, the scene having more meaning to Cindy now that the journey was officially a go.

As Allen and Cindy continue to Hou'omaka Town, they now have time to reflect on the many events that have happened. While Allen has a new partner by his side, his partner, Rockruff, doesn't seem that happy with traveling with Trainers. And with Cindy wanting to pick up the pace to enter her first contest as quickly as possible, our heroes are basically running towards the next town! But will Rockruff be able to trust Allen? The answer is going to be answered as the journey continues!

 

Unfortunate news... this will sadly be the last chapter I post on LV.

I sure hope you enjoyed the limited lifespan of this lame fic for the month it has existed here.

Some of you may be saddened, but this is the route I must take.

Now you are free to use your imagination and you must imagine what happens next.

Or just read it on fanfiction.

Whatever. Last chapter on LV, let's go.

April fools this fic goes on forever

Spoiler

Episode 4: Return of a Rival!

(In case you couldn't read that tiny text, April fools. Get ready for a chapter next week.)

For the first time in her fifteen year long life, Cindy didn't sleep in the comfort of a bed in a nicely heated home. She never got the message of camping, how it was am open doorway to the grand adventure known as nature. All she saw was an itchy trip fully of poisonous Berries, poisonous ivy leaves, and bug bites- sometimes poisonous. However, being about halfway between the nearest Pokémon Centers which meant being about halfway between soft beds meant that rushing to Hou'omaka Town was out of the equation and they had no other alternatives. They had to camp outside.

Upon her first time camping, Cindy learned a few things. First, Alola cooled off considerably in the nighttime hours. The girl half regretted not bringing a light jacket, but she had the next best alternative: Litten. It may have taken a few hours of setting up camp due to Cindy's discomfort with going into the bordering forest to collect some dry brush and twigs, which she had complained would get in her hair and she would have to do it all over again, but the goal was accomplished eventually. The fire was set up, pretty much everything owed to the Fire Cat Pokémon for its Ember.

Second thing she had learned, there weren't that many bugs as she had thought. There were a few here and there, and when there were, Cindy was thankful for Litten once again. While she covered her head with her sleeping bag, Litten was up and chasing the tiny invaders. Once the bug seemed to be gone, Litten would curl up right on top of Cindy again. It was slightly annoying with a Pokémon standing up, curling up and repeating the process over and over again, but she told herself it was worth it- she would rather have that than a bug biting her.

Third thing- camp was not only hard to set up, but pack up as well. Especially when the person who was better at managing things had lost his glasses in the morning and spent an hour looking for them while his companion did most of the heavy lifting. Cindy was thinking that it would be easier with two people, so she was already making mental plans on how to prevent Allen from losing those silver frames that seemed like they were never attached to his face at any given movement, taking his constant glasses-nudging into play.

Despite the experiences, good or bad, Cindy felt even more like a true Pokémon Coordinator. You sometimes have to get your hands dirty to achieve a goal, right? That's what Cindy told herself as she tried to pick out every leaf in her long hair in the morning. After they were all packed (and Cindy's hair at what she called a presentable level), the two teenagers found the worn dirt path again and continued to Hou'omaka Town.

"Ugh, when are we gonna get to Hou'omaka Town? My feet are terribly sore..."

"Cindy, we've been walking for twenty minutes."

"Twenty?!"

Allen sighed and facepalmed. "Yes, twenty. Now, I'm not what you'd consider smart-"

"But you're wearing glasses," she interrupted. "Don't all smart kids wear glasses?"

"...no." He quietly nudged the silver frames as he continued, "so, I'm not smart compared to Pokémon Professors, but I know for a fact that if you keep whining, it'll feel like we're taking longer. You know that phrase 'time flies when you're having fun?'"

Cindy merely shrugged in response. "So, you're saying that even with my sore feet, I should be having fun?"

"Yes."

This time, it was Cindy's turn to facepalm. "But my feet hurt! How am I supposed to think about becoming Top Coordinator when I can't focus on anything but my sore feet? It's like you're asking a Magikarp to suddenly learn Hyper Beam and defeat a Legendary Pokémon while it simultaneously evolves into a Gyarados!"

Allen shifted his green backpack to a more comfortable position on his shoulders. "I'm not asking the impossible. Just don't complain about it." He eyed Cindy's watermelon-like bag. "Say, where are we according to your PokeTab?"

The girl stopped to reach into her bag. She fished her PokeTab out and tapped the icon that redirected her to the positioning locator. On the screen was a small dot and an almost straight line path. They were somewhat between the settlements labeled Celestiluna City and Hou'omaka Town. They were closer to the latter, the dot displaying that they were about three-fifths the way there.

"...well, if we need to take a break, we can." Allen rounded over to a tree and propped his bag against it. "Besides, I do have to admit, but I could use a little time to unwind. So, feel free to relax. We seem to be making an even pace, we could even reach Hou'omaka Town sometime next afternoon or evening."

Cindy set her bag next to Allen's and connected her back to the rough bark of a tree. She slowly slid down and exhaled a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank you, my feet thank you..." Without warning, she snapped away from her state of bliss and was thrust back into the real world. "Wait... do we have to camp again?! Aww, no fair! My hair doesn't like camping!"

While sitting against a tree, Allen nudged his glasses so that they reflected a pure white glare that made his forest green eyes disappear. "Listen, we're only stopping because you were complaining, and if you keep complaining we're starting back up again."

"Um... I'll be quiet for a while."

Allen took his glasses off and laughed as he started to clean the lenses with his short sleeved jacket. "Nah, you don't need to play the quiet game with me. Besides, talking to you is really fun, anyway." He held them up and inspected them (Cindy didn't get why, Allen was practically blind and couldn't see anything without them) before nudging them back on the bridge of his nose. "So, what are we even planning to do when we get to Hou'omaka Town?"

Cindy took her PokeTab out again and mindlessly tapped the screen. "We're just passing through to get to Hau'oli City. That's where the closest Contest Hall is around Celestiluna City."

"Huh. Could've sworn they were building a Contest Hall in Celestiluna City," the boy mused. "But I don't think it's done yet. Maybe we'll stop back over if you're absolutely terrible at contest and need another Ribbon or something."

Cindy continued to play around with the PokeTab. She pulled up an internet page (where she was getting service out here was beyond even Arceus) and looked at the tourism guide to Alola and various Alolan cities. She found Hou'omaka Town and decided to take a gander at things she could do without a Contest Hall.

Hou'omaka Town seemed to offer a variety of services. There was a Pokémon Center for weary travelers, and also various restaurants for those who would reject the blessing of free food. A town square littered with practice battlefields near a big fountain was also present. The page boasted that the small town had a nice shopping complex, something that got Cindy's blue eyes to sparkle to life. Anything about shopping was up her ally. Ignoring her love of buying things, Hou'omaka Town seemed like not only a small town that one would forget, but rather one that would make some great memories.

"I was thinking that we could spend a day or so in Hou'omaka Town. Then, it seems that we'll be passing though Iki Town, which is just a hop and skip away from Hau'oli." She closed the internet browser and slipped the tablet device bag into her fruit-themed bag laying next to her sore feet. "It seems that Hou'omaka has some fun things to do, like shopping!"

Allen gave a small laugh. "It seems that you like shopping. When we get to Hou'omaka Town, I'm heading straight towards the Pokémon Center to sign up for the Alola League!"

Cindy turned her attention to her friend and quirked an eyebrow. "Alola League?"

"Yep! It's actually kinda different than what we had three years ago... three years ago, that was when Alola first introduced Pokémon Contest from the Sinnoh region. Before that, there was no League."

"But..." She was failing to connect the dots. "How did Pokémon Contest affect its opposite, the Pokémon League?"

Allen nudged his glasses before going on. "It all had to do with Alola's previous system, Island Trials. Now, Trainers who went on the Island Trial challenge were granted access to other islands in Alola by beating what's known as the Island Kahuna. When we introduced contest, the League officials stated that Coordinators weren't skilled enough to beat Island Kahunas, given that they didn't even do Island Trials. So, with that in mind, Alola adopted a League system while still retaining some of what made Alola's Island Trials unique."

Cindy shrugged, Litten hopping off of her shoulder and on her lap. "Then what's the system?"

"The system now... we still have what we call Trial Captains, but unlike years ago, we only battle the Captains now. There are eight Trial Captains, like other regions have eight Gym Leaders. Here in Alola, we collect these little mementos called Charm Pieces like other regions would collect Gym Badges. We get a Piece each time we win a battle against a Trial Captain. But we also need to collect the four Charm Pieces given by the Kahunas of the islands." Allen stopped to take a huge breath. "Anyway... in order to be applicable to enter the Alola League Conference, one needs to have a wooden pendant called a Charm filled out. Eight Pieces have to be set into one side, four on the other." He smiled at his friend. "It's my goal to get that Charm filled out and become Alola Champion!"

The girl stood up and dusted her red shirt off. "Well, since we both have some kind of goal in Hou'omaka Town, should we get started again?"

Allen nodded and hauled himself to his feet. "Yeah, we should get going again. I gotta sign up for the Alola League-"

"And why bother? You're just wasting your time," a different voice interrupted.

The two teens turned to face the person who had spoken. Behind them was a boy, no older that them. His deep purple eyes were narrowed towards them, more specifically Allen. Even a barrage of light black hair making home in front of his face did not stop his quest to stare Allen down.

"I said," the boy reiterated, "you're wasting your time. Go home, Allen."

Cindy scooted a little closer to Allen. "Allen, he knows your name!"

With an equal glare, Allen didn't make an effort to turn his eyes towards Cindy. "I know. It's only natural that I would know this boy." He took a step forward. "And so we meet again, Ryan."

"Um... do you two know each other?" Cindy asked quietly.

Allen finally shifted his eyes back, but he really couldn't see Cindy as she was behind him. "We do. Pretty much everyone our ago knows us as Celestiluna City's ultimate rivals." He pounded a foot forward. "And what do you mean by 'go home'?"

The boy known as Ryan never ceased his glaring either. "I mean what I said. You're not going to sign up for the Alola League. When you ask to sign up, they'll take one look at your nerdy face and laugh. I've told you again and again. Don't dream so high that they're impossible to reach. Now, for me, I can reach the dream of simply signing up. You, however, can't."

"Excuse me?!"

Ryan laughed and took a Pokéball off of his belt. "Then prove it. Battle me. I doubt you're gonna win, but just try and see if you even have the skills to sign up for the League." He shifted the capsule device between his hands and drew his hand back. "C'mon, Al-loser."

Allen's hands shook with rage as he took his own Pokéball off of his belt and nudged his glasses. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into, let alone talking about. I'm signing up for that League."

Before Ryan threw his Pokéball out, he grabbed Cindy's shoulders and situated her between the two on the sidelines. He walked back and shook his head to get some hair out of his face. "This is gonna be one-on-one. First Pokémon to concede defeat wins."

"And that's gonna be your Pokémon!" Allen threw his Pokéball into the open air. "Rockruff, come on out!"

Ryan smirked and threw his Pokéball out as well. "Let's go, Axew!"

It seemed the two Pokeballs met in the middle of the field with a clash before they popped open. On one side, a Rock Type Pokémon. On the other, a small green Pokémon that seemed dangerous yet somewhat adorable.

"Who's that Pokémon?" Cindy asked herself as she took her Pokédex out and pointed it to the foreign Pokémon.

Axew, the Tusk Pokémon. Axew has strong tusks that provide a variety of uses, like marking territory and crushing hard Berries. The tusks can break, but they always grow back. The new tusks are said to be stronger than the lost tusk.

Allen nudged his glasses and cocked his head to one side. "Where'd you get that Pokémon?"

Ryan crossed his arms. "I'm from Unova, so it's only natural that my family would take a pet Axew with us. Years later, I get permission to take Axew with me." He uncrossed his arms and pointed outwards. "No holdups! Use a Scratch attack!"

Axew, like its Trainer, stared Rockruff down and started a wild charge. Its short claws extended and glowed a blinding white color. It jumped up and prepared the slash to Rockruff.

On the other side of the field, Allen found himself jittering around and shaking. He felt a bead of sweat run down his face as he shouted, "um... Sand Attack!"

Rockruff prepared to kick up a cloud of dust in front of it, but the command was given too late. Axew managed to get a firm attack in. Rockruff went flying backwards, almost flying back into its Trainer.

"C'mon, Allen! You can beat Ryan!" Cindy cheered from the sidelines.

Allen looked back at Ryan, then at his Pokémon. He nervously pointed outwards. "O-okay... Rockruff, use Tackle!"

What one would expect to happen would be Rockruff charging at Axew and attacking. However, none of that happened as Rockruff simply lied down.

"W-what?! Rockruff, get up, we don't have time to relax-"

"Dragon Rage, Axew!"

On the other side of the field, Axew open its mouth and started gathering some blue-colored energy. Who knew what that energy would be used for later and how powerful of an attack it would make.

Allen knelled down near Rockruff and started shaking his Pokémon around. "Get up, get up, get up! C'mon, we're in the middle of a battle!" He continued to try and get Rockruff to stand up, but the Puppy Pokémon simply refused to get up.

While the frantic shaking and requests to stand up continued, a snap from the other side of the field was heard. Both Allen and Rockruff looked to the Tusk Pokémon firing a beam of blue energy straight towards them both. In a split second, Allen grabbed Rockruff and managed to get out of the way, sliding near Cindy's feet.

Cindy noted Allen at her feet, then glared at Ryan. "Hey! You almost hurt my friend! That should disqualify you from the battle!"

"It's not my fault he's such a horrible Trainer he can't get his Pokémon to obey him," Ryan rudely commented.

Allen stood up and placed Rockruff back on the field, then fisted his hands. "Please, Rockruff, just listen to me! Use Bite!"

Finally, Rockruff listened, but it rolled its eyes as it took a leisurely stroll towards Axew and put the Tusk Pokémon's arm in its mouth with no effort whatsoever. Hardly a Bite attack if you would ask anyone.

"Um... are you even trying?" Ryan snapped his fingers together. "Use Dragon Rage, get this terrible battle over with."

With Rockruff's effortless attack still in effect, Axew opened its mouth again and fired another powerful beam of Dragon Type energy. Because of how close the two Pokémon were, Rockruff went flying into a tree on the way far side of the makeshift battlefield. When Rockruff fell from the tree, it was still glaring at Axew as it stood up and started its own charge towards the opposing Pokémon.

Allen gasped. "Rockruff, wait until I give a command! I'm your Trainer, you should be listening to me!"

Ryan surpressed a laugh either mocking the display of Pokémon or mocking Allen. "Really? This is gonna be your star Pokémon that'll become Champion of Alola alongside your lofty dream image of yourself?" He smirked. "That's so funny. Axew, just use an Assurance attack."

As Rockruff continued its anger filled charge, Axew prepared when it was practically face-to-face. It moved its hand back and watched as the out of control Puppy Pokémon pounded its paws to get closer and closer.

"Now use Leer and fire that Assurance attack!"

Before Rockruff could make contact, Axew glared at Rockruff with red glowing eyes. The Puppy Pokémon stopped dead in its tracks and whined quietly due to the intimidating look on its opposition's face. When Rockruff was perfectly still, Axew thrust its hand forward and off went Rockruff like a rocket. It flew back into the tree it had flown into minutes ago, perhaps a stray Berry falling. However, unlike last time, Rockruff didn't get up as quickly.

Allen seethed a breath in through gritted teeth. "C'mon, you can keep going!"

Despite Allen's feeble attempts to get Rockruff to stay standing, nothing worked. The Puppy Pokémon fell to its side and didn't get back up.

Cindy sighed and pointed to Axew. "Rockruff is unable to battle, so Axew is the winner. Which means that the winner of this one-on-one Pokémon battle is... Ryan."

Ryan smirked and withdrew his Pokémon back into its Pokéball. Shortly after, he approached Allen and glared. "And look who won." He laughed for a short while. "You know where Celestiluna City is. Just go back and cry to your Mommy."

"Stop that!" Cindy demanded, "you're being unnecessarily rude towards my friend! At least apologize!"

Ryan shifted the glare to Cindy, but them looked at Allen. "Hey, Al-loser. Sorry that you're such a failure Pokémon Trainer. See ya never in the Alola League Conference," he crudely said as he walked off past them.

Cindy turned to Allen, who was looking down. "Hey, don't listen to him. He's just trying to get a reaction outta you." She offered a smile. "If you ask me, I think that if you can get Rockruff to obey you, you'd become Alola Champion in a heartbeat."

Finally, Allen looked up and nudged his glasses a bit. "Really? Because I don't really think so..."

"Of course." Cindy grabbed his wrist and started walking on the path again. "Beside, this battle's now in the past. All you can do is learn from it and get better, and when you get your Pokémon's trust, you'll be great."

Allen caught Cindy's contagious smile and gave it back to her. "Thanks. You know what to say when I need it."

The two made sure to grab their bags and Cindy to make sure she hadn't lost Litten. After they were ready, they started walking on the faded dirt path again. The sun was still high in the sky, so they had plenty of time to make it to Hou'omaka Town, either to shop, play, or try and fulfill a quest to get a Pokémon to trust him, Allen's next big step on the path to becoming Alola Champion.

In only a day of traveling, many surprising things have happened! Allen's childhood rival, Ryan, showed up and challenged Allen to a battle. However, due to Ryan's strong bond with his Pokémon and Rockruff's disobedience, Ryan swept the battle quickly and claimed a victory! Although Allen felt a little down on himself after the rude comments exchanged by his rival, the quest to Hou'omaka Town still remains strong. There, Allen hopes to make some sort of amends with Rockruff so the quest to becoming Alola Champion is easier. And with a battle to learn from, more exciting battles await Allen in the future as the journey continues!

 

You know it... it's the best or worst part of your weekend, the time I post a chapter! I do have to say, I'm loving all the positive feedback I'm getting from you guys, and I'm glad you're enjoying this fic!

So, chapter 5 time!

Spoiler

Episode 5: A Training Wreck!

After what seemed like the most hectic day thus far in the two day or so journey, both Allen and Cindy were grateful for the relaxation that came with that evening and the next day. Right after Ryan left, the two continued on the dirt path that was leading them to Hou'omaka Town. As the sun set that night, Cindy's PokeTab suggested they were almost there, but not quite close enough to make it before total darkness took over Alola. So, much to the disliking of Cindy, camp was set up once again.

The next morning, after the campsite had been packed up (Allen didn't lose his glasses this time, thank Arceus), the two were off again. It was mostly uneventful, except for that moment where Litten sneezed and almost caught Cindy's shirt on fire, but other than that the walk wasn't anything to be envied. All that mattered was how close they were to Hou'omaka Town, and with their brisk pace, Allen had deducted that they would finally make it before the sunset.

That in its own almost seemed to make them walk faster.

The path was quiet. The sky was blue and dotted with a fluffy cloud lazily drifting by. The wind was minimal, so the sounds of rustling leaves was almost absent. It was the dictionary definition of a perfect day in a tropical paradise. The only notable sounds were those of feet on the dirt trail. Nothing could possibly go wrong on a picture perfect day like this one.

The two teenagers on the trail were silent like the nature around them as well. While Cindy was tending to Litten and giving it plenty of affection, Allen was simply focused on the trail ahead while he ate a sandwich he had packed with him. Due to Cindy's sheer excitement of becoming a Coordinator days prior, she really didn't bother to pack any food or anything. Luckily for her, Allen had her covered and let her have the other half of his sandwich. Peanut butter with Pecha Berry jelly seemed to be the flavor, but the girl wasn't exactly a practiced connoisseur of edible treats, let alone a sandwich.

They remained in silence for what seemed like hours. Occasionally, Cindy would check her PokeTab and see where they were in relation to Hou'omaka Town. Every time she did so, no matter if she had last checked five seconds ago or twenty minutes, the dot representing her location would inch closer to point B. It always made her hopeful that anytime now, they would see a shift in the road, from dirt to blacktop, and they would stride into Hou'omaka Town. Cindy had already planned everything she was going to do. First, hit the Pokémon Center to check out a room and heal Litten in case it had sustained any major injuries. Second, run straight to the shopping complex to find her perfect contest outfit if her mother hadn't bought her one already. Third... more shopping, she supposed.

Other than the obvious option on the agenda, Cindy was still thinking of all the other things she could do once they reached Hou'omaka Town. From her visit to the Alola tourism site, she knew that the small town had some public battlefields anyone could use. Perhaps she would go there and develop the perfect appeal for when she got to Hau'oli City's Pokémon Contest. Or maybe they had a salon that would fix her hair up from two terrible hair days of camping. She never knew that a small town could ahrbor so many things to do and places to go, be she wasn't complaining. If there was shopping and Pokémon Contest prep, she was game.

Cindy had no clue what Allen wanted to do when they reached the settlement, though. She was assuming that he would sign up for that Alola League and try to earn Rockruff's trust. But other than that, the boy's future ambitions were unknown to her. Did he want to go shopping, too? Maybe he would reserve some seats in a restaurant for some quality food after the long trek to Hou'omaka? Perhaps he would just go back to the Pokémon Center and flop down on the bed in the room they checked out?

Once again, Cindy pulled her tablet device out and looked at their current location. She mentally celebrated inside as the dot crawled closer and closer to their destination. Perhaps all that camping and leaves in the hair would be worth it to sleep in a bed tonight. She didn't want to deal with taming her hair again after it had seemed to swallow every leaf in the area for the past two nights. She really had to invest in a night hat or something.

It seemed like a while before Cindy felt a soft prodding at her shoulder. Since Litten was borderline asleep on her right shoulder, she turned to her left, and there was Allen poking her shoulder over and over.

"...hi, Allen. Do you need anything?"

Allen gave a sheepish smile of his. "Hey. I was wondering..." His smile faltered, then flat-out vanished. "Do you think... do you think Ryan was right? Do you think it would be a funny joke if I tried to sign up for the Alola Pokémon League? He sounded like he was telling the truth back there..."

Cindy shook her head, which seemed to wake Litten up a bit with its Trainer's hair in its face. "Not at all. You can't let Ryan's comments get to you." She offered an encouraging smile. "He's just trying to discourage you. If you want to know what I think... I think he realized that you're gonna become a great Pokémon Trainer and he just doesn't want to face you in the Alola League because you'll beat him. I think he knows that."

"Really?" the boy inquired. "I don't really think so..."

"C'mon, of course you're good!" She stopped and struck a battle ready pose. "If you can put up with that Rockruff's disobedience, then no doubt you'll be able to survive the time needed to gain Rockruff's trust! And when that happens, Rockruff will evolve into... whatever it evolves into, and you'll show Ryan who the next Alola Champion is!"

Allen remained with his monotonous face for a while, but then broke out into a smile. He seemed to be blushing, embarrassed. "Hehe... maybe. Maybe I could just barely get into that League Conference-"

Cindy shushed him with a finger. "Nope. Not just barely. You're gonna get in by a landslide!" She nudged her friend with an elbow. "C'mon, hold your head up and know that you'll get better!" She turned her head to face her Pokémon. "Isn't that right, Litten?"

Litten, who was now fully awake after its little cat nap, meowed with a smile.

"Even the Pokémon believes in me..." The boy nudged his glasses again and nervously smiled. "I... I guess I can put Ryan's probably true-"

"Nope. Try a different word."

Allen laughed a little nervously. "Ryan's totally false comments behind me and sign up for the Alola League."

Cindy jumped up with delight, and it seemed Litten did the same. "That's the spirit! Now..." She grabbed Allen's wrist and looked him straight in the eyes. "Let's battle! Let's see you put that determination to good use!"

"W-what?!"

The girl ran a considerable way away from Allen, putting some nice space between them. Cindy put one hand on her hip and extended her right hand outwards. Like the last time Litten battled, it ran across the human platform and jumped up and landed on the ground. She struck her battle ready pose again, evident that she was serious about the battle.

Allen eyed his friend and the Litten, then moved his hand towards the Pokéball clipped on his belt. He took it off and pressed the white button on the middle. The Pokéball grew to a bigger size, which meant that it was battle time. He drew his hand back and threw the Pokéball out as he shouted, "Rockruff, come on out!"

The ball spun in the air for a few good seconds before breaking open. The plasma substance settled into the wild and ignorant form known as Rockruff.

"Okay, Allen, I'll let you claim first move!" She looked towards Litten. "Get ready, Litten. Rockruff is a Rock Type Pokémon, and if it knows any Rock Type moves yet, best be on guard because Fire Types are at a disadvantage! And even if it doesn't know any Rock Type moves, any other attack can hurt just as much! So, ready?"

Litten slammed its front paws on the ground and growled at the opposing Puppy Pokémon, which was doing the same from across the field.

On the other side of the field, Allen used a shaking hand to adjust his glasses. "O-okay... sure hope I don't do anything wrong like last time..." He nervously thrust his hand outwards. "Rockruff, let's start this off with a Bite attack!"

In a way Allen didn't expect from his disobedient Pokémon, Rockruff barked out wildly and charged towards Litten. Its mouth was open and each sharp tooth was outlined in a bright white glow. The boy stood, dazed. Rockruff actually listened to him.

Cindy looked at the charging Pokémon, then at Litten. "Alright! Litten, block it with Scratch!"

Although Litten didn't move as it held its ground, it managed to prop itself up on its hind legs and sit upright. It extended its sharp claws that would otherwise be covered by its black paws. When Rockruff finally jumped upwards to snap at Litten, the Fire Cat Pokémon thrust one of its forelegs at Rockruff. Instead of biting down on Litten itself, it bit down on Litten's extended claws. A few sparks originated from the moment of contact. Seconds later, Litten used its other foreleg to slash Rockruff, thus bringing it away from Litten and back to its side of the field.

Allen felt himself fist a hand from the tension of the battle. He looked at the Rockruff still staring down Litten. "Why did Rockruff finally obey me? It's not like we had any other interactions after the battle with Ryan..." He shrugged it off and point out again. "Now use-" Before Allen could finish, Rockruff ran straight towards Litten. The boy sighed as he felt a bead of sweat drop down his face. "Ugh, not again..."

"Litten, Growl!" Cindy commanded.

Before Rockruff was even close enough to attack, Litten let out a terrible hissing noise. Both Trainers covered their ears due to the sheer volume, and Rockruff stopped in the middle of the makeshift field to try and eliminate the noise from entering its ears. It was no use, however, as Litten continued to hiss.

Cindy managed to crack an eye open. "Now... use... Ember!"

Litten was still growling out as it gathered a collection of searing hot embers in its mouth. As soon as the attack was ready, Litten increased the volume of its hissing as it shot the Ember forward. It seemed the attacks somehow merged together, circular rings of fire ripping through the air and on a crash course towards Rockruff.

"Rockruff, dodge it!" the boy on the other side frantically commanded. However, as soon as he ended the message, there was a Puppy Pokémon lying near his feet. So much for dodging the attack. He surveyed the situation and ran a finger over the rim of his glasses. "Think think think... use Leer!"

If Rockruff was glaring hard at Litten, the Puppy Pokémon produced some unprecedented levels of eye narrowing and teeth barring. Its eyes seemed to glow an eerie light blue, which looked like it was really scaring Litten on the other side of the field.

Allen pointed outwards again with his nervously shaking hand. "Now Tackle!"

As Rockruff ran closer and closer to Litten, Cindy slammed a boot clad foot on the ground as she yelled, "snap out of it, Litten!"

On the dirt path/field, the Fire Cat Pokémon that was seized with fear didn't move. It meowed out quietly for whatever reason. It stayed frozen for long enough for the Puppy Pokémon to slam right into the feline-like creature with the sharp rocks on its collar. Litten flew backwards a considerable amount, but that didn't even seem to stop it from getting back up and into the game again.

Cindy knelled down and eyed her Pokémon. "Alright, we're doing just fine! But I want you to turn it up to eleven, I need you to feel that battling spirit flow through you! We've got some Contest Battles to do when we enter the Hau'oli City Pokémon Contest, so this is gonna be our practice! Ready to keep going?"

Litten walked next to its Trainer and rubbed against her boots. It sat down and meowed with a determined tone.

"Awesome!" The girl hauled herself back to her feet and snapped her fingers together for some kind of dramatic effect. "Let's start it back up! Litten, use Ember!"

It sure looked like Litten was recharged and back at it. It opened its mouth and started the gathering of small embers of fire. Soon enough, Litten jumped upwards and fired the Ember attack down and at the opposition.

Meanwhile, Allen was quickly shifting his eyes back and forth between the attack and his Pokémon. "Think... what to do here..." He felt his hand start shaking again. "I can't mess this up... Rockruff, just dodge it!"

Rockruff stood its ground, but them twirled around and used its hind legs and tail to kick up some dirt. The plume of dust created a wall between the Puppy Pokémon and the Ember attack, the Fire Type move colliding with the dust and exploding out of existence. Afterwards, Rockruff continued the furious barking and shifted on its paws to better guard its side of the field.

Cindy laughed and focused on her opponent. "Wow, this is a tense battle! You feelin' that Alola Champion inside you rise up to the surface?"

"Um... sure?"

She quirked an eyebrow. "Was that a question?"

Allen adjusted his glasses and shrugged. "Sure. I don't know what that feels like, but maybe I feel it."

"Awesome! Litten, Scratch!"

With the opposition distracted, Litten ran up towards Rockruff and quickly extended its claws. It leaped up into the air and meowed out as it descended with the front paws out, like it were a claw-wielding missile about to land and wreck havoc.

"Dodge that!" Allen commanded.

Instead of dodging, like it was told to, Rockruff jumped upwards and managed to ram straight into Litten while both Pokémon were still in midair. Litten went flying from the critically aimed hit, this time way into a tree past Cindy. Back on the ground, Rockruff seemed to relax and settle down without the Fire Cat Pokémon sharing a makeshift battlefield with it.

Cindy ran towards the tree Litten was knocked into and huffed. "Litten! Come down!" She put a foot on the tree and noted Allen behind her. She hobbled and hopped for a bit as she put her hands on the tree. "Allen, boost me."

The boy approached his friend and managed to lift her up on his back. He looked up as he struggled at keep his own footing. "So... where is Litten...? I'm not that strong... I'm literally going to collapse any minute now..."

Cindy stood up on her tiptoes as she stuck her whole head and upper body in the tree. Among the green leaves and the occasional Berry, she saw a bundle of black and red fur on an isolated branch that looked like it would never support a Pokémon upon first glance. She tried to reach her arms out to fish her Pokémon out of the tree. "Litten! C'mon, over here!"

Litten noted the familiar voice of its Trainer, then attempted to walk towards her. Attempted was the key word of the day as it suddenly stopped due to a sharp cracking noise from the branch it stood on. It desperately clung onto the branch like there was a pit of molten lava below it. It meowed out, perhaps an SOS signal to other Pokémon.

"Litten!" Cindy removed her face from the sturdy tree and jumped off of Allen's shoulders. She landed on the ground just in time to see the branch Litten was on break away from the tree it was once attached to. Now stuck in a freefall, Cindy only had one thought come to mind.

She ran towards Litten, extended her arms out, and slid like she was on ice to catch her falling Pokémon.

Somehow, the move was quick enough and Litten fell safely into Cindy's arms. However, not everything worked out the way Cindy had planned out when she sat up and inspected the stinging pain in her knee. Upon her further inspection, she had accidentally scraped her knee a bit when sliding into home to save her Pokémon.

"You okay?" Allen asked as he bent down next to Cindy.

The girl gave a smile despite the pain she was feeling. "Yeah... could've been way worse." She looked to her Pokémon, who had jumped onto her shoulder again. "At least Litten is safe. I wouldn't have wanted Litten to fall and get hurt."

Allen held his hand out, to which Cindy grabbed to help her back to her feet. She dusted her red shirt from any leaves or dirt it may have collected, then looked back at her friend, who already had his Pokémon recalled and his Pokéball clipped back onto his belt. "We should get back on the trail to Hou'omaka Town. Not only do we need to heal our Pokémon and maybe your knee, but we're almost there. Just a little while longer and we'll finally be at Hou'omaka Town!" the boy exclaimed.

The girl agreed, then started a sprint with her friend despite the fact she had scraped her knee mere minutes ago. The two continued on the dirt path that had become oh so familiar, the trees whizzing by them. The sun was still high in the sky as the two sprinted off the fading worn trail and the terrain changed under their feet from grass and dirt to blacktop as the silhouettes of houses and moderately-sized buildings finally came into view after two days of an already exciting adventure.

Another day, another exciting battle! With Cindy's motivation and Allen's will to polish his battling record, the two friends face off in a small battle to practice for either the Alola League or upcoming contests. However, it seems that the battle was carried a little too far when an impressive attack from the disobedient Rockruff knocks Litten into a tree, calling the battle off! Even after the little mishap and an unfinished battle, our heroes decide to finish the journey to Hou'omaka Town! More exciting battles and hijinks are to come as the journey continues!

 

Tries to think of witty intro for this chapter

Fails

It's chapter 6. Please read chapter six.

Spoiler

Episode 6: The Journey Continues, Stephanie Not Included!

At long last, Cindy and Allen had finally reached Hou'omaka Town.

While still sprinting, the two teenagers managed to skid to a halt in what seemed to be the town square. There was a huge fountain with a Horsea on the top spraying out a gentle waterfall of water, and Cindy swore that she maybe saw a little Magikarp swimming around. All around them were semi-tall buildings that seemed to be either apartments or shops, and people were gathering in the town square. But a tap in the shoulder from Allen suggested that they had no time to sight see, they were to visit the Pokémon Center.

Soon, they stopped in front of a fairly large builder, significantly larger than any other building they had seen thus far. It had sliding glass doors and a red roof, and painted on the front of the building was a large Pokéball. A signpost next to the two read 'Pokémon Center', so if that didn't get the point across, they were at Hou'omaka Town's Pokémon Center.

They stepped in, and the scenery changed. If they were to keep walking forward, they would run into a desk and the nurse behind the desk. To the right of them, there were several booths with telephones and screens against the wall. In the open area of the right side, there was a glass table with many chairs snug under it. There was a stairwell next to the nurse's desk. To their left was another area, but this one had a widescreen TV mounted to the wall. A few people were surrounding it, they seemed to be watching the news. There were more chairs and couches set up, and built into the far left wall was what seemed to be a cafe. Why anyone would pay for a beverage when there was a sign reading 'cafeteria' leading upstairs, no one knew.

Allen grabbed Cindy's wrist and gently pulled her towards the nurse's desk. "If you ever need to heal your Pokémon, just stand here and Nurse Joy will notice you in no time. Every Nurse Joy is committed to helping people and Pokémon in need."

Like her friend had said, a woman with short pink hair not even long enough to tie back appeared. She was wearing a pale pink tank top and a short miniskirt with some shorts underneath, along with a small hat with a red cross on it. She gave a warm smile. "Hello, welcome to the Pokémon Center! Can I help you two today?"

"Yep," Allen responded as he pulled his Pokéball out, "me and my friend would like to heal our Pokémon and claim a room to stay in tonight."

Nurse Joy gave a confirmatory nod. "Alrighty then!" She set out a tray with six distinct divots. "Just put your Pokeballs here and I'll have them fixed up in a jiffy!"

While Allen placed his capsule device in one of the divots, Cindy let Litten jump off of her shoulder and onto the counter. Cindy looked at the nurse with a nervous smile. "Um, does Litten have to be in its Pokéball? Litten doesn't like to stay in its Pokéball."

"Of course! You don't even know how many times I've seen Trainers who prefer to keep their Pokémon out and with them. It's fine!" She gently lifted Litten onto the tray and picked it up. "While I heal your Pokémon..." While still holding the tray, she reached under the desk to perhaps a cubby built into it and handed Allen a plastic card. "There's your room key! Why don't you settle down and relax? Where do you two even come from?"

Cindy pulled her PokeTab out and showed Nurse Joy the map. "We come from Celestiluna City."

The nurse never stopped smiling. "Wow, that's a long way away from here! You guys really should rest a bit, I bet your feet are tired!" She turned around and went to the back of her little area, which must've been where Pokémon were healed. She poked her head out and looked at Cindy. "Oh, and I heard about your little scuffle with your knee. Don't worry, there should be some bandages in your room to help!" She vanished out of sight again.

Now with the card, Allen and Cindy rounded over to the stairwell and started scaling the steps. The card said that their room was somewhere on the third floor, so they climbed the stairs until the stairs disappeared because the Pokémon Center was only three stories tall. They could smell the delicious food the cafeteria was preparing a floor down. Soon, they reached their room, so Allen swiped the card through the security device on the door. It beeped, so he opened the door.

The room itself was... well, roomy. There were two sets of bunk beds and a desk tucked away in a corner. Mounted on a TV stand was a widescreen TV, though it wasn't as large as the one downstairs. While Allen set his backpack down and against the post on one of the bunk beds, Cindy rocketed straight towards the door.

"Um, Cindy, where are you going?" Allen inquired.

Cindy, with a smile, rolled her bright blue eyes. "To go shopping! Duh!" She made sure that her watermelon-inspired bag was still firmly around her left shoulder, then she opened the door and bolted straight out.

Allen stood up and tried to catch her. "Wait! You can't leave without... a..." He realized her was talking to perhaps the smoke outline of Cindy rather than the living form of his friend. "...key card." He sighed as he felt a bead of sweat drip down his face. "Sure hope I remember to let her in when she comes pounding at the door..."

The sun was almost ready to start its daily descent as Cindy burst out of a local clothing store. She spun around once like there were mirrors on any side of her, just observing her fashion and probably giving herself mental compliments. Nothing had changed about her choice of clothing rather than her newly bought accessory, a bright green scarf gently wrapped around neck. It matched the accent colors on her bag and the ribbons holding her braid in place, so she was happy.

She started off to find the Pokémon Center again. She passed by the town square again, that fountain still brilliantly spewing water up. Around the town square, Trainers were facing off in small play battles, or families were relaxing while the younger children cheered the older challengers on. It was a picture perfect example of people in a smaller town gathering together as a community to enjoy the last bits of light before the sun started to set.

So if the community was together, what was that blue-haired girl doing sitting alone on the rim of the fountain?

Cindy, albeit very quietly, approached the girl. She looked slightly younger than her, and a bit shorter. She had a foot clad in a knee-high indigo boot on the fountain's rim, and her miniskirt was the same color. There was a pair of fingerless gloves sitting next to her for her purpose of swishing her hand slowly through the cold water. Her blue hair was set in a high ponytail. Quietly, Cindy sat next to her.

They sat in silence for a while. Did the girl know that there was another girl sitting next to her? Cindy eyed the girl and tapped her shoulder, but got no response. She poked her again for extra measure.

"...I know you're there, Miss," she quietly uttered.

Cindy saw her turn her head to face her. She had sparking aquamarine eyes that glinted with the sunset. The ginger haired girl offered a smile. "Hi. So... do you live here? Are you a traveler?"

The girl dryly laughed. "I wish I was. Until then, I just live here." She tucked in both legs (how she wasn't falling into the fountain was impressive) and set her head on her knees. "I've never seen you before. You must be a traveler. You're lucky. I'm not allowed to go out and travel."

Cindy felt a sympathetic pang hit her heart. "That's terrible! Why can't you go out and travel?"

"Ask my mother, she set the rules," she answered. She continued looking at the other girl before setting her feet back on the ground and holding a hand out with a small grin. "Stephanie."

The girl with the ginger hair decided to hold her hand out as well and shake Stephanie's. "My name's Cindy. But I bet you'll remember it as the name of the next Alola Top Coordinator!"

Stephanie gave a slightly optimistic smile. "You're a Coordinator? I always like watching Pokémon Contest on TV." She looked off somewhere. "Sometimes, I imagine myself doing contest. I just want to imagine myself out there with a Pokémon on a journey. I like watching the League Conferences, too. Ever since they introduced a League Conference three years ago, I've always imagined myself at the Victressend Conference."

Cindy cocked an eyebrow. "Victressend? What's a Victressend?"

"It's the city where the Grand Festival and the League Conference are. It's at the top of a great mountain. There's a north and a south Victressend City. South does contest, north does the League." She wistfully looked off again. "I find myself thinking about me climbing Mount Lanakila, showing the officials that pretty charm thing, and holding that trophy." She blushed. "I know it's a lofty dream, but I can't stop thinking about it. I just really wanna get out there and become someone I want to be."

It was a while as silence reigned supreme. While Cindy poked absentmindedly at her tablet device, Stephanie's mind looked like it was elsewhere. She was probably imagining herself as a Pokémon Coordinator or a Trainer at the League Conference. Soon enough, Cindy noted the time and stood up. "Darn... I think I have to return to the Pokémon Center."

Stephanie also stood up. At that point it was clear she was a bit younger and shorter. "So, you're heading to the Pokémon Center? Can I join you?"

"Um... sure." Cindy started a brisk walk to get back to the Center, but now she had a... was it too early to call Stephanie a friend? Anyway, she had a blue-haired girl walking alongside her like a loyal Arcanine. She seemed really intent on wanting to get to know her better. It was really a shame she had to stay in Hou'omaka Town.

The two managed to get back to the Pokémon Center without any problems stumbling their way. When the glass doors lid open, Cindy saw Allen situated in front of the desk. He turned around due to hearing their footsteps. "Hey, Cindy!" He approached her and took a loose end of her green scarf in his hand. "Did you just buy this? I like it!"

Cindy felt herself blushing due to the compliment. "U-uh, thanks...?" She looked down and dug her toes into the ground. "I'm not really used to people complimenting me, so I feel really awkward right now..."

Allen laughed and nudged his glasses back up. "Sorry. It's just that the scarf fits you so well." He looked to Cindy's right, where Stephanie was standing. "Oh? Who's this, Cindy?"

Before Cindy could introduce for her, Stephanie took a step forward and held her hand out. "I'm Stephanie. I live here in Hou'omaka Town."

"Allen," the boy introduced as he shook her hand. "I would introduce myself as a Pokémon Trainer taking on the Alola League challenge, but I still haven't signed up. If you really want to, you can watch me." He went back to the desk and rung a little bell set on the sleek counter top. "Nurse Joy! Nurse Joy! I'm here to sign up for the Alola League challenge!"

From the very back, the same Nurse Joy from some time ago popped out of the doorway and smiled. "Hello there! Say, weren't you here earlier today?" She set a tray down, the tray containing a Pokéball and a Litten sitting on it.

Allen gave a determined nod, then took his Pokéball. "Yep! I'm here again, this time to sign up for the League challenge and become Alola Champion!"

"What spirit!" the nurse pointed out. "You've been our most excited challenger in a long time!" She motioned to a part of the desk, which wasn't the normal polished pink like the rest of the counter. It was electronic and had many colors, and it had a special shape in the middle that seemed to detonate something would go there. "Do you have your Pokédex?"

Without a word as his eyes told the whole story, Allen took his Pokédex out.

Nurse Joy pointed to the pre-set shape on the glass. "If you've set your Pokédex up with your name and location, go ahead and place your Pokédex on the designated area! I'll also need to see your Trainer's License to complete the process!"

The two girls gathered on either side of Allen to watch, which gave Litten an opportunity to hop onto its Trainer's shoulder. While he handed his Trainer's License to Nurse Joy, he placed the Pokédex on the area he was instructed to. The screen danced around for a bit, then a few things appeared on screen, like a general description of the Trainer in question and a picture to accompany. The machine belted out a few things, like Allen's name, his hometown, and the number of Charm Pieces he had (which was pretty useless considering he didn't have any yet), then it settled back down with the colors slowly moving about.

"And that should do it!" the nurse exclaimed. "You're now signed up for the Alola League challenge! And because of that..." She turned around and snapped her fingers. While a Blissey in a hat came up to the boy holding a case, an unknown green and flowery Pokémon to Cindy came flying towards him and used its stubby arms to present something wooden on a string to him. It then used the lei it was holding and gave it to Allen. After the Pokémon stepped back, Nurse Joy came out from her desk and pointed to each item. "That's your Charm Case, where you'll store the Charms you earn from out Trial Captains! And that wooden thing is your Charm itself!"

Cindy wasted no time taking the Charm from Allen and inspecting it. "Oh, this is pretty!" On one side, there were eight individual divots, and on the other were four. Based on the history lesson she had received a few days ago, she knew that eight were from beating Trial Captains and the other four were from beating Island Kahunas.

Nurse Joy took the wooden pendent and set it in the middle of the case where it were to be stored. Around the Charm's divot in the velvety fabric were twelve other areas. Eight of them were small, four were a bit bigger.

The case was handed back to Allen, who accepted it with a smile. "Thank you! Now I can start collecting Charm Pieces and ultimately start my journey to become Champion of Alola!"

Cindy butted in and smiled at the nurse. "Okay, my turn to sign up for Pokémon Contest!"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Nurse Joy laughed with a smile. "If you want your Contest Pass, you'll have to get it at a Pokémon Contest Hall. At Pokémon Centers, we only provide services for signing up for the Alola League. By the way, the closest Contest Hall would be in Hau'oli City. You need to pass through Iki Town first." She looked at Stephanie, who had been mostly quiet for the entire time. "Are you interested in signing up for the League? You've been standing awfully quiet."

Stephanie's face paled as she shook her head. "N-no. I-I'm fine."

Nurse Joy gave a smile. "Well, if that's all I can do for you three, then I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening!" She walked back to her station.

Allen noted Stephanie's presence and put an arm around her. "Well, if you're interested in Pokémon Contest like my friend over there, you can tag along with us-"

"No," she interrupted, albeit quietly. "I can't."

"You can't? Don't be scared-"

"It's true, she can't," Cindy finished. "She told me that she can't go on a journey because her mother said..." She turned her focus to Stephanie. "Um... you never told me what your mother said."

Stephanie sat down on a couch and sighed. "My mother said that going on a journey is too dangerous and that I'll get terribly hurt." She leaned back and ran a hand through her blue hair. "I always tell her I'm fourteen now, but she doesn't care. When I asked my father, he said I could go. But my mother said no, and that was the end of that. Shame..." She looked up at the two with her aquamarine eyes. "I really like you two. You're very kind to each other, so you must be friendly to everyone. I really wanted to be friends with you... but you're travelling and you'll have to leave Hou'omaka Town. You can't stay because of me."

Cindy gave the smaller girl a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry that you can't go on a journey... if you could, we'd let you join us." She pulled her PokeTab out and noted the time. "Wow, time flew away so fast!" She put the tablet away and turned her attention back to Stephanie. "Do you need to be home by any time?"

The other girl looked at a watch-like device on her wrist and stood up. "You're right. It's almost seven-thirty. I have to be off." She started towards the door, but before she left, she looked at the two. "Um... do you think I can see you off tomorrow? I don't want today to be the last time we see each other..."

"Of course!" Allen walked up to Stephanie and smiled as he adjusted his glasses. "Maybe before we leave for Iki Town tomorrow, we can spend the whole day together. Would you like that?"

Stephanie gave the boy a small yet nervous smile. "I'd love that. I guess... I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then." She gave no other smile or wave as she ran out the sliding doors and off to presumably her home.

Allen once again rounded towards Cindy and pointed upwards. "C'mon, we better get ready for tomorrow. We can hang out in our room and admire this pretty Charm I now have."

Cindy nodded, then the two were off. They climbed the flight of stairs yet again, then approached them door to their room. Allen had the key card, so he unlocked the door so they could get in. Once they were in, the first thing Cindy did was sit down on the couch in front of the TV and sprawl out while flipping through the channels on the TV. She eventually settled on the Pokémon Battle Network, due to a request by Allen from across the room.

It felt like hours had passed as the sun sunk under the horizon and the stars shone in all their glory. The clock struck ten, so Cindy and Allen decided that the day was over and they should get some rest for the next day. When they were snug in their pajamas, Cindy instantly called top bunk and wasted no time cuddling up in the soft blankets the Center provided.

Even as she closer her eyes, Cindy's mind was still wide awake. They had finally made it to Hou'omaka Town. She had made a new friend, if she were to call Stephanie that already. She felt Litten curl up right on top of her as she finally allowed herself to slip away into sleep in a bad without the threat of her hair literally collecting every leaf near her.

At long last, our heroes have finally made it to Hou'omaka Town! There, Allen finally managed to sign up for the Alola League challenge to start his path to becoming Champion of Alola! Cindy also had a busy day, as she met Stephanie, a town local who sadly isn't allowed to explore the Alola region on a Pokémon journey. But this isn't the last day Allen and Cindy will see Stephanie: she's agreed to see the two off when they leave Hou'omaka Town the next day. With Cindy's goal to reach Hau'oli and Allen's to seek out his first Charm Piece, more exciting adventures are in store as the journey continues!

 

Chapter 7!

Spoiler

Episode 7: Two's a Crowd, Three's a Journey!

The next day, the bane of Cindy's existence entered the Pokémon Center room she was sleeping in: the sunlight. When the sun hit her eyes, she activated her best defense mechanism, rolling away from the sunlight and trying to get more sleep. It seemed to be working thus far, so she kept her eyes closed and rubbed her hand over Litten's tired head.

"Cindy, get up."

Cindy cracked a blue eye open, but then swatted her hand and closed that eye. "No... I'm still tired..."

Allen rolled his eyes and adjusted his glasses. He was already ready and dressed for the day ahead. In one hand he was clutching a soft pillow provided by the Pokémon Center. "We don't have all day to sleep. We've got things to do, like get some provisions for the road to Iki Town and Stephanie's waiting for us. She's going to be seeing us off later today, so we should get ready in case she's early."

Like last time, Cindy changed her position from facing a nagging companion to stuffing her whole face in the pillow, a few feathers flying out of the cushion. "We can wait five more minutes. I bet Stephanie understands that sleeping is necessary for my daily life-"

She was interrupted by the pillow Allen was holding smashing right onto her. From the impact, feathers flew everywhere in the room. A feather landed on Litten's nose, which caused it to sneeze an ember or two that quickly faded away before they posed any thread to the blanket Cindy refused to get out of.

Seeing that Cindy was still not up, Allen huffed. It seemed he jumped up and hovered in the same spot for a second as he rapid-fire nailed Cindy on the back of the head with the feather pillow. It was only when the pillow was deprived of the feathers it once had did he stop. There was really no use in using a clothe to try and wake a friend up.

Cindy, now buried under a massive pile of white feathers, finally rose from the mattress and rubbed her eyes. "Okay, fine! I'll get up, don't hit me with any more pillows!" She pushed all the feathers away from her and threw some back to Allen. "You're cleaning this up," she mused as she climbed down the ladder and picked up her day clothes. She went into the bathroom to get ready, Litten finally jumping down from the bed and wandering around the room in an effort to wait.

Soon enough, Cindy came out of the smaller room with her clothes on, signifying that she was finally ready for the day. She had her hands occupied by her hair which she was braiding. Litten wandered up to its Trainer and rubbed against her legs.

"Well, it seems Litten's ready," Allen commented. "I guess we should start heading down to the cafeteria? I hear that they serve free breakfast at this time!"

Cindy tied off her braid with her second green hair ribbon as her eyes widened. "Then we're going. It should be recognized as a crime to refuse food given to you for absolutely no cost." A smile took over her face as she grabbed Allen's wrist and ran towards the door. "C'mon! We gotta get some grub!"

The two ran out the door that Cindy kicked right open, then ran down a story of stairs. On the second floor was the cafeteria serving up breakfast classics, like cereal, eggs, and fresh MooMoo Milk. It seemed pretty much everyone in the Hou'omaka Pokémon Center was there, and Cindy and Allen were no exceptions. The girl picked out a free table that they could sit down at, so they headed towards it and set their belongs there so nobody would attempt to steal their chairs. They then went towards the buffet all-you-can-eat style and took a plate which they both filled with delicious breakfast food.

In a small home in Hou'omaka Town, a girl was sitting on the couch watching TV. On the TV was a rerun of a Pokémon Contest dated back two years ago. A famous man with aqua hair was making an appeal with a serpentine-like Pokémon, and the whole crowd was cheering so load that glass would've broken in that Contest Hall. She sighed, then took the remote in her hand and ran her thumb over the various buttons. She looked up wistfully, then started her mind up with her imagination. She was in a Pokémon Contest. People were cheering for her. She was being handed the Alola Ribbon Cup. Her and her Pokémon were stars.

She turned the TV off and set the remote back on the cushion next to her. She stood up and went to her room, only to clip a belt on. The belt had a pack attachment on the back, a style very popular among the girls in the tropical Hoenn region. She made sure she that the pack was snug and tight. Once she deemed the belt secure, she slipped an electronic watch-like device on her left wrist after she had slipped on her fingerless gloves.

While still in her room, she looked around. A giant map of the Hoenn region was on the wall, along with one of Alola. On the Hoenn map, there was a thumbtack stuck into an island that was northeast of the mainland. A globe sat on her desk. On the globe was a string connecting the two regions that were displayed on her wall. The white string connecting the regions was long, which in a way signified Alola's isolation from pretty much every other region. Nothing but water to keep the tropical region company.

On her desk and bed were figures or plushes of Pokémon. On the desk she had some figures of a Mudkip and Torchic. Along with that, a wire charger snaked across her desk, the wire that seemed to charge her electronic watch. The covering of the wire charger subtly read 'Devon Co.'. On her bed were plushes of a Skitty and a Treecko. Pretty much everything in her room screamed Hoenn. She knew she had not charger her electronic watch enough, so she unplugged the wire and stuffed it into her pack for when she got to the Pokémon Center.

She finally left her room and aimed for the door. Before she could twist the doorknob open, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to face her mother.

"Oh, uh..." She looked down a bit. "Hi, Mother."

The girl's mother looked at her daughter's attire, then quirked an eyebrow. "Stephanie, are you going somewhere?"

Stephanie shook her head. "No- I mean, not really. I met some very nice travelers from afar, and I agreed to see them off when they leave Hou'omaka Town."

"Travelers, huh?" She bent down and looked at her daughter square in the aquamarine eyes. "Are you just seeing them off, or are you going to follow them on a..." She stopped to scoff. "Pokémon journey?"

"No no." She tilted her head down even more. "I would never dare break your word. It's just that these travelers are very nice. If they were nice enough to have offered me a place in their journey... since I can't accept, the least I could do for them would be to see them off and wish them safe travels."

The mother looked away from her almost cowering daughter, then back at her with a sigh. "...alright, you can see your little friends off." She adjusted the black jacket she wore. "I have a business meeting I must attend in Ula'Ula Island, so your father will be here for the next few days to look over you. I swear to Arceus, if you take advantage of my absence to leave like you you tried to do three years ago, there will be trouble." She picked up a briefcase and offered a smile. "I'll be back in a few days. Bye bye, my sweet Steph!" Her mother strode out the door, leaving Stephanie behind.

Stephanie stood stone still for a second, then shrugged and tightened her high ponytail. She checked her belt and pack once again, then opened the door for herself and stepped into the bright sunlight of Alola.

As she walked to the Pokémon Center, she looked at every landmark she knew. She was away from the residential neighborhood area that her family lived in, and she was now in the heart of the town. The fountain was still going. Her favorite sitdown restaurant was in a line of various stores. The paved ground of the town square offered many thing to do with all the shops around the area. A little way away, a public park where families were relaxing and kids were battling. Stephanie sighed to herself. If such little kids could face of in small battles with others, why couldn't she? What bad did her mother see in a Pokémon journey?

In the Hou'omaka Town Pokémon Center, Cindy was generally relaxing on the base level of the Pokémon Center. Her and Allen had finished breakfast a few hours earlier, so before they headed off on the road to Iki Town, Cindy had suggested that they should relax and make sure that they had all of their supplies and provisions in check. Well, Allen didn't get the relaxation part of the memo, but he offered to stop at Hou'omaka Town's Pokémon Mart (or the PokeMart, many people called it) to stock up on food, Pokeballs, and other things a traveler would need.

Some people were crowding around the TV, where a contest was showing. Dated back two years, there was a Contest Battle going on. Everyone around the TV was cheering for the Coordinator with the aqua hair and Water Type Pokémon, seeming to make the other Coordinator with the yellow and dark brown dragon Pokémon invisible. Despite this being a contest rerun from the past, the people were shouting at the TV the same way dedicated contest fans would at a live showing. Cindy found a smile creeping onto her face. If people liked contest this much in Alola, she was going to experience whatever this man on the TV was going through.

Her thoughts of being heeded by adoring fans was interrupted by the small bell above the Pokémon Center doors chiming. Cindy stood up, ready to greet Allen, but instead she was looking at a small blue-haired girl.

"Stephanie!" Cindy ran up to her. "I thought you were gonna see us off later?"

Stephanie shook her head. "No. I wanted to spend more time with you guys, considering that this is the last time I'll ever see you again... well, I'll see you during contests and I'll be rooting for you, but..." She sighed. "This is gonna be the last time I see you guys in person. So I wanted to make these last hours with you the best. You're very kind, and I like that about you and... whatever his name was."

Cindy smiled with a soft laugh. "We're really that nice? Never thought about that." Litten peeked over Cindy's shoulder. "And it looks like Litten wants to say hello, too."

"Wow, is that really a Litten?" Without Cindy's permission, Stephanie lifted Litten off of Cindy's shoulder and held it in her hands. "I've only seen a Litten in that one contest I watched the other day. But not the one that's playing over there. A different one."

Cindy scuffled a little closer to Stephanie to pat Litten's head. "You seem to talk about contest a lot. Are you interested in becoming a Pokémon Coordinator one day?"

Stephanie shrugged a bit. "I'm not sure. I can't go on a journey, so I have no idea what I want to do. All I really do is watch Pokémon related TV programs like Pokémon Contest and the Victressend Conference and imagine myself doing that. If I were to go on a journey, I would probably just walk around Alola, explore, and meet many Pokémon. I heard some Pokémon in Alola look different than the same species in other regions, specifically Kantoian Pokémon. But I haven't seen one for myself, so I don't know. I heard south of here is where tall Exeggutor like to hang out sometimes."

While Stephanie continued gushing over Litten, Cindy looked up in her thoughts. Tall Exeggutor... were those the walking palm trees in Celestiluna City? Did that mean that Pokémon in Alola were taller than normal?

"So... where is your boyfriend?"

Cindy aimed a glare at Stephanie with an irritated blush. "We're not together, we're traveling together. Besides who has time for romance novel trash in real life when you can become a Top Coordinator?"

Stephanie gave her a smirk with smug eyes. "You sure?"

"Listen, you just agreed to see me and Allen off, not nag about our friendship which doesn't extend beyond friendship."

The smaller girl giggled. "Okay, I believe you. Isn't that what friends do? Joke about each other?"

Cindy felt some pang of sympathy hit her, along with sadness. Stephanie was calling her a friend, but she knew that she and Allen would be leaving Hou'omaka Town and probably to never come back to the small town. She tried to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat out of what felt like pure guilt. "Y-yeah. Friends joke around about each other."

Like it had been planned for that beat of silence that passed by, the Pokémon Center doors opened. Allen entered the Center with some bags in hand. "Hey-" He stopped himself upon seeing Stephanie. He beamed at her. "Hey, Stephanie!" He ran towards the two girls and set the bags down near his green sneakers. "You're already here to see us off?"

"No no," she replied, "I wanted to spend more time with you guys before you leave. This is probably gonna be the last time you ever come to Hou'omaka Town, so I'll never see you guys again in person."

Allen nudged his glasses up and put an arm around the smaller girl. "Hey, don't get so down. If we ever come back to Celestiluna City, we'll come and visit!"

Cindy sat down on one of the couches nearby and nodded. "Yeah, we'll visit!" She looked at Litten. "Isn't that right, Litten?"

Even Litten nodded in agreement.

Stephanie looked at the two, then scrunched her face up like she was trying to hold back her emotions. "B-but... that'll be a long time... and you're so nice, and..." She seethed a breath in through gritted teeth. "I-I'll miss you two! You're nicer than anyone I've ever met in this town, and I don't wanna see you leave!"

The other girl stood up and wrapped her arms around the borderline crying one. "Hey, don't cry now. We're still in Hou'omaka Town. We don't have to leave yet." Cindy watched as Litten traversed over her shoulder and onto Stephanie's. "See? Even Litten wants you to know that you shouldn't cry now."

Stephanie, who was on the verge of tears, broke the hug with Cindy to embrace Little instead. "Oh, Litten... I'll miss you, too..." She let out a quiet sob and a sniffle. "I'll miss everyone here... so much..." She gave Litten back to Cindy as she covered her face with her hands.

Allen adjusted his glasses and took the place of Cindy's job minutes ago, which was hugging Stephanie. "I know, I would be sad if my friends had to leave, too. But I promise, we'll come and visit when we come back to Celestiluna City. It's the least we could do after cheering us on though the TV screen, whether it me in a Pokémon Contest or at the Victressend League Conference." He broke the embrace a bit but still held onto her shoulders. "I wish you could come along with us, you look like you'd be a good person to hang around with."

The smaller girl's face flushed red from the semi compliment, but it was almost undetectable due to the blotchy red patches on her face from her emotional outburst. "I-I wish I could, too. But my mother..." She sniffled and wiped a tear away from her aquamarine eyes. "She doesn't want me on a journey. She's worried that I'll get hurt."

"Um, Allen," Cindy said, "it's now about two 'o clock. Should we get going now?"

The only boy of the group looked at his watch (not electronic like Stephanie's) and somberly nodded. "...yeah." He looked at Stephanie and sighed. "We're gonna leave now... do you want to walk with us to the edge of Hou'omaka Town?"

Stephanie's once shining eyes full of life were now devoid of any pep or happiness. "...I guess..." She pulled her ponytail tighter and stiffed another sob. "L-let's go..."

The trio all agreed with a slow nod from each, Allen grabbing the shopping bags and stuffing the contents into his green backpack and Cindy's watermelon-like bag before returning the key card to the front desk and leaving. The Alolan sunshine never failed its shining as the northwest edge of Hou'omaka Town came closer and closer. Every step, Stephanie's face would seem to darken despite how bright the sun was. The moment she never wanted to come was here. Allen and Cindy were leaving Hou'omaka Town.

Allen and Cindy stepped forward so the paved area that made up Hou'omaka Town was no longer under their feet. Stephanie stayed on the paved side, her head tilted down so low that it was near impossible to see her eyes. Her hands were fisted near her sides and shaking, probably due to how hard she was squeezing them to channel her emotions away from her face.

"I-I guess this is g-goodbye..." the smaller girl barely whispered.

Cindy approached Stephanie to give her one last hug. When they broke the hug, Cindy gave a wave without a smile as she turned to leave, and so did Stephanie. Cindy took a few steps forward towards the road-

"No."

Both girls stopped their walking to face Allen.

"No, this isn't goodbye." He took a few steps closer to Stephanie and grinned. "You're not staying here in Hou'omaka Town. You don't have to say goodbye."

Stephanie locked sight with the enthusiastic forest green ones Allen had. He was smiling like he had a good idea. The girl shook her head. "Is... is this a..."

Cindy gasped. "But, Allen! She's already told you she can't go with us-"

Allen held a hand up, effectively silencing the ginger-haired girl. "Stephanie, how old are you?"

"Fourteen. But my mother makes the rules-"

"Just listen for a second." He set a hand on her shoulder. "I know what your mother said about your and the journey thing. But you're old enough to make your own decisions. So, if you want to go with us... we're always open to new members of the group."

Stephanie felt tears pricking at her eyes again, but these weren't tears of sadness. "But w-what about my mother-"

"If she finds us, I'll take every ounce of blame for you. If you go with us, it won't be your fault for joining us, but my fault for asking you to." He walked back towards Cindy and nudged his glasses. "So, here's the question: are you ready for your Pokémon journey?"

Cindy felt a smile on her face as she swung her hand in to herself, a sign that signaled someone to come to where they were. Although she said no words, her smile spoke a million.

"I..." Stephanie didn't even look back to Hou'omaka Town as she broke out into a smile and tears of joy ran down her face. "Yes!" She ran towards the two and hugged them both. "I'm ready to go on my journey! Thank you, Allen!"

Allen broke the embrace and laughed. "And our third member of the group has joined!" He held up a hand and looked at the girls. "Alright, up top, everyone!"

The trio lifted their hands up and group high-fived, then broke into an onslaught of giddy laughter as they all ran on the dirt trail leading to Iki Town. All hand-in-hand, they ran up a hill and leaped at the highest point, hollering in joy as it seemed the journey had already become three times as fun as it was before. The road to Iki Town was going to be even better than the road to Hou'omaka Town, and even the newest member of the group knew it.

As our heroes sprint to Iki Town, Allen and Cindy have some new company in the form of a friend made in Hou'omaka Town! Due to Allen's brave offer of taking the blame for her if her mother catches her, Stephanie took what seemed like the best offer of her life- a chance to travel the Alola region with her friends! No matter if Stephanie decides to become a Coordinator, a Trainer, or just enjoy Alola with Pokémon, the future Stephanie has always dreamed of is right ahead of her as the journey continues!

 

It's time! A new chapter is here!

Chapter 8 below!

Spoiler

Episode 8: Rockruff 'n' Roll!

Trees and a straight forward dirt path. To Cindy and Allen, this was the true sight of a Pokémon journey. Absolutely nothing but a dirt path and trees. Maybe a jerkish rival somewhere like before (hopefully not), but really nothing else. For the slightly more experienced travelers, it was nothing but the path to the next town, which in this case, was Iki Town.

Tell that to Stephanie and get her to believe it was just trees and a dirt path.

Instead of focusing on the road ahead and the occasional head tilt up to watch the clouds drift away, Stephanie was doing anything but. She was rocketing around her new companions like the world was ending. Except it wasn't, and Stephanie was just running around to look for Pokémon. She wove around her friends constantly, even in between them. Once, she managed to accidentally trip Cindy which caused Allen to trip as well. While the two were on their faces, the younger was sticking hers in between trees and calling out for Pokémon.

It seemed Stephanie was having fun. Way too much fun it seemed for her two companions.

On what seemed like her millionth time around Allen and Cindy, she ran ahead of them and peered between some trees again. "Here, Pokémon!"

"...what are you trying to accomplish, anyway?" Cindy asked Stephanie and herself somewhat.

Stephanie turned to face her ginger-haired friend. "Oh... I'm looking for Pokémon. I don't have one right now. Plus, since I don't know if I'm interested in becoming a Coordinator or taking on the League challenge, I really want to see lots of Pokémon. I especially want to see Pokémon from my old home region."

Allen bent down to relace his shoe (Stephanie had stepped on it while on a mad dash to find Pokémon). "You're not from Alola?"

"Not Alolan born." She swung her left hand out and displayed the electronic watch. "I'm from the Hoenn region. It's another tropical region far away from Alola. In case you couldn't tell what a PokeNav is, which is the watch I wear. I come from a little island northeast of the mainland. It's called Mossdeep City."

Cindy and Litten looked at each other, then back to the smaller girl. "Mossdeep?"

She nodded, her high blue ponytail bouncing along. "Yep. They have a space center, and I heard that the Mossdeep Space Center and the Alolan Space Center in Celestiluna City are working together. I don't know what they wanna do, but they want to research space. I think it's cool that regions work together despite how isolated Alola is from any other region."

"Really? Is Alola that diverse?" Cindy put a thoughtful hand on her chin. "I thought Alolans would dominate this place considering how it takes a little over twenty-four hours to fly from Sinnoh to Alola."

"Or how it takes about a day to get to Alola if you're coming from Johto," the only boy in the group mused quietly.

Cindy snapped over to Allen. "You mean... after all this time... thinking that you were from Alola... you're not."

Allen adjusted his silver frames and gave a thumbs up. "Yep. Johtoian. I'm way too young to remember, but my mother and father have said that we came from a city that's just like Alola. Tropical and filled with beaches. I think it was called Cianwood City." He looked to Stephanie. "Hey, Stephanie. Why doesn't your mother want you on a journey, anyway?"

Stephanie looked back like she were trying to see Hou'omaka Town. They had been traveling for a few hours together, so even thinking of an attempt would be in vain. "I heard that my mother tried going on a journey when she was my age. But she got really hurt after some gang of... well, gangsters that have been sulking around Alola since people started mass immigrating here got behind her and almost pushed her off a cliff. She didn't land on the rocks, thankfully, but a small overhanging patch of land below."

"So that's why?" Cindy thought back to Celestiluna City and went back to the view behind Professor Kukui's home. The cliff's drop did look rather sharp. It would really hurt to fall on those rocks. If someone pushed her off a cliff and she got hurt on those rocks, she probably wouldn't want to continue a journey.

"After that... my mother didn't continue her journey but instead became a businesswoman. Even now and then she makes sure that those thugs are away from Hou'omaka Town. Team... I forgot their name. Team Bones, was it?" Stephanie shrugged. "I guess her worry extended to me. I can see why she would fear a Pokémon journey because of that, but that was years ago. Team Spine hasn't really been heard of for several years now. It's like they've almost disappeared."

"Makes sense," Allen commented after the story. "Fear can really prohibit people from doing what they want. Like when Ryan went to the lab and proclaimed he got his first Pokémon and told me that if I ever followed him to Victressend, there would be dire consequences. I stayed in my home for a week straight after that, Cindy bumped into me when I finally got the courage to go to the lab." He nervously nudged his glasses. "Cindy, you saw how that turned out, didn't you?"

The youngest of the group quirked an eyebrow. "Ryan? Is he a friend?"

Cindy turned to Stephanie and shook her head along with Litten. "Far from it. It's hard to explain, but the simplest I can sum it up... he's a rival. A very bad rival."

After a single understanding nod, the group went silent again. Aside from the stray call of a Pokémon that seemed to excite Stephanie, not much happened. The sun was slowly descending as the sky was painted with streaks of faded gold and orange. Stephanie really didn't care about the sky when she had more important things to be doing, like sticking her face into trees and collecting more leaves in her ponytail or almost tripping her friends again.

The chain of events played this way for some time. It was only when Stephanie heard a Pokémon's cry from the other side of the worn dirt path did she run towards it while tripping on the lump that had settled on the road did the formula shake up a bit.

While on the ground, Stephanie rubbed her head. "Ouch... what a way to start a journey..." She sat up and inched her face closer to the thing she had tripped on. The thing was staring at her in return with blue puppy-dog eyes. "Wah! I just tripped over a Pokémon!" She crawled towards it and poked it a few times. "Fuzzy fur! It's soft!"

Allen got down next to Stephanie and adjusted his glasses. "And a Rockruff, too! Man, I'm getting some flashbacks..."

"So... what are you gonna do, guys? Stare at a Pokémon?" Cindy muttered from afar.

On the ground, the most quiet (and awkward to Cindy) staring contest was being held. Stephanie, Allen, and a wild Rockruff. Aquamarine eyes, forest green eyes, blue eyes. Nobody moved except Litten on Cindy's shoulder, who had hopped down onto the ground and was growling at the wild Puppy Pokémon. The two teens with the cool-colored hair simply watched the Pokémon.

"I WANT IT!" they both suddenly shouted at the same time.

Cindy facepalmed. "Allen, why do you want another Rockruff? You already have a Rockruff!"

"Well, if Rockruff had another Rockruff to communicate with," he explained, "maybe another Rockruff could help my Rockruff. Rockruff would trust me, and then we'd become Alola Champions. So that's why I need this Rockruff!"

"You already have one! I don't have a Pokémon, so it's mine!" Stephanie dove towards the wild Rockruff, but the Puppy Pokémon darted away and left the youngest to grab some air and dirt instead. She got back up and crawled on her hands and knees. "Come back!" She turned away and looked at Allen. "Look, you scared it away!"

"I scared it away? You almost used Tackle on it!"

Meanwhile, Cindy picked Litten up and held it in her arms. "Guys, it's a Rockruff. This isn't the only Rockruff left in the world, we can find another-" She sighed as she caught sight of Allen and Stephanie both grabbing onto a Pokéball and trying to tug it away from each other. "Guys..." She strode towards them and handed Stephanie her own Pokéball. "If you really think this is the most important thing in the world, go catch it. But it's gonna be your fault if we don't even make it to Hau'oli City in time for the Hau'oli Contest..."

While Stephanie ran into the trees to hopefully chase down her prize, Allen let her go as he rounded towards Cindy. He took his glasses off and handed them to the ginger-haired teenager. "Hold these for me. If I were to chase Stephanie down, these things would break for sure." Allen smiled and turned around to where Stephanie had disappeared and he followed... well, not before he bumped into a few trees. He looked back at what he presumed to be Cindy and gave her a thumbs up.

"...Allen, you literally cannot see anything, I'm going with you." She slipped the frames into her bag and followed her practically blind friend into the bordering forest.

The trees weren't tightly packed together, but there was enough shade to at least obstruct the most negligible details. Small flowers dotted the grass under her feet, and if she had the hearing of a Pokémon with crazy large ears, she could better hear Stephanie shouting at a Rockruff as it probably ran away from her.

She continued to traverse the small chunk of woods on the side of the path in the hopes of finding a crazy companion on the hunt for a Pokémon. It seemed like she was walking in circles for years until she found herself at a sunny clearing. The clearing was on the top of a small rolling cliff that would get one a bit dirty if one were to accidentally trip and slide down. Overlooking the drop was a beautiful scene that looked like it was ripped out of a storybook. A sunset behind some gentle mountains capped with snow. She extended her arms and let her hair gently dance with the wind as Litten seemed to be enjoying the sun on it's face.

Cindy turned to Litten and sighed contently. "Wow... Litten, isn't this awesome?" She took a slow breath in and exhaled. She looked at the orange sun that painted the sky golden and scarlet along with the sandy orange clouds completing the scene. If one were to take a picture of the scenery and Cindy, it would've made an awesome movie poster. "Sometimes things like this make me even happier that we moved to Alola. It would be way too cold to enjoy this back at Hearthome City..." She took another slow breath in as she closed her bright blue eyes.

"Rockruff, come back!"

Cindy turned around, and there were her two companions. She saw a Rockruff graze her legs, but Allen and Stephanie showed no signs of stopping. They were way too intent on catching the wild Puppy Pokémon that Cindy was just a roadblock that would eventually get run over if her friends didn't stop.

"Guys!" Cindy frantically shouted, "slow down! You're going too fast-"

THUD!

It was Stephanie that crashed into Cindy, and Allen backed up the whole collision. While Rockruff skidded down the gentle drop like it had practiced doing so a million times before this moment, the three stumbled backwards and all tumbled down the slope. After a scant few seconds of rolling and somersaulting, all three finally slid to a halt at the level grassy base.

Cindy was the first to stand up. She grabbed the bottom of her shirt and sighed. "Aww... but the Pokémon Center just cleaned this shirt..."

Allen and Stephanie helped each other up, then the boy went over to the taller girl and fished his glasses out of Cindy's bag. He arched an eyebrow as he inspected the pristine condition of the frames. "Wow. With that tumble we took, I would've expected my glasses to break." He nudged them back on his nose and blinked a few times as his vision cleared. "Ah, that's way better! Thanks for holding onto them for me!"

Stephanie joined the little huddle and brushed some loose dirt off of her bare shoulders. "And Rockruff even got away... that's a big failure..."

Both Allen and Stephanie sighed to express their desperation, but they seemed to stop mid-sigh as the same Rockruff that had led them at the base of a slope walk by them. They didn't move their heads from prime sigh position, but they shifted their eyes from the Rockruff to the other.

Eventually the two gained mobility as they started to follow Rockruff. Cindy followed along, probably only for the purpose of avoiding separation like last time. Rockruff turned its head backwards often to make sure that the humans were close behind.

The trio of teenagers and Rockruff continued to walk along. It was important to make sure that they never lost sight of Rockruff, there wasn't exactly a path that designated where they were supposed to be going like the path to Iki Town. Perhaps Rockruff was guiding them along a secret shortcut? Why would a wild Pokémon demand humans follow it? That was something trained Pokémon usually did under the command of their Trainers.

It seemed like minutes passed as all three Trainers followed Rockruff. When Cindy was just about to call the mission quits, Rockruff turned around and barked for their attention. The three then watched as the Puppy Pokémon jumped trough some low-lying bushes and disappeared. Well, not for long, anyway. Rockruff poked its head up over the bushes and beckoned them to follow.

"Where are we going?" Cindy asked herself quietly. "Why does a wild Pokémon need our help?"

As soon as she asked the question, the answer seemed to appear right before her and the other two members of the group.

Tucked away in a shaded grove was a whole pack of wild Rockruff. They all seemed to note the presence of the humans, so they got up from the soft and lush grass to approach them. The Rockruff seemed to communicate a point across each other, and soon enough, every Puppy Pokémon in the pack (about twenty) shifted out of the way and created a corridor to reveal one lone Rockruff still laying down.

"There's another Rockruff!" Stephanie quirked an eyebrow. "But why isn't it with the others? Don't wild Pokémon have a tendency to stay in groups?"

The lone Rockruff slowly turned its head to the three, then got up. It walked towards them, but one thing was clear: it was limping as it walked. It stopped only after a few more steps, quietly whimpering as it held a front paw up.

Allen bent down onto his knees and crawled towards Rockruff. He gently picked it up and held it in his arms. "Guys, this Rockruff is hurt. I think it hurt its paw."

Cindy also bent down and looked to all the other Rockruff. "Is this why you chased us here? Did you want us to help Rockruff because it couldn't go up and ask for itself?"

One healthy Rockruff trotted up to Allen and barked with a nod. It nudged his leg, then turned around and barked to where presumably the path to Iki Town was.

Stephanie looked at the Rockruff Allen was holding, then tightened her blue ponytail. "So... I think we should get back on the path to Iki Town and get to their Pokémon Center. Nurse Joy always knows what to do when a Pokémon is injured."

"Right," Allen agreed. He stood up with Rockruff in his arms and patted its head. "Don't worry, buddy. You'll be back to rejoin your family as soon as we can get you to Iki Town." He looked up at the sky which was darkening by the second. "But what even happened to you? Did you tumble down that slope like we did? It wasn't that sharp of a drop..."

Cindy hauled herself back onto her feet and dusted her shorts off. "Whatever caused this, we should fix it. So, back on the path to Iki Town we go!" She gave a determined smile, but then her face dropped. "Um... where exactly do we get back on the path?"

One of the Rockruff ran up to a gentle slope leading back to the forest and motioned towards it with its fuzzy head.

The three humans gave their final farewells to the pack of Puppy Pokémon, then ran up the gentle slope. After a quick trek through the forest, the oh so familiar path showed up again.

On the path again, after a little walking, the decision to set up cap was made. While Cindy taught Stephanie how to hold the ropes of setting up a campsite, Allen sat near them while holding Rockruff in his arms. He watched as the girls set up camp as he gently patted the head of the borderline asleep wild Pokémon. He then lay down on the soft grass with Rockruff on his chest and sighed. "How did you even get hurt, anyway? And why? But no matter how, we'll get you back to full health and you can return to your family."

Another day, another Pokémon! As Stephanie becomes more familiar with the prospect of her very own Pokémon journey, a Pokémon itself comes to greet our heroes! After a little scuffle on who would get to claim a wild Rockruff, that leads Allen, Cindy, and Stephanie into a crazy forest chase! What comes out of a wild tumble down a slope is a view of a pack of wild Rockruff! However, not everything is Butterfree and rainbows as the group finds an injured Rockruff. With a new resolve to get Rockruff the treatment it needs, the path to Iki Town is even more important to the three as the journey continues!

 

whoa almost forgot to update this don't worry one or two fans of this story

It's Chapter 9 time!

Spoiler

New adventures always give the chance to experience new opportunities.

That rhetoric held true to a certain member of the group who had never experienced camping under the stars before.

Unlike a certain ginger-haired member of the group, Stephanie seemed to accept the idea of camping. As her and Cindy built the camp in a grassy clearing somewhat off the side of the dirt path (while Allen lay down on the side and took care to watch their injured Rockruff), a smile had found its way onto the smaller girl's face and it just would not leave. Pretty much anything that related to a Pokémon journey made Stephanie beam like a giddy schoolgirl with her first Lillipup crush.

Eventually, the camp was set and ready, Stephanie's innocent and excited smile still visible on her face. Due to accepting the offer to go on a journey on the whim and without thinking of any repercussions, the smaller blue-haired girl had no nightclothes or a sleeping bag at the very least. However, her two kind traveling companions happily supplied her with the necessary items for a good night's sleep. They all eventually decided that Stephanie would sleep in the tent with Cindy while Allen would sleep outside.

However, nobody ever told Stephanie how hard it could be sometimes to sleep in new environments: especially when you were a night Rowlet.

In the tent, while the ginger-haired girl slept soundly beside her, Stephanie had her arms folded behind her head as she stared up at the tent. She removed a hand from behind her head to smooth out her nightclothes, which was just another one of Cindy's flowing silk nightgowns. She tilted her head up a bit and managed to see through the blanket of shadows ahead of her. The nightgown had elegant embroidering and an image of a small blue penguin-like Pokémon blowing bubbles. It was cute, but it didn't help the effort of going to sleep.

Stephanie withheld the urge to groan in frustration in fear that would wake her friends. Instead, she gently tugged at the ends of her blue hair. Her hair was out of its high ponytail, and if anyone were looking, they could now see how long her hair really was. It was almost as long as Cindy's hair, covering her whole back.

The girl in the middle of her struggle turned around in her sleeping bag and smooshed her face into the pillow. Maybe that would help her get some shut eye. And for some odd reason, after closing her eyes for a few minutes, the door to her world of dreams opened.

Running. She was running. And she was running fast.

She would look back to where she came, and there were those two figures. They were chasing after her and they wouldn't slow down.

In fright, she unlocked a burst of speed and gingerly slalomed through the trees of the thick forest. Although it was dark, she knew where she was going: away from these figures that wanted something to do with her.

Eventually, after many more moments of terrified running, she came to a clearing. She could hear the waves breaking and crashing below the drop of the cliff behind her. She turned to keep running, but a rock face blocked her from progressing any further. It was a dead end, and the people were still after her.

"'Ey! There she is!"

She turned her face. pale with nervousness, to the voice. Emerging from the trees was a man with vibrant blue hair and black clothes. He wore a tattered tank top and a bandanna muffled some of his words. Seconds later, a pink haired woman with the same gaudy fashion emerged from the forest to stand next to her partner n crime.

"W-what do you want from me?" she asked.

The woman took a few steps towards her. "We want nothin' outta ya." Her face seemed to soften. "'Ey, kiddo. C'mere. I ain't gonna hurt ya."

"Um, I was told not to talk to strangers- oh?" Before she could finish, both people took a firm hold of either one of her arms and walked her towards the cliff's edge. She took the time to look out at the sea, which was raging with anger yet somehow wonderful and beautiful at the same time. The full moon was peeking from the mostly clover-covered sky. "Oh... it's beautiful..."

"See, kid?" the man spoke, "we ain't gonna hurt ya. Now, I heard you're on one of 'em Pokémon journeys?"

She nodded. "Yes. It's always been my dream to go on one. Some very nice friends gave me the offer too, and I couldn't turn them down."

The woman strode behind her and put her hands on her back. "Well, congrats. As totally nice and not suspicious gangster-lookin' peeps, we're 'bout to give ya a well-needed push in the right direction. For the sake of yo journey."

"Wait... push in the right direction?"

The man cackled. "Yes! A good 'ol push!" He also came behind the smaller girl and put his hands on her back. "Have fun on yo journey, courtesy of Team Skull!"

Before the girl could react, she was literally shoved forward. Due to the absence of a wall or anything to block her, she stumbled right off the edge of the cliff she was looking off of previously.

There were sharp rocks coming her way. There was no overhanging patch of land to save her, like her mother. The rocks- her fate- came closer and closer-

Stephanie awoke with a gasp.

As she put a hand over her pounding heart, she looked around. She was sitting up in her sleeping bag, and Cindy was fast asleep next to her. There was no view of a cliff or gangster people. It was a dream.

A bead of sweat ran don her neck as she sat stone still in silence. Eventually, she decided to move and peek her head out of the tent. Allen was asleep near the flicking embers of the dying campfire, and the stars were still suspended in the inky blue sky. It was still nighttime.

She didn't even need to take a trial run to know that she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep. Quietly, as to not disturb the other girl, Stephanie crawled out of the purple tent and stood up once she was clear. She took her day clothes and folded them up in her arms. If she wasn't going to be able to fall asleep again, what was the use of walking around in nightclothes?

After swiftly changing into the grey sleeveless top and indigo miniskirt, she clipped her dark blue belt on and slipped her knee-high indigo boots. She put her black fingerless gloves on strode towards the forest. She grazed a hand over every tree slowly as she remembered the terrifying dream she just had. Team Fibula-Whats-It chasing her down in a forest and leading her to a cliff's edge before shoving her off of it like her mother. Was Team Pelvis out in this exact forest? If they were, were they after her?

A shriek of a wild Pokémon startled her. The last time she was in a forest, she had some friends and it was daytime. However, she was alone at night. The eerie feel of the forest made each sound seem dangerous. Who knew what kind of Pokémon would be out here at this time? If there were dangerous Pokémon, she was toast-

SNAP!

Stephanie had no time to think about what caused that noise as she shrieked and ran full speed ahead. Tree after tree passed her, so she was running pretty fast. Even as she felt herself slowly loosing her breath, she pressed on in hopes that whatever was chasing her would give up and let her be. The stick that she had stepped on had no intent on chasing her, though.

She was basically running from nothing.

A few minutes later, Stephanie skidded to a halt in a clearing of the forest. Trees surrounded her every which way and their leafy tops obstructed the starry sky above, but it did little to dampen the feeling of relief she felt. Soft tall grass reached up to grab her boots, and small little flowers dotted the grass. In the center of the clearing was a fallen tree that was perfect for a sitting log. It did have a bit of moss on it, so it probably fell a few months ago or something like that.

The forest was already as dangerous as it was, so sitting on a log wouldn't affect how safe she actually was. The clearing made her feel safer, so sitting on the fallen log wouldn't do anything much rather than make her feel safe. With that in mind, Stephanie walked to the log and sat on it.

Upon sitting on the log, something changed. It felt like the forest wasn't dangerous to her, but it seemed... alive, but in a good way. Like it was enchanted. There would be little fireflies and mushroom houses. Cries of wild Pokémon that set her on edge would make her feel like a rebellious princess who had refused the position of royalty. She'd be surrounded by animal friends like adorable Pachirisu and Dedenne and a talking Rowlet.

A coo noise from beside her caught her attention.

Stephanie turned her head to face the noise.

It was an owl-like Pokémon. It was a light brown color primarily, but had feathers coated with green mixed in. Along with green feathers, it had an adorable green bowtie. Add that with the chubby round shape, this Pokémon was positively endearing. Even Stephanie couldn't deny the reality of the adorable situation.

The girl looked at the owl and smiled. "Um... hey. Do you need something?"

The Pokémon cooed again and hopped up and down.

"Hold on just a second..." she muttered. She found the clip that held her PokeNav on her wrist and unbuckled it. She held up the device and pressed a button reading "DexNav". Then, she pointed the device at the wild Pokémon until it beeped.

Rowlet, the Grass Quill Pokémon. Rowlet is a nocturnal Pokémon that uses energy from photosynthesis during the nighttime hours. It can fly without making any external sound, and it has very powerful legs despite how small they look. It can also attack from a distance with razor sharp feathers that it uses like arrows.

"So you're a Rowlet?" she inquired.

Rowlet chirped and hopped a bit closer to Stephanie. The Grass Quill Pokémon flapped its wings and perched itself onto Stephanie's shoulder.

The girl smiled while laughing. "Aren't you cute?" She used a finger to replcate what she had seen Cindy and Litten do countless times: scratch the bottom of the Pokémon's head. Rowlet started cooing again as it cuddled closer to the girl's hair. She smiled softly. "Do you live here, Rowlet? Because if you do, can you help me? I got lost here by accident. Well, I voluntarily walked into this forest without knowing why, but..." She sighed. "Whatever. Do you think you could help me out of the forest?"

Rowlet flapped its wings and removed itself from Stephanie's shoulders. It landed on a branch in a tree, where it then extended a fluffy wing out and pointed in a direction. If that wasn't enough, Rowlet used its beak to pull a loose feather out of its wing. With that feather, it shot the streamline projectile in the exact direction it was pointing.

"Woah, that's awesome! Thanks, Rowlet!" Stephanie stood up and followed where the feather arrow went. As soon as she set a foot outside the grove, a sudden shift of weight on her shoulder stopped her.

It was Rowlet.

Stephanie picked Rowlet off of her shoulder and walked back to the log. "Rowlet, I'm sorry I can't stay any longer. I need to get back to my friends." She patted the Grass Quill Pokémon's head a few times before striding back to the edge.

Rowlet simply flew off the log and perched back onto Stephanie's shoulder.

"Rowlet, this is getting ridiculous." She took Rowlet off of her shoulder and looked at it straight in the adorable beady eyes. "I have two friends out there. They're become very worried when they don't see me because I didn't tell them I would be leaving. Now please, we'll both go home. I go "home" to my friends, and you go home to your nest or something." She set Rowlet on the log and smiled.

This time, Stephanie straight-out ran out of the grove. She looked back for a split second, where she saw the Grass Quill Pokémon sitting pretty of the mossy log still. She slowed down a bit. Rowlet wasn't following her, so she didn't need to run fast to help it lose track of her. Stephanie kept her brisk pace up as she passed a beige and green feather that looked quite sharp. She had heard that a Rowlet's feather could land many feet away from the Pokémon, so she told herself that she was almost out of the forest.

It was daybreak when Stephanie finally emerged from the woodlands. She shook her head to loosen any leaves in her blue hair, then took a glance at her watch. The time seemed too early to wake up, so she still had some time before Allen and Cindy woke up. She bent down for a second to relace her boots.

And a familiar shift of weight on her shoulders happened while she did so.

"Oh for the love of Arceus... you're back, aren't you, Rowlet?"

Like any other time she talked to the Grass Quill Pokémon, it cooed sweetly at her.

Stephanie stood up and facepalmed. "You know what? You're the most stubborn Rowlet I've ever met!" she exclaimed. Right after, she backed up and put a thoughtful hand to her chin. "Well, come to think of it, you're the only Rowlet I've met." She removed her hand from her face to pick Rowlet up instead. "But you're probably the most annoying I'll meet!"

Rowlet cooed adorably and flew out of her hands. It flew to her pack, which it landed on and unzipped. After a bit of rummaging around, Rowlet presented a marble-sized ball to her.

The girl took the item and examined it. "It's the Pokéball Cindy gave me."

The Grass Quill Pokémon nodded and landed on the ground in front of her. It then stood statue still.

"Wait..." She looked at the capsule device, then Rowlet. "I think you're trying to tell me something... are you trying to tell me you'd like to join me on my adventure?"

Rowlet hopped up and down while chirping like crazy.

Stephanie laughed and bent down while touching the expanded Pokéball to Rowlet's forehead. "Then why didn't you say so before?" The ball shaked in her hands until it settled, which was quite quickly. "If you would've told me before, we wouldn't have had to go through so much trouble!" She clipped the Pokéball onto her belt and walked away from the forest with her new teammate in tow.

Meanwhile, a rustling in the bushes scared away all wild Pokémon within the area. In the forest, a crouched down girl held a device to her ear. Her auburn hair flowed past her shoulders and reached out to touch the grass.

"Yes... I know, I know..." She stopped. "Wait, what did he say? ...and Big Sis, too?" A devilish grin formed on the girl's face. "Uhuh. And we're gonna make our comeback somethin' to remember. Alola's seen an absence of us for a few years, so let's show 'em what we've been workin' on. Mhmm. Bye."

Click!

The girl stood up and grinned while dusting a leaf off of her sleeve. "Well, this is unexpected... but I'll assure my peers, and all of Alola... they'll remember us for more than being misfit goons. And they'll definitely remember the name of Team Skull's Yareta."

Stephanie walked along the dirt path for a while longer until she saw some familiar faces. She smiled, then ran up to them. "Cindy! Allen! I'm back!"

Cindy turned her head and quirked an eyebrow. "Back? What do you mean you're back?"

"I don't recall you telling me you'd be going somewhere," Allen added.

The smaller girl swatted a hand to the two. "Never mind. I just took a little walk. And all I can tell you... I think people have the right to describe me as a night Rowlet." She took the Pokéball off of her belt and threw it upwards. "And I even met another night Rowlet friend."

Allen and Cindy both watched as the Rowlet Stephanie owned flipped through the air and landed on her shoulder. Even Litten seemed amazed by the Grass Quill Pokémon's presence. While on her shoulder, Rowlet bowed down like it was being heeded for the performance.

Allen adjusted his glasses and rolled his eyes. "Oh, I get it now. Night Rowlet... this is literally a Rowlet..." He strode up to her and punched her shoulder lightly. "Good one."

Cindy slipped her bag around her shoulders. "Okay, so we can stay here and make bad jokes or we can actually go to Iki Town. Your choice."

The boy picked up their Rockruff friend and nodded. "I think we should start on the path to Iki Town, because Rockruff really needs its help."

"Agreed," Stephanie chimed in.

With Rowlet back in its Pokéball, the three teenagers located the path again and started back on the trail to Iki Town. Every once in a while, Stephanie would take the capsule device into hand and examine it with a smile. Despite not knowing what she wanted to pursue on a Pokémon journey, having Rowlet with her would make things even more enjoyable.

It seems birds of a feather flock together, and that holds true for Stephanie and Rowlet! After a forest scare, Stephanie met another night Rowlet- quite literally! But when Rowlet kept following Stephanie and even followed her out of the forest, it seems the friendship they forged in the forest was not in vain, now that Rowlet is part of Stephanie's Pokémon journey! With Rowlet's showy personality, could the Grass Quill Pokémon help Stephanie realize what she wants to truly do on her journey? The answer is near as the journey continues!

 

Ayyyyyyyy, welcome back, two fans or less of this fic! As Lake Valor has revived itself, so has DSTM! We left off at chapter 10, so here we go again!

Spoiler: Chapter 10

Another day, another step closer to Iki Town.

After the camp was packed up an everyone was sure that they had everything in tow, the trio of teenagers set off on the dirt path once again. Based on Cindy's constant PokeTab checking (and Stephanie seeming to replicate her by checking a GPS-style function on her PokeNav, the AreaNav), they were fast approaching Iki Town. Allen had stated that to trek to Iki Town wasn't as far as when he and Cindy made their ways to Hou'omaka Town, so it wouldn't take at least two days to get to the next settlement. He had actually settled on the conclusion that they would reach Iki Town at about sundown.

With that in mind, they picked up the pace. Allen especially, due to the fact that he had taken up the role of watching over the injured Rockruff they had found and was on a mission to help it. Every once in a while he would look at the wild Pokémon he was carrying. Most the time, Rockruff was content in Allen's arms and didn't move. Sometimes, if Cindy were ahead of Allen, the Puppy Pokémon would catch sight of the Fire Cat Pokémon and all Distortion would break loose with Rockruff barking and trying to break free of Allen's arms. To prevent any issue like that again (and to minimize the number of scratches the boy was getting from the Pokémon's rock collar), Cindy had to walk behind Allen, and of course Stephanie followed her.

Cindy had noticed that about Stephanie. Whenever she would check her PokeTab, Stephanie would check her PokeNav. Whenever she would look to Litten and rub its head or scratch its neck, (when Rowlet was out of its Pokéball) Stephanie would give the same affection to Rowlet. When she moved behind Allen to prevent another Rockruff VS Litten crisis, Stephanie followed her. It was like Stephanie was deliberately mirroring the older girl for some reason. Not that Cindy minded, but she was becoming increasingly aware that if Stephanie had the tools (or Pokémon) that she had, there would be a good chance that the smaller girl would try to replicate her.

Was she perhaps being idolized by Stephanie?

Whether if she was or not, that didn't change the fact that Iki Town was coming closer and closer into view. If she were to look really hard, she could perhaps see the roofs of the small houses that resided in Iki Town. And sure enough, she caught a glimpse of the small town. It was only when the group looked off the top of the hill that it became official, taking in the view of Iki Town before them: they were here. They had reached Iki Town.


Compared to Celestiluna City or Hou'omaka Town, Iki Town was considerably smaller. When Cindy had noticed that aloud to herself, Allen backed her up on that notion. Celestiluna City was... well, a city. A big city at that. Iki Town was a little town, and even the infrequently used Alolan language proved it, with the two Alolan natives saying that 'iki' in Alolan meant 'small'.

Despite the town being a bit on the small side, there were many houses that signified a large, tight-knit community. As the sun painted everything exposed to it with golden rays, there were many people outside that looked like the time of day was the least of their concern. In fact, if the trio of teenagers listened carefully, the melody of cheerful and jubilant music would flow into their ears. If anything, it sounded like the town was gathering and celebrating something.

While still listening to the festive music in the background and the happy chatter of the townspeople, the three located the Pokémon Center and stepped inside. The layout was almost the exact same as the Hou'omaka Town Pokémon Center, with the areas to relax on either side of the circular pink counter. However, unlike the previous Center they had visited, the one thing that was different was the absence of people watching the TV or sharing a chat at the cafe. In fact, the Nurse Jay seemed to be out and about.

Allen, with Rockruff in his arms, set one on the counter and huffed quietly. "...even the Nurse Joy is gone. How big is this celebration?"

"I'm not even sure," Cindy added on, "but it seems the whole entirety of Iki Town is outside and chatting and celebrating. What's going on, anyway? Is what's happening really big enough to turn presumably every building into an abandoned home or something?"

Stephanie finally joined her two friends and looked up like she were recalling something. "I remember seeing this on Alola News Now, Alola's most popular newscasting station. I remember that towns on the various islands come together every year and celebrate together. They celebrate by coming together as a community to honor the Guardian Deity of each island."

"So it just so happens that we walked in on the festival." Allen readjusted his position to reduce the strain of holding Rockruff. "So that's why everyone is celebrating!"

Cindy cocked an eyebrow, then sat down on one of the Pokémon Center's couches. She took her PokeTab out and mindlessly tapped on the screen while Litten watched. "Um... what's a Guardian Deity?"

The boy of the group sat down next to his clueless friend and offered a friendly smile of his. "I do remember telling you once when we first met, but I'll give you a better rundown." He cleared his throat. "So, Alola's made up of four islands. Each island has a Guardian Deity. Now, Guardian Deities are said to protect the island if something bad happens and they play an important part with our League system. The Deity of each island picks out the Island Kahuna that Trainers face." He nudged his glasses as his eyes filled with little stars. "Isn't that awesome?! Maybe if I don't become Champion, a Guardian Deity will pick me to be an Island Kahuna! Imagine all the amazing battles I could be a part of!"

The Rockruff in Allen's arms barked and licked his hand.

Before the conversation could progress any further, a pink-haired woman in a pixie cut and tropical clothing walked through the Pokémon Center door. She looked to the three, then smiled. "Oh, welcome to the Pokémon Center! Sorry for my absence, I was just outside enjoying the festival! Are you gonna go outside and celebrate later?"

"Yep," Allen affirmed. "But before we do, could you get us a room and help this Rockruff? I think it hurt its paw."

Nurse Joy walked up to the forest green-haired boy and took the Puppy Pokémon from his arms. "Sure thing! Before I help your Rockruff, I'll set your key card on the desk for you guys!" She rounded behind the desk and used a hand to reach down and grab a plastic card from beneath the counter. She slid it to the very front, then smiled. "Oh, and you guys better hurry. The Melemele Kahuna is in the middle of a battle!" Without any more, she walked further back and entered the healing room.

Allen ran up to the desk and slipped the key card into his jacket pocket before he grabbed a hand from each girl. "Does she really mean it?! The Kahuna's battling!" He started sprinting forward with the two girls in tow. "C'mon, this is huge! I can learn so much from this battle and then I'll become Alola Champion!"

Cindy managed to wriggle her hand free from Allen's grip. "Um, do you think I could stay at the Pokémon Center? I'd like to get all of our stuff in our room and make sure that when Rockruff is ready, I'll be here to pick it up." She rubbed the back of her neck. "Plus, I'm not really that interested in seeing the Kahuna. I'd rather sit here and think about what I'm gonna do for my contest appeal."

"That's totally fine. Just make sure to hold my bag for me and put it in our room." Allen shrugged his green backpack off and presented it to his friend, along with the plastic key to their room. He then turned to the smaller girl. "Stephanie, I'm assuming you're keeping that pack on?"

A nod from Stephanie was the answer.

The boy adjusted his glasses and grabbed Stephanie's hand. "Alright, we'll be off! See ya later, Cindy!" With that, Allen turned around and started sprinting towards the door with Stephanie in tow.


Outside, the sky was still ablaze with the hues of the setting sun and the faint rays of light were still able to pleasantly warm a back. As they ran, they realized how tight the Iki Town citizens really were. When they ran past a small town square with a polished statue of a Pokémon with shields for arms and an extravagant pluma of something on its head, they stopped for a second to look at the small plaque that adorned the pedestal. It read 'Melemele Guardian Deity: Tapu Koko'. There were many townspeople around the statue, and most were sitting on wooden benches around the area and snapping pictures.

They eventually moved on and started back on the quest to find the Island Kahuna. That led the two up a gentle hill, and already they could hear the sounds of a fierce battle. A flight of stairs built into the hill helped them climb upwards, and even the stairs seemed old as they were made of stone. It was surprising that most of the steps hadn't chipped away or eroded with time.

At the top of the stairs, the ground leveled out. They started weaving their way through the thick crowd of people, which felt almost impossible due to the sheer amount of people there were watching a Pokémon battle. Somehow, the two smaller spectators wedged their way to the front, right up against the strong stone battlefield that was designed more like a stage than a flat battlefield.

Some would call it 'just my luck', and that moment was relevant as when they set their eager eyes on the battle, the referee on the side of the field called the match. He was holding a red flag towards a tanned older man with a potbelly and cozy yellow jacket. The challenger across the field didn't seem disappointed, but he wan't the happiest camper in the world. He held up his Pokéball and returned his fainted partner as he walked up to the victor and shook hands with him. Once that was done, the thick crowd of people thinned out, most of them heading back to the main celebration.

Allen wasn't one of those people. Instead, he threw a leg over the stone battlefield and hauled himself up. He bent down and offered a hand, and then pulled Stephanie up with him. She was rather light, so it wasn't that hard to help her. The boy adjusted his glasses for a brief second before approaching the man. "Hey. Are you the Kahuna?"

The older man turned around and looked down at Allen. He grinned a wide grin and laughed. "You have that right! In case you didn't know, I'm Hala, the Kahuna of Melemele Island!"

"Wow, the actual Kahuna!" Allen bounced up and down a bit as he tried to control his excitement. "I'm talking to the actual Island Kahuna!" He turned to Stephanie and pointed at Hala. "The actually real Island Kahuna! This is an honor!"

Stephanie raised an eyebrow and bit her lower lip. "You seem excited..."

Hala gave another hearty laugh. "And how! Are you perhaps on the Alola League challenge?"

"Yep!" the overexcited boy responded. "Do you think I can battle you? I really want to become Champion, and in order to do that I need your Charm Piece!"

The Kahuna waited for Allen to settle down again before he responded, "so, you're on the quest to become Champion. How many Charm Pieces do you have?"

Allen never stopped smiling. "Absolutely zero!"

"You sound proud of that..." Stephanie mused from beside Allen.

Hala crossed his arms and shook his head. "Well, I'm gonna say, that's a no-can-do. There's a reason Tapu Koko chose me as the Island Kahuna, and that proves that I'm a pretty experienced Trainer. I don't like to hold back on my battles, so maybe when you come back with a Charm Piece and when you're a more experience Pokémon Trainer, I'll accept your offer."

The young boy settled down again and nodded. "I understand. So..." He clasped his hands together and leaned in closer to Hala. "Where can I get my first Charm Piece so I can battle you?"

"Ah, I wish my grandson could tell you," Hala responded, "but he's also out on his adventure! But since he's not here, I guess Old Man Hala's gotta tell you." He looked off into the distance and pointed somewhere towards a mountainous backdrop for the setting sun. "You gotta head southwest of Iki Town and take that path ahead of you. There, you'll find the city that holds your first Charm Piece, Hau'oli City."

Stephanie grinned a bit. "That's exactly where we're headed for Cindy's contest as well."

Hala set his eyes on Stephanie. "Oh? Since you bring up contest, are you a Pokémon Coordinator?"

"No, sir. I'm just travelling with good friends." She dug a boot into the stone. "I... I'm not sure what me and my Pokémon want to accomplish together. I'm still trying to figure that out." On cue, Rowlet peeked over her shoulder. "I guess Rowlet will guide me."

The Kahuna nodded. "So I see that you're relying on the bonds between you and your Pokémon to lead you to your destiny." He laughed. "Ho ho! Now that's what I like to see with a Trainer and Pokémon! And let me tell you, girl... you look like you can take on the League challenge with that kind of attitude and mindset."

The only girl's face rapidly went red. "N-no, sir. There's no w-way a weak Trainer like me can take on a League challenge. I don't even know if I should be calling myself a Trainer... I haven't even had a Pokémon battle yet."

"And that's what your friends are for. If you're ever confused and your Pokémon is as well, they want the best for you. They'll be able to guide you in a pinch." The old man looked at the thinning crowd as he adjusted a sparkling something on his wrist. "So, you two gonna enjoy the festivities? We only hold this once a year to celebrate Tapu Koko."

A cry from the sky caught everyone's attention, and in the darkening air was a streak of orange-yellow light. The cry resounded across the town again, then total silence from the streak and everyone in Iki Town.

Stephanie stepped forward and put her hands on her hips. "I've read about this phenomenon." She turned to Hala. "That was Tapu Koko itself. Legend has it that the Guardian Deities recognize the festivals held for them and thank the townspeople for thanking it." She held her hand up in a vain attempt to catch a falling sparkle or two. "Tapu Koko just came by to thank you guys for the festival."

"And right you are, girl!" Hala turned to the townspeople and raised a fist. "Tapu Koko approves and thanks us! Another festival, another success!"

Right on cue, everyone in the area burst into excited cheers and the music from afar started up again. Allen shuffled towards his friend and adjusted his silver frames. "How do you know this?"

Stephanie shrugged with a slight smirk. "Let's just say... when you aren't allowed on a Pokémon journey, you tend to imagine yourself in one and that prompts you to research all about Pokémon to make your dreams as accurate as possible."

"Wow, so you must know tons about Pokémon!" He turned to Hala and gave a subtle nod. "Thanks for the directions on where to get my Charm Piece! I promise, when I get my first Piece, I'll come back here and show you a battle you won't forget!"

Hala laughed a bit. "I'll keep that in mind. Now... what's your name?"

"Allen. But you'll probably really remember the name when I become Alola Champion."

The Kahuna grinned. "Allen. What a ring the name has to it. So, if you're gonna go and celebrate, I guess we'll meet again on this battlefield, huh?"

Allen nodded and held a fist out. "You know it!" He turned to Stephanie and grabbed her hand again. "C'mon, it's getting dark out, and we should be meeting Cindy. I bet she's wondering where we are."

Stephanie gave a nod of agreement, but before they left, she looked at Hala and smiled. She turned back to Allen and carefully hopped down the stone platform that acted as the battlefield and descended down the steps that led back to their friend and the happy festival.


"Cindy! We're back!"

Outside the Pokémon Center, Cindy turned her head to face the voices that had requested her attention. When she saw a forest green-haired boy and a blue-haired girl, she smiled and held a hand above her head and waved. "Hey, guys! C'mere, you're not gonna believe it! Rockruff's all better now!"

The two that went on their own little journey slowed down and sure enough, their Rockruff friend was sitting right next to Cindy, happily wagging its tail.

Allen bent down next to the Rockruff and picked it up. "Hey, buddy! Glad you're all better!" He noted the white bandage and held that paw up. "I bet you're happy that you can finally run around again, and I bet that you'll be even happier to go back to your family again!"

The wild Puppy Pokémon's face changed from happiness to seemingly defeat, and its tail stopped wildly thrashing around. It quietly whined.

"...is there something wrong? You don't look that happy anymore."

Cindy bent down next to Allen. "If you ask me, once you said that it could finally go home, it suddenly lost its happiness." She looked up and placed a hand on her chin. "Does that mean that Rockruff doesn't want to go home?"

"Maybe it likes us too much to go home," Stephanie added. "But what can we do? I bet Rockruff will be very unhappy if we let it back into the wild..."

Just before the desperation could continue, the Pokéball clipped to Allen's belt broke open, and in front of him was his own Rockruff. Before addressing its Trainer, Rockruff looked to the other one and started a little conversation.

"What are they doing?" Cindy asked herself.

The wild Puppy Pokémon approached Allen and nudged the Pokéball towards him, while his own Rockruff took a step back.

Stephanie looked at the situation for a moment, then gasped. "Allen, I know what they want!" She pointed to each one. "Your Rockruff wants to return to the wild, while the wild one wants to join you! They want to switch places!"

Allen grabbed Rockruff's Pokéball and cocked an eyebrow. "Switch places?" He focused his attention to the Rockruff he owned. "Is that what you want to do? You want to return to the wild?"

For once, his Rockruff came up to him and licked his hand. It stepped back, then barked.

"...if you say so." Allen slowly got up and set the Pokéball on the ground. He hovered his foot over Rockruff's Pokéball, then brought it down. In seconds, the capsule device became nothing more than millions of little pieces scattered around the area. He bent down and picked up a piece, the button in the center, and twiddled with it in his hands as he looked at his now wild Rockruff. "There you go." He put the piece in his pocket as he smiled. "If you're leaving now, at least cheer for me when I get to the Victressend Conference!"

Rockruff gave a small nod, then turned around and ran back and away from Iki Town. While it ran, it did turn its head back for a split second, but then corrected itself and continued running.

With one Rockruff gone, the remaining one approached the boy and sat down. It rubbed against his legs and barked.

Allen bent down again and took a brand new Pokéball from his pocket. He pressed the button and expanded it to the size of about a baseball. "And now it's your turn."

Before Allen could press the Pokéball to Rockruff's head, Rockruff butted right into the device. Its form was changed to a white plasma, then the ball closed and started shaking around. It didn't take long for the shaking to settle and the blinking red light to dim down and eventually die off.

"So you got yourself a very excited teammate," Cindy commented, "so... is it time to go back inside? I'm getting a little tired, and I could really use a bed to sleep in tonight..."

The boy nodded. "Yep." He looked to the Pokéball he held and smiled at it. "We gotta prepare for tomorrow, which is one step closer to the Champion title." He stood up again and followed his female companions into the Pokémon Center, smiling all the while.


At last, our heroes have reached Iki Town! It turns out that they had walked in on a festival, and a very big one at that! When Allen and Stephanie decide to take a trip to watch the Melemele Island Kahuna battle, they end up having a chat with Hala! From that conversation, Allen learned that his first Charm Piece is waiting for him in Hau'oli City, the exact same city the trio was heading towards for Cindy's contest debut! Just before the day ended, a surprise with Allen's Rockruff and their wild Rockruff friend happened, with both Puppy Pokémon requesting they switch places! After a quick release and capture, and with a new eager teammate, the future seems brighter and one step closer as the journey continues!

 

It's finally back! Semester tests could never kill off the worst best fanfiction ever!

Spoiler: Chapter 11

Episode 11: A Wild Yungoos Chase!

Once again, it was a new day with the current enemy of Cindy rising in the sky.

In a Pokémon Center room, the bright sunlight rested on Cindy's delicately closed eyelids. She squinted her eyes to block out some of the burning light and turned over to her other side. She felt Litten reposition itself as well, and once Litten was comfy again, everything was still. The sun had no part in her life anymore, a cuddly and warm Pokémon asleep with her... the morning was a good one.

"Cindy, get up."

And of course, there was Allen, who woke up earlier than everyone else.

"Later... I'm still sleepy..."

She couldn't see (her eyes were closed. Why would she want to open them, anyway?), but she heard Allen facepalm. "Really? Even Stephanie's awake right now, and she's the last one to fall asleep out of us. She should really be the most tired, so no excuses for being tired."

Cindy waved a dismissive hand. "My life, my rules." She yawned for a few seconds. "My rules are that I sleep for as long as I need to-"

Thwhack!

She quietly groaned to herself. "Arceus, not the pillows again..." She pushed all the blankets off of her form and threw her arms up while snapping her bright blue eyes open. "I'm awake, my goodness! Stop hitting me with pillows, Allen!"

Allen laughed and clicked his tongue. "That was Stephanie."

The girl still in her pajamas looked down from the top bunk she had called, and true to his words, Stephanie was holding a pillow.

"Allen said I should hit you with this pillow if you didn't get up. So don't blame me, blame Allen." The smaller girl shrugged, then set the feathery pillow back on the bed below Cindy's (the one Stephanie claimed for the night).

Cindy rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and climbed down the ladder. She went over to her bag resting against the bed's frame and collected her newly-cleaned clothing. She rounded into a smaller room and closed the door to change out of her pajamas and into her day clothes.

With Cindy gone, Stephanie turned her aquamarine eyes to Allen. "Um, what are our plans today? I'm assuming we're just gonna head southwest of Iki Town and work our way to Hau'oli City, right?"

"Yep." Allen adjusted his green jacket, which had short sleeves and golden hemming around the sleeves, collar, and bottom. "Since me and Cindy took the kinda long way to Hou'omaka Town and then Iki Town, the journey's paying off with a rather short journey to Hau'oli City. I've predicted that we might reach Hau'oli City by sunset today if nothing gets in our way."

Stephanie giggled a bit. "Wow, the rumor's true! Smart people do wear glasses!"

Allen shook his head with a laugh of his own. "Not all smart people wear glasses, and not all people who wear glasses are smart. I think I'm an example of the latter, but..." He adjusted the topic of the conversation and smiled. "I've had time to observe how far we can get in a day, and the distance between Iki Town and Hau'oli City is the distance we usually cover in a day. It's kinda simple once you just start noticing these things."

The door burst open, and there was Cindy. She was twisting around and admiring herself, then she took her bright green scarf and gently wrapped the cool-colored silk around her neck. "Alrightly, all ready! So, I heard your from little chat that we're just heading to Hau'oli City?"

"That's our plan," Stephanie said. "Allen says that it'll take less than a full day, so we can sleep in beds again." She tilted her head down to better focus on the task of clipping her belt on. "Are we gonna stop at the Pokémon Center cafeteria to grab a bite to eat, or do you have us covered, Allen?"

The boy turned around to present his backpack. "I've got us covered. If we go to the cafeteria, that'll take up some time. I've got some snacks to hold us over, so we should be good."

Cindy gave an affirmative nod. "Alright, sounds like a plan to me!" She pulled out her tablet device and checked a webpage. "According to the official Pokémon Contest website, the Hau'oli Contest is in a few days. So even if something totally crazy happens along the way, I'm still on track for my contest debut and to win my first Ribbon for the Alola Grand Festival!"

"Okay, so we know the plan today." Allen tightened the straps of his backpack and gave a thumbs-up. "I think we're ready!"

With the trio in agreement of the daily plan, they left the Pokémon Center room and the key card on the table (a lesson from Allen's slip-up a few days ago. Somewhere, the Hou'omaka Town Pokémon Center was fretting over a missing key card currently in someone's backpack). Since they had gotten a room on the first floor this time, they didn't pass by the cafeteria (most Center cafeterias were on the second floor, but there were some exceptions), but the smell was everywhere and it was delicious. The three didn't take any time to stay and eat, however. With their plans already established, breakfast would take up some time that was being used to get to Hau'oli City before the sun set.

They left the Center, then started towards the dirt path that would point southwest on a compass. Once everyone did a quick check of what was with them and tying some loose shoes if necessary, they were ready. They set off without any excess words, all three of them striding towards the next city while the path stretched endlessly in front of them.

~~~​

The sun was still high in the sky as three friends walked along a path. They climbed up and down gentle hills, sometimes stopping to admire the sights at the top of the hill. Sometimes, they would be overlooking just grass, but other times they would set their sights on a beautiful meadow of pastel-colored flowers with small and wild Pokémon playing with each other. It was just another reminder of the close relationship the Alola region had with nature and Pokémon.

While they walked, Allen had supplied the snacks he had promised. Being the most logical and the member that thought things through, he had plenty of supplies to hold the girls over. He didn't really mind being the person to carry the important things. The pack on Stephanie's belt looked like it could barely hold a small Pokémon like Litten (the only thing she really carried with her was her PokeNav charger) and Cindy reserved her bag for Litten sometimes. If Litten wasn't in the bag, she was always carrying her PokeTab and flat-out refused to shove crumbly and gooey food with that tablet.

Ignoring who carried items and who didn't, they were making progress. Based on Cindy's constant usage of her PokeTab's GPS function, they were a considerable way away from Iki Town. Just a few more hours walking on slightly sore feet, and the biggest city on Melemele Island was theirs to storm and explore. The Hau'oli Ribbon and the first of many Charm Pieces were waiting for them.

Sometime along the path, they would pass a house. It was very infrequent, and usually the people that owned the little houses on the side of the path were inside escaping the scorching Alolan heat. However, one house caught their attention. It was a smaller home, and a young boy was sitting on the front steps. Although his face wasn't that clear with all his inky blue hair draping over his eyes, all three Trainers could make out little blotches of red on his face. Stephanie had eventually deducted that this boy had been crying and looked pretty down on himself.

Allen decided to step off the path for a minute and approach the boy. The two girls followed him suit, so all three of them were right in front of the distraught young boy. "Hey, is there something wrong? You don't look that happy."

The boy looked up with a small gasp and shook his head. "N-no, nothing's wrong. Just... just sitting here."

"But people who are fine don't look like they've been crying," Cindy added. "If something's really bothering you, we can help you."

It took a few beats of silence, but the boy got up and dusted his short-sleeve blue shirt off. He was rather small and looked nowhere past nine years old. "Well, something happened... some thugs just came up to me and my Pokémon while we were playing and they just took it! They didn't even give me a second's notice, they just swooped in like a hungry Mandibuzz ready to attack its prey!" He cupped his hands and stuffed his face in those hands. "My prized Pokémon!"

The forest green-haired boy bit his lower lip, then put a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. "Don't worry, we can help you find those thugs and return your Pokémon to you." He turned his head to face the girls. "Isn't that right, girls?"

Cindy snapped up from her PokeTab with concerned blue eyes. "But, Allen, the Hau'oli Contest-"

"We have time." He practically ignored his travelling companions and gave a friendly grin. "Yeah, we'll help you! Everyone deserves to keep having great moments with their Pokémon!"

The younger boy finally found his smile. "R-really? Thanks you!" He put one hand up, palm facing Allen, and moved it in a circular motion. "Alola! My name's Ray."

Allen walked back onto the dirt path, where Ray scuttled right next to him. Now back on the trail, they continued their journey forward as Allen pressed Ray on the people who had stolen his Pokémon.

"They were both girls, and they had flowers in their hair. One had a red and white flower, the other a green-ish flower. The one with the red flower hair really short purple hair, while the one with the green flower had long orange-brown hair. The one with the red flower also looked like she was crazy with a black top and shorts and shoes, and she had a scar under one of her eyes. The one with the green flower was in a grey long-sleeve coat that made her look smart, like Professor Kukui. She also had glasses on. They were travelling together." Ray finished his description with a sigh. "And right now, they have my Pokémon."

Stephanie turned her focus to Ray. "What Pokémon do you own?"

"It's a Pokémon called Yungoos. They're very common in Alola."

As soon as the Pokémon's name was stated, Cindy quirked a ginger eyebrow. "Yungoos? What's a Yungoos?"

Allen dug into his jacket pocket to take his green Pokédex out, but as soon as he flipped it open, he shook his head and sighed. "We haven't seen a Yungoos yet, so I can't show you the Pokédex picture. It's basically a Pokémon that was imported from another region to control the booming Rattata population in Alola. Good thing is, we have less Rattata. Bad thing is, we might have too many Yungoos now."

"Well, whatever a Yungoos is," the ginger-haired girl continued, "I sure hope we can find it, and quick. Nobody deserves to have their Pokémon taken." She turned her head up in thought. "But what's the problem in having too many Pokémon? I bet Yungoos look cute!"

"Oh, there's a problem, which is why we took this one 'ere. We're doin' ya guys a favor by gettin' rid of all the Yungoos," a raspy voice interrupted.

Everyone froze in their tracks, then started to research their surroundings. They were still on the path, and in front of them were a few trees that lead into a lightly shaded woodland area. No one was in sight, and there were no Pokémon either (if Pokémon could talk, anyway). The only thing that was surrounding the four was the air.

Ray scuffled closer to Allen and grabbed the bottom of his jacket. "A-Allen, where are those voices coming from? And why did they say that they knew where my Yungoos was?"

Before anyone could answer the question, a Pokémon wandered out from behind the trees in front of them. It was a slender Pokémon with bared teeth, and accents of yellow fur on the head and belly. When it set its beady eyes on Ray, it cried out. Cindy was mentally taking back whatever comment she had spilled before on 'I bet Yungoos look cute' if this was a Yungoos.

"'Ey, c'mere!" Right after the Pokémon came out, a young woman appeared from behind the same tree. The three teenagers and Ray observed her attire. Messy and short purple hair with a red and white flower stuck in it, and her general appearance caught the attention of the small blue-haired teen. The mysterious young woman bent down and scooped the Pokémon into her arms as she sent daggers towards the observers. "Whaddya lookin' at, ya punks?"

Stephanie gasped and strode one step forward. She involuntarily extended one arm to protect her friends as she shouted, "wait a minute, I know you guys! You're Team Bones! You're those fiends that tried to hurt my mother all those years ago and you're those thugs that have been appearing in the news for your heinous crimes of stealing other's Pokémon!" She gritted her teeth while literal fire blazed in her aquamarine eyes. "You terrible punks! You should be ashamed of your acts!"

The girl holding the Pokémon groaned while her red eyes twitched. "Ugh, for the last time, we ain't Team Bones! We're Team Skull!"

Ray started tugging on the end of Allen's jacket like the world was ending right before his young eyes. He pointed a tiny finger towards the Pokémon. "That's my Yungoos! You have to save it!"

As Cindy punched herself mentally for the comment of how adorable a Yungoos would look (she really didn't think they were that cute anymore), she dug into her bag and fished out her Pokédex. She turned it on and aimed the camera at Yungoos while Litten observed.

Yungoos, the Loitering Pokémon. Yungoos is a Pokémon that was imported to Alola from a different region. This Pokémon is always hungry and will not hesitate to consume anything. It will wander and stalk its territory for food until it literally collapses on the spot from exhaustion.

From another tree just feet away from the annoyed Team Skull member, another girl's head popped up from behind the tree. "Um, are you messing things up again? Is there a battle going on, or can I come out now?"

The girl with the purple hair rolled her eyes. "Does it look like we're gettin' into a fight 'ere, Yareta?"

Trepidaciously, the other girl emerged from behind the study tree. In seconds, the others recognized this girl from Ray's description a while ago: long auburn hair with a five-petaled flower stuck into it, and wearing a lab coat in the region that one should never wear a lab coat. She had a pair of glasses that occasionally glinted the sunlight, and her name was apparently Yareta, not just from the other girl, but her name was stitched into the jacket. "Oh, that's a relief. But you should really be more careful, Amaryllis. You always seem to step right into danger and that always messes us up..."

Stephanie, who was still staring the girls down with a vengeance, narrowed her eyes even further. "Who the Distortion are you thugs?"

"Just your average, everyday girls on a mission to make Alola better." The purple-haired one, recently revealed as Amaryllis, smirked. "Makin' plans and enacting 'em to help our team and finish our cause."

"To show Alola what we're worth. Starting with us, the brains and brawn." She adjusted her glasses and threw an arm out, her grey coat flowing with the movement. "Team Skull's Yareta, the mastermind scientist of the team!"

Amaryllis jumped right next to her teammate and stood back-to-back with her. "And Team Skull's Amaryllis, the force and pain that'll make ya scream!"

Together, they held a hand and extended the other towards the four that were competing with them. "Alola's ours, so stand back!" Just when they finished their little motto, the Yungoos Amaryllis was previously holding scampered away and back to its Trainer. Yareta facepalmed while aiming a spiteful glare at her teammate.

"...can you get any more dense-headed? Now we have to rethink of a motto yet again, something that doesn't involve cheesy rhymes and letting Pokémon get away while we pose dramtically," Yareta mumbled towards her less than bright teammate.

Stephanie lowered her arm and snickered. "I'm so scared right now, you don't even know," she rebutted with a tone dripping with sarcasm. Her glare resumed as she reached to the Pokéball on her belt, swiftly pressed the button, and lobbed it into the open air. "Rowlet, take the field!"

Allen also dug into his pocket and threw his own Pokéball. "Rockruff, come on out!"

"Litten, the spotlight's on you!" Cindy finished as she extended her arm and let her partner rush over it and join Cindy's teammates' Pokémon.

Ray jumped and bounded up and down. "Oh, my turn!" He pointed out as well. "Yungoos, get ready!"

Yareta's face paled as she saw the Pokémon, so she cowered behind the same tree she had been hiding behind before the teenagers and their young guest came along. "Amaryllis, there's a battle going on! Do something, I don't have any Pokémon!"

Amaryllis stared the Pokémon down, then gulped. "Whaddya mean do somethin'?! There's no way I'm winnin' four to one!" She grasped her teammate's wrist as she dragged her away from the battle that technically hadn't started yet. She shot her daggers towards the four. "We're outta here, but we'll be back for ya! Don't take us lightly, ya punks! And don't think ya won your stupid 'battle'!" With that, the two sprinted far away into the setting sun, leaving a trail of dust in their wake.

Ray bent down and put his arms out to let his Pokémon jump into his embrace. "Oh, Yungoos, I thought I lost you forever! I'm so glad you're not hurt!" He looked to the teenagers, his eyes shimmering with tears. "Thank you so much, guys! I don't know if I would've ever seen Yungoos again without you!"

"We're always glad to help," Allen said with pride. "Say, you gonna take on the League challenge with Yungoos anytime soon?"

The young boy nodded. "Yep! Next year, when I turn ten, I'm gonna become just like you and become an awesome Pokémon Trainer!"

Allen, while still beaming, held a fisted hand down to Ray. The young boy laughed in return and connected his fisted hand with Allen's. After that was done, Ray made sure Yungoos was with him as he bid his final farewell and ran back down the path they came, right back to his little house on the road.

Cindy finally approached Allen and put a hand on her hip. "Wow, now that was a little crazy... and those girls were a little crazier..." She bent down to let the Fire Cat Pokémon perch back on her shoulder, and then she caught sight of Stephanie, who was still in an offensive pose and breathing very heavily. "Uh, Stephanie? Are you okay?"

The smaller girl suddenly snapped towards Cindy, her expression slowly softening and returning to a normal, content state. "...me? I'm fine."

"But back then... I've never seen you so... so angry before. What was up with that?" the ginger-haired girl asked.

Stephanie gradually unfisted her hands and sighed. "That was Team Skull. That was the group of thugs that hurt my mother. Those were the goons that scared my mother. So basically, they were indirectly responsible for that stupid ban my mother put on a Pokémon journey." She distracted herself by adjusting the position of her dark blue belt. "But we don't have time to focus on me right now." She turned her head back to face Cindy. "You've got a contest to practice for, so we better hurry. The sun's setting."

All the teens nodded, then started back on the trail ahead. It would seem that they were walking straight into the setting sun, but minutes later, the sun wasn't visible from the horizon. Instead, tall skyscrapers jutted out from the horizon instead, and the shade of the buildings came out to reach the travelers. After a hectic day, it was great and a sigh of relief to say that Hau'oli City was right in front on them.

~~~​

Back on the trail again, Allen, Cindy, and Stephanie have set their sights on getting to Hau'oli City. But as they continue their trek there, a distraught young boy catches their attention. The little boy introduces himself as Ray, a boy who dreams of becoming a great Trainer with his Yungoos. Only problem is, his Yungoos has been stolen by a group of thugs! When our heroes help Ray look for his partner, the villains who had stolen Yungoos appear right before them! Introducing themselves as Yareta and Amaryllis, they're part of Team Skull, a group of thugs that inhabit the Alola region! However, it doesn't seem like their mission was successful, as Yungoos escapes! With the two members of Team Skull gone, Hau'oli City is just ahead! And with the Hau'oli Contest soon, there are bound to be even more surprises as the journey continues!

 

The thread lives! Not even my internet dying for a week will stop me!!

Anyway, chapter 12!

Spoiler: Chapter 12

Episode 12: The Contest Contemplation!

It was a bright and shiny new day in the Alola region, and everyone was out and about. Shopping, training Pokémon, or just hanging out with friends, it was a day to be doing something. And that held true for one girl hitting the battlefield that was located within the Hau'oli Pokémon Center's premises.

"Litten, use Ember!"

As Litten turned its head up and shot a ball of flames into the open air, two other teenagers on the side of the field simply watched. The smaller one looked to her friend and sighed. "How long has Cindy been at this?"

"Well, she wasn't in our room when I woke up," Allen answered, "and we always have to wake her up. So if she got up even before I did, she's been out here for hours now."

"Now use Scratch and tear through that Ember while never retracting your claws!"

Litten, while still keeping its eyes on the spinning fireball in the air, extended its claws out and pushed off its hind legs. In middair, the glowing claws raked through the Ember, but Litten's claws remained bright and long. Gravity triumphed over the Fire Cat Pokémon, so it fell back onto the field, but the claws and Litten's whole paw were ablaze with fire.

Cindy clasped her hands together and squealed. "Wow, nice work, Litten!" She turned to Allen and gave an exuberant grin. "Remember this, Allen? We've come to perfect that move combination we used while helping wear down your old Rockruff. I call it Flame Claw!"

Stephanie sprinted towards the Fire Cat Pokémon and bent down slightly. "So Litten's claws are on fire? What's the purpose of the combination?"

"That's what I was gonna explain." She examined the paw as she nodded to herself. "As you can see, not only does it provide a great appeal combination, Flame Claw is also a great offensive combo. When I was battling with a Pokémon, I had Litten use Flame Claw on a Pokémon, and it does massive damage!" As soon as she noted Litten's claws were retracted and it was licking itself, she picked her Pokémon up and squealed. "This is gonna become our claim to fame, starting today!"

Allen joined his two companions and snapped. "That's right! Today's your big day, the Hau'oli Contest's today!"

"Yep! And I gotta say, with your time and planning, that extra day I got yesterday of just training was worth it. And this is only our second day in the city, so I can practice even more after today's contest, and we gotta do everything here if you said that this city is so big and awesome!" She put a gentle hand on Litten's furry head. "I can't believe it... I'm gonna be able to do my very first contest today!"

The Coordinator felt a hand on her shoulder, and when she looked at who had done it, she was staring into the aquamarine eyes of Stephanie. "But aren't you nervous? I'm not even going on stage, and I'm nervous for you."

Cindy bit her lower lip for a second before resuming her peppy and confident grin. "I do have to admit, I'm a bit nervous right now, but all that nervousness can't even peek through how excited I am!"

"But... don't you need a Contest Pass?" she asked meekly.

A finger was placed on Stephanie's lips by Cindy. "Way ahead of you. And since my mother hasn't sent me anything along the lines of a contest dress..." Her face looked like it was building up excitement. She grabbed one of Stephanie's hands as she literally shouted, "Shopping!"

Stephanie quirked a blue eyebrow. "Shopping? Why are we going shopping? Why me? Shopping isn't really my thing-"

"Well, since we're both girls, we both know what true fashion looks like." She turned to Allen and laughed. "No offense, Al."

"Um... none taken."

Cindy resumed looking at Stephanie with that excited grin. "So we're heading straight to the Hau'oli Shopping Outlet if I knew where it was! They probably have pretty cool stores and they're probably selling cool dresses and stuff!"

A bead of sweat ran down Stephanie's face due to her friend's comment. "You sure sound like you know what you're doing..."

Allen motioned to Cindy's bag, where her PokeTab always was. "Cindy can always use her PokeTab to find her way around. And if that fails... somehow... it's a shopping outlet. You can't miss the sight of people walking and buying things." He strode back to the area connected to the Pokémon Center and sat down on a chair to kick back and relax. "If you two are leaving, then I'll see you on stage, Cindy. Stephanie, make sure to look for me in the audience, I'll try and get a front row seat for us."

"Alright," the smaller girl affirmed. She turned her attention back to Cindy and smiled. "So, are we heading off yet?"

Cindy gave a nod, her braid whipping around with the motion. "Yep! Allen, I'll see you in the audience later! Make sure to cheer extra loud for me!" With that, the two girls ran off the dirt battlefield the Center provided, then ran into and out of the Center to get to Hau'oli City's shopping district to start what she would call it, 'the greatest shopping adventure ever!'.

~~~~~~~~​

Due to them not fully exploring Hau'oli City (and Cindy not at all due to her contest practice), this was their first time in the biggest city on Melemele Island. Tall skyscrapers were living up to their name, and cars and people alike were moving about the city. Most the people had shopping bags clutched in their hands, while some were walking into stores to perhaps gain a bag to carry full of newly purchased merchandise. During the walk, Cindy kept her PokeTab out and looked at it half the time. The other half of the time was used by looking at everyone in the city's hub central and thinking about how many of them would be entering the contest and facing against her. The pit at the bottom of her gut started eating back at her, the one that signified nervousness. What if she failed miserably?

Despite feeling nervous sometimes, the two girls found the Hau'oli Shopping Mall. Well, it wasn't that hard to find, it was literally the biggest building in the area. People were cycling in and out of the building, and inside the building were shops and shops that signified a large shopping outlet. There was a whole food court where patrons of the shopping spree were taking a break with a sandwich or so, and if eating wasn't the preferred activity of choice, those that could wait were stepping into stores, walking out of them, and repeating the process.

Cindy and Stephanie were part of the latter group, but Cindy reassured that if they had time after they bought her contest outfit they could grab a bite to eat. They spotted an average clothing shop, and then they decided that Cindy's perfect outfit was in there. When they stepped in, articles of clothing greeted them. Shirts, pants, shoes, everything was there. However, the one thing Cindy wanted was somewhere else in the store: a dress.

The two continued their sprint to the other side of the store, where, as Cindy had guessed, dresses upon dresses lined the racks and shelves. Cindy immediately started her rummage through the racks, and she asked her smaller friend to help her. Most dresses she found were either way too tacky or way to subtle, which was a problem to the girl with the finicky sense of fashion. Just as she was about to give up and try another store, a poke in the shoulder got her to turn around.

When she turned around, she was perhaps looking at an angel that looked like her perfect contest dress.

The dress, like her shirt, was a nice red color that pleased the eye. The accents to the dress were in red's complimentary color, just like Cindy's bright green scarf tied loosely around her neck. The sash was the exact same green color, and so was the hemming on the bottom, collar, and short sleeves. The collar was a gentle v-neck, and at the tip of the collar, a heart was sewn on instead. To anyone, it was a dress. To Cindy, it was her dress.

She took the outfit in her hands and laughed with a smile. "This... this is..." She clutched it close to her chest and spun around like a ballerina. "This is perfect! This is gonna be my perfect dress!" She stopped to face Stephanie. "Thanks for finding this for me! You must really know my tastes."

"Well, you seem to like red and green together. So I just figured that I should find you a dress that has red and green."

Cindy hugged the dress close again. "This is what I'm gonna wear for my contest debut!" She folded the dress up nicely while Stephanie went ahead of her to the cashier. While Stephanie was gone, Cindy made sure that her friend wasn't watching as she plucked a little extra something off a rack. She strategically concealed it under her dress as she told Stephanie to wait outside the store while she paid for the dress and something extra.

Once the apparel was purchased, Cindy skipped out of the store with a bag in hand, making her blend in with the rest of the mall. Upon a quiet request by Stephanie, Cindy pulled out her wallet once more and made sure that they had enough PokeDollars for the both of them to stop by a food shop and grab a quick bite to eat. After the two girls payed for a nice sandwich apparently from the Unova region, they made their way out of the mall and to their next destination: The Hau'oli City Contest Hall.

~~~~~~~~​

If the mall was crowded, the Contest Hall put the mall to shame with the number of people around the building. Shops and vendors were set up everywhere, and Coordinators were last-minute practicing to win the coveted Ribbon the venue was giving out to the victor. The building itself must've been packed to burst, the structure with the sleek lavender walls hosting many people coming in and out. On the gigantic TV monitor attached to the building was a three-dimensional model of a Ribbon with an gold clasp shaped like an oval and from the clasp extended two strips of orange fabric with white outlines.

With her bag in tow, Cindy rushed up with Stephanie's hand in her other and pointed to the giant building. "Look, there it is! The Hau'oli City Contest Hall!"

Stephanie wriggled her hand free of Cindy's grasp and offered a grin. "That's where you're gonna sign up, right?"

"Yep!" she affirmed. "C'mon, we can't wait!" She ran ahead of the smaller girl again with her arms up, much like she would do if she had no care in the world. After a bit of sprinting, Cindy turned around and swung her hand in towards herself. "What're you waiting for? C'mon!"

The blue-haired girl hastily nodded and scuffled after her friend. "Y-yes! Coming!" She tightened her high ponytail and joined her exuberant friend in running headlong for the Contest Hall.

When they entered the Contest Hall, the interior was flashy and the amount of people inside reminded them of the mall. However, the reception desk was relatively easy to find despite the slew of people signing up or finding their ways to the audience to reserve a seat as close to the stage as humanly possible. Cindy wasn't interested in watching the stars perform, she was here to become the performing star. Slowly, she made her way to the desk with Stephanie, and there the reception lady was.

"Hello, and welcome to the Hau'oli Contest Hall! How may I help you ladies today?" the lady asked.

Cindy set her arms on the desk like a true lady (not really). "I'm here to receive my Contest Pass and sign up for the contest!"

The receptionist nodded, then motioned to the slots built into the desk. "Sure thing! Just put your Pokédex in the slot, then you'll have your Contest Pass!"

As instructed, Cindy fished out her Pokédex and set it into the thin slot. A few beeps and noises from a screen above them, showing her picture and basic information about the next star in the making. When the machine was done telling perhaps the whole hall random and useless facts about her, it settled down and out came her Pokédex and a plastic card.

"That's your Contest Pass," the lady explained, "so now you can sign up for any contest in the Alola region for the entire year!" She looked to Stephanie and smiled. "Do you want to sign up and get your Contest Pass?"

Stephanie backed up and put her hands up. "N-no thank you." She turned to face Cindy. "I guess I'll see you in the audience-"

"Stephanie, I think you should try a contest."

There were a few beats of silence between the two girls, but Stephanie broke it with perhaps the shake of her head. "N-no. I d-don't even know what I want to do in Alola yet. I'm just tagging along with you-"

"Which is why I'm suggesting you do a contest," Cindy interrupted again. "I'm not saying you obligate yourself as a Coordinator, but I'm saying you should try a contest or two. Maybe Pokémon Contest is for you and Rowlet, maybe it's not. All I'm saying is that you should try as many things as you can with your Pokémon until you find what you want to do."

The smaller girl kept her head tilted down for a few moments, but then she angled her head back up and nodded with a rigid motion. "...I guess you're right." She strode up to the desk and held her PokeNav out. "I'd like to sign up for Pokémon Contest."

The lady took her wristwatch off gently and nodded. "Alrighty then! Since you can't put a PokeNav into that tiny slot, I'll fill out your info, of course, with your permission, and give you your Contest Pass!"

"Go on ahead," the girl allowed.

With Stephanie's PokeNav info up, the lady quickly typed up the information on her computer and clicked her mouse. Seconds later, in the other slot on the desk, another plastic card was produced. The lady swiveled back to the girls and set out a tray as well. "Now that both of you are signed up, I'd like to give you some starting gifts on behalf of the Pokémon Activities Committee! You each get a Pokémon Contest rulebook, Ball Capsules, and Seals!" She pushed the tray forward and bowed her head down. "Good luck in today's contest!"

Cindy took the whole tray and bowed her head down as well. "Thank you!" She turned to Stephanie. "So, should we get dressed and ready?"

Stephanie nodded, but then her face paled and drew back with worry. "Oh no! I don't have a contest outfit!" She hunched over and sighed. "That's not gonna look good at all..."

"Way ahead of ya." Cindy took the shopping bag she had brought with her and dug into it. Instead of her contest dress, she presented something else to her friend.

What was being presented was an outfit. First, she noted the presence of a white dress shirt and lavender-blue vest. Atop those articles of clothing was a light purple jacket that had an extended back potion, so the coat had some long coattails that flowed like a dress. Along with the clothing for her upper half, a pair of light purple dress pants and shined black shoes finished the ensemble off. She took the outfit into her arms and laughed quietly. "It's... it's beautiful... but why'd you get this? It's like you knew that you'd convince me into doing a contest..."

"That's just exactly why." She set an arm around the smaller girl. "Since you sounded so unsure on what you wanted to do when you first joined us, I just figured that you'd try as many things as possible with your Pokémon, and you have this kinda tomboy personality, so that explains the outfit, y'know?" She slung the shopping bag around her arm and picked the tray up again. "Now, I've seen all of these items in Sinnoh, where Alola presumably got its contest influence. Do you know what a Ball Capsule and Seal are?"

A shake of the head was her answer.

Cindy pulled out Litten's Pokéball (for contest purposes, Litten had been chilling in its Pokéball for the day), then she opened the semi-transparent blue capsule and showed the interior to Stephanie. "Okay, you take your Pokéball and set it into the Ball Capsule." She closed the covering and stuck a Seal on, just like a sticker. "You then put the Seal on the Ball Capsule, and you send it out!" She put the prepared ball in her bag. "I'll let you see it in action when we're doing our contest. Right now, we should get backstage and get our contest attire on."

Stephanie gave a simple nod, which prompted the two to walk through the door that led them through the hallways and into the green rooms and main backstage room. They both picked a separate room across the hall with their contest outfit in hand. It wasn't long before they opened the doors and stepped out of the rooms, both admiring themselves and their new attire. While Cindy was wearing her red and green dress that flowed until her knees, Stephanie was adjusting the little indigo bowtie secured on the collar.

Now in the proper clothing, the two girls went to the main backstage room to wait for the contest to start. While Stephanie fiddled with the Ball Capsule and debated what Seals did what, Cindy couldn't help but think to herself: how many people were watching? How would Allen react seeing Stephanie onstage? Would she even win the Hau'oli Contest? But one thing she knew for sure: there was no playing around anymore. There was no more dreaming. This was the Hau'oli Contest. She was in the Hau'oli Contest.

And like that, the music changed to a tune she recognized from countless reruns on TV: the Pokémon Contest theme song that played whenever contests went on air.

The contest was starting.

~~~~~~~~​

Today's the day Cindy's been waiting for since moving to Alola, the Hau'oli Contest! After going on a shopping trip with Stephanie, Cindy has finished her contest checklist and then makes plans to sign up with a Contest Pass. After she got her pass, she noted that Stephanie had just been standing around. In order to help Stephanie perhaps realize her ambition on her journey, she suggested that Stephanie should try the contest as well to see if contest is her calling! With both girls backstage and ready for a spectacular show, the first contest of Cindy's Coordinator career is starting as the journey continues!

 

Chapter 13!

Spoiler: Chapter 13

Episode 13: The Appeal's the Deal!

At last, the Hau'oli Contest was starting, and one specific Cindy couldn't become any more excited.

Everyone backstage had stopped whatever they were doing beforehand, whether that was trying to figure out how a Seal worked or trying to choose the perfect Pokémon for the job. Instead of doing whatever, everyone had turned their attention to the television where the contest was on air.

On stage, two spotlights were lit onto a woman with frizzy orange hair and microphone. She held the mic up to her face and held one arm out. "It's time, and everyone's overflowing with excitement! That can only mean one thing..." The lights in the whole arena turned on and illuminated everything inside. "It's contest time!"

The whole audience burst into cheers and excitement, and a certain forest green-haired boy in the front row was no exception. He turned his head to his right, where he was expecting someone to be seated next to him. Where was Stephanie?

"We're coming to you live from the city overflowing with gentle joy, Hau'oli City!" the announcer continued. "Like any other contest, the winner of this contest will receive the grand prize, the prestigious Hau'oli Ribbon!" She dug into her pocket and held up a little something in a hand, which was reflecting the stage lights. The item had a golden clasp with a little crown on the top in the shape of an oval, and from the clasp ran two strips of fabric that were orange with white borders. "With this, the winner will be one step closer to collecting their five Ribbons needed for the Alola Grand Festival!"

Backstage, Cindy kept her determined blue eyes on the Ribbon and smirked. "That's my Ribbon..." She stood up and strode towards the door, knowing that she was first to take the stage and show what she was capable was. She walked towards the curtain and stood behind it as she continued to listen to the ceremonies going on on the other side of the blue fabric. She clutched her Pokéball tighter as the feelings of nervousness came back, but she dispelled them somewhat with a deep, calming breath.

The announcer moved over to the side of the stage, where a panel of three people were seated. They all waved to the TV camera that had panned towards them as the woman put a hand out to direct attention towards the first man. "And let's meet our judges! First up is the head of the Pokémon Activities Committee, Mr. Contesta!"

The older man bowed his head down and adjusted his red suit. "Thank you! I just can't wait to jump into the contest and see all these displays of talent put on by our Coordinators today!"

"And next," the woman continued, "the head of the Pokémon Fan Club, Mr. Sukizo!"

Next to Contesta, the shorter man never ceased smiling. "Hau'oli City is remarkable!"

"And finally, Hau'oli City's very own Nurse Joy!"

The nurse with the blue-purple cross on her hat bowed her head down. "Thank you. I bet I'm as excited as you are to see what our participants have in store. I wish everyone good luck."

Once all the judges were done speaking, the woman ran out to the other side of the field and then pointed to herself. "Oh, I almost forget to introduce myself! I'm the Alola region's master of ceremonies and announcer of this contest and many more, Adrian!" She swung her hand to divert everyone's attention from whatever was on their minds beforehand to the curtain, which was rising. "And our first contestant, Cindy from Celestiluna City! You're on!"

Cindy felt a bead of sweat run down the back of her neck, but she pushed through the panic and ran out onstage with Litten's Pokéball in hand. "Alrightly!" She spun around like a ballerina a few times as she released grip of the capsule device. She stopped rotating around to clearly shout, "Litten, the spotlight's on you!"

The Pokéball traveled through the air for a second before popping open. Instead of a ray of white plasma, the energy that came from the ball was a mass of flames that sparkled. The flames churned and swirled around for a second before the shape of the Fire Cat Pokémon was visible. With another pop and burst of fire, Litten was clear to the judges and the spectators. Gravity brought it down, then it landed on all four paws and put on its best face of determination.

"That's how a Seal works, Steph," she inaudibly whispered. She couldn't fight back an adrenaline forced smile as she swung her arm out to the stage. "Here we go! Litten, hold an Ember in your mouth and use Growl to fire it up!"

Litten meowed in understanding, then ran forward with flames and embers spilling out of its mouth. When it approached center stage, it angled its head up and growled while finally firing the fireball. Because of the added Growl, rings of fire dispersed away from Litten's mouth and body while the fireball itself shot high into the open air with Cheri Berry red sparkles dragging behind it.

Adrian swung her hand out to get everyone's attention on the fireball. "Wow! With Litten's Growl attack, that Ember went sky high!"

Cindy rapidly bobbed up and down as she squealed, "yes! It worked!" She put her hand up and broadly beamed. "Now here it comes! Use Scratch and get a Flame Claw up! And make sure to look good while doing so with a twist and a spin!" To demonstrate, Cindy spun around once, her red and green dress dancing with her.

Litten eyed the fireball with its mostly unfeeling yellow eyes, then sprung into action quite literally. While spinning around like a confused Baltoy, Litten extended its white-glowing claws and approached the Ember. It raked the Ember into nothing but fading sparks and flames, and along with those flames a burst of lights and sparkles. It was almost like Litten was glowing as bright as the sun outside.

"And what a show!" Adrian exclaimed while the small flecks of glitter fell around her and into the audience. "It's like it's impossible to look away from Litten's beautiful usage of moves!"

The Coordinator on stage was breaking into a full blown smile while heaving air in and out. She watched as Litten succumbed to the forces of gravity with its claws still out. When it landed, her smile only got wider as Litten's claws were fully ablaze and spread to the whole Pokémon. It wasn't just Litten's claws on fire: Litten was on fire and practically sparkling.

"Now blaze it up for the grand finale!"

Litten, while still consumed by flames, hunched over and slammed its paws on the ground ahead of it. It resumed a normal stance as the flames grew brighter and created another bout of light. When the lights receded, a gentle rain of sparkles fell as Litten tipped its head down with a fur coat that shone with the lights that surrounded it. Cindy ran on stage next to Litten and bowed down with it.

In an instant, the crowd went wild. Allen stood up and clapped like the most excited person on earth just for his friend.

Adrian laughed for a second before announcing, "and what an appeal! Using Litten's glorious show of its old fur coat shedding while combining that with the light of the Scratch and Ember combination was stunning! Let's hear from our judges!"

Contesta was still clapping as the camera panned to him. He folded his hands back on the panel desk. "Truly marvelous! The beauty of a Fire Type Pokémon showing off well-trained moves is always a three out of three!"

Sukizo never stopped grinning. "Four out of three for remarkable!"

Nurse Joy cocked her head while smiling. "I thoroughly enjoyed that performance. You can tell that Cindy and Litten were having tons of fun together."

Cindy returned to a normal stance and took a shaky exhale. She had just done it: she had done her first appeal in her first Pokémon Contest. With Litten back on her shoulder, the girl nervously waved to everyone that was giving the gesture to her, and when she spotted Allen, she returned his thumbs-up gesture. Was this what it felt like to be the Contest Master or someone like him? Even if it didn't feel like what Cindy was experiencing, she was on cloud nine. After she heard the applause die down and fade away, she gripped the bottom of her dress and sprinted backstage as the next contestant entered.

~~~~~~~~​

Backstage, Cindy poked her head through the doorway minutes after returning backstage. She spotted many other Coordinators, but no familiar blue ponytail in a stylized suit. She entered the fairly large room and took a seat on one of the purple cushions. Perhaps Stephanie had moved to a green room to fix her appearance? Or maybe she Torchic'd out and left the contest entirely? Although the last option had a one in a million chance, she felt like that was a probable answer. Stephanie was a little shy sometimes, so it wasn't impossible for her to do so.

But once she looked at the TV, she had her answer.

~~~~~~~~​

"And contestant number four, Stephanie from Hou'omaka Town! You're on!"

In the audience, Allen's jaw practically dropped to the floor. "Stephanie?! You mean, our Stephanie?!" He adjusted his glasses with a dismissive laugh. "There's no way that Stephanie is doing a contest. She's shown absolutely no interest in Pokémon Contest-"

When the curtains opened, standing in the limelight was a smaller girl in a stance that had one foot on front of the other. She had a hand on her hip, the other hand dangling by her side and clutching a Pokéball. Her outfit's tiny but intriguing silver embroidering shone with the stage lights, and her face of determination was very familiar to Allen as he had seen it before when encountering Yareta and Amaryllis.

"...that's Stephanie," Allen finally managed to get out.

The girl onstage finally broke her pose and sped forward. She jumped up with one leg up as she shouted, "Rowlet, take the field- er, stage!"

In the air, the Pokéball spun like a top before breaking open. Joining the pop of plasma was a flurry of golden stars that joined to make the general shape of a Rowlet before they shot away and revealed the Grass Quill Pokémon.

Stephanie touched the silk fabric that made up her indigo bowtie, then motioned towards her Pokémon. "Alright, start us off with a Leafage attack!"

Rowlet flew up into the air above center stage, then its wings started glowing green. With those wings, it started spinning around and conjuring leaves of the same color to swirl around it. From the audience, it was like Rowlet had been sucked up into a tornado made of bright green leaves that left a faint trail of light.

"Now Steel Wing!"

Backstage, Cindy felt a smirk crawl onto her face. "So her Rowlet knows Steel Wing... interesting combinations can be used with that." Her smile faded and was replaced with worry. "But... she's totally taking on the stage like a battlefield... and not like a Pokémon Contest."

On stage, Rowlet's wings changed from glowing green to steel-grey. It flew into the slew of leaves it had conjured and used those wings to rip through the leaves and destroy them. What was left of the leaves was a gentle rain of sparkles in the same color that fell everywhere.

"Wow, what a way to show of Rowlet's Steel Wing! It's like Rowlet is glowing!" Adrian announced.

Stephanie extended a jacket-clad arm out for Rowlet to land on. "And here we go." She quickly threw her arm up, in turn throwing Rowlet back into flight. "Leafage, again!"

Once again, Rowlet's wings turned a bright green as it spun around and gathered that tornado of leaves. The leaves encircled the Grass Quill Pokémon again, almost to the point that it was impossible to see Rowlet.

"Now finish this off with a Peck attack!" the girl commanded.

Rowlet stopped spinning around and the glow faded from its wings. The beak of the Grass Quill Pokémon started to glow a blinding white as it flew headlong into the storm of leaves and used its beak to destroy the leaves. Like last time, the leaves broke down into vibrant green sparkles. Rowlet landed back on Stephanie's arm as she bowed down while the rain of glitter surrounded her.

The audience went wild again, and Adrian put the mic up to her face again. "And what a performance from Rowlet!" She turned to face the judges and then gave them their cue.

Contesta folded his aged hands onto the panel desk. "A stunning display of beauty. Although a little basic at its core, it was still enjoyable nonetheless."

Sukizo's grin never dissipated. "Rowlet and Stephanie were remarkable!"

Nurse Joy gigged and bowed her head down. "I really liked seeing how Stephanie and Rowlet interacted. I was having fun watching them have theirs."

Stephanie looked nervously into the crowd, where she caught the sight of a familiar mop of forest green hair. She only gave Allen a small wave as she darted back behind the curtains and offstage.

~~~~~~~~​

Backstage, Cindy had finally tore her gaze away from the TV as she watched Stephanie run back to the silk curtain. On the topic of silk in her mind, a young woman that looked her age in a way too puffy and ruffly pale pink dress walk in front of her. She looked like an actual princess.

She didn't pay her dress much mind, though. She simply held a hand up and waved. The girl in the pink dress just scoffed and continued on her way out of the main back room. Even as she felt the cushion shift due to Stephanie's weight, she payed no mind as she kept her gaze on that one girl.

'Yep,' Cindy drawled in her mind, 'also the attitude of a princess.'

~~~~~~~~​

"And next," Adrian shouted, once again swinging her hand to the curtain, "contestant number seven, Heather from Hau'oli City! You're on!"

The girl in the pink dress elegantly flipped her bright blonde hair as she practically waltzed forward. She drew a Pokéball out from the tiny pink purse she toted along with her. Shortly after, she spun around (either to make a statement about her or her dress) and lobbed the device into the air. "Of course! Fomantis, my darling, shine for us!"

Along with the pop of plasma, a storm of hearts came out of the Pokéball. Every heart clumped together and formed one big heart before bursting and revealing a Pokémon. The Pokémon had a pink and green body and scythe-like arms that looked like foliage. It was tiny, but the determination on its face made it seem bigger than it was.

Backstage, Cindy pulled out her Pokédex and aimed it at the TV screen. "Who's that Pokémon?" She heard a beep.

Fomantis, the Sickle Grass Pokémon. It is a nocturnal Pokémon that sleeps during the day to collect energy from photosynthesis, which is how it evolves. When night falls, it finds a new place to rest during the day as it never stays in the same spot for two nights. Fomantis give off a scent that is described as refreshing and sweet.

Onstage, the girl known as Heather gave a laugh- what kind of laugh nobody knew. "Alright, let's start with a fine-tuned Energy Ball!"

Fomantis put its stubby arms forward and angled itself towards the ceiling. A green ball of nature's energy grew from between its arms, to which it fired straight upwards. Little green and teal sparkles followed the projectile all the way up.

"Now let's use Leafage!" Heather called.

The Sickle Grass Pokémon didn't even get an opportunity to put its arms down as it kept them up. They started to glow a vibrant green as leaves of the same color were produced, all heading for the Energy Ball that was starting to descend. Before it could hit the ground, the leaves from the Leafage attack started circling around it and therefore making it hover in midair. Another multitude of cool-colored sparkles emitted from the Leafage Ball combo, almost drowning the whole stage.

Adrian gripped her mic and laughed to herself. "And what a display! The Energy Ball is actually hovering due to the Leafage attack! Not only does that show off both moves, but the combination is glowing!"

Heather twirled a stand of her hair around her finger. "What would you expect from Alola's next Top Coordinator?" She thrust a hand forward. "Now get under the Leafage Ball combo and throw a Sunny Day up!"

Fomantis scuttled under the combination move, then surrounded its body with golden energy. It produced a bright orb of energy on each arm, to which it threw upwards at the combination. The two Sunny Day orbs met the combo move, where the Leafage Ball burst into a bright and flashy display of fireworks in various shades of the rainbow. Fomantis used a tiny arm to bow down, to which Heather curtsied along.

Like the fireworks, the crowd blew up into a frenzy of applause. Even Allen, who really had no idea how a Pokémon Contest worked, was clapping with the fierceness of a Tauros that saw a red cloth.

"And what a show! Who knew that you could produce fireworks from Grass Type moves? Let's hear it from our judges!"

Contesta gave a nod. "A striking show of moves! It's very clear that Heather and Fomantis have trained hard for this, and it all paid off. Marvelous!"

Sukizo's face remained like it had been for the whole contest. "That was remarkable!"

Nurse Joy didn't move, but her soft smile broke into one of joy. "That was fun to watch. I think we have some talent that will go far enough to see the Alola Grand Festival."

Heather ran onstage to let Fomantis hop into her purse, then slowly walked out to absorb as much as the applause she could. When she approached the curtain, she gave a small finger wave before completely disappearing behind the fabric.

~~~~~~~~​

Backstage, Cindy heard a familiar sound of high heels clipping and clopping across the floor. She grabbed the hemming of her dress as she stood up and ran towards the blonde-haired young woman. "Hey! I saw you on TV!" She stopped and let go of her dress. "Your name must be Heather?"

Heather didn't even turn her head to face Cindy. "And what about me?"

"Oh... y'know... just saw your appeal." She manually made Heather look at her by moving in front of her. "I think it was really cool! Do you think you could teach me how to do that? And how do you teach your Pokémon all those cool moves that they would need more experience to learn so early?"

"...you must be clueless," she spat back.

Cindy felt her smile waver, but she still held onto it. "Well, today was my first contest, so I'm still learning here and there." She eyed the puffy pink dress and then to the girl's bright pink irises. "So, where'd you get this dress? It looks really pricey... but I'm saying that in a good way!"

Heather pushed her aside. "Somewhere else than the dump that you got your excuse for a dress at." She finally voluntarily glared at the ginger-haired girl. "Listen, you're in my way. I'm here to be Alola's Top Coordinator, so back away from my Ribbon!"

"Excuse me?!" Cindy felt her fuse blow, but she didn't care. This was for contest. "I'm gonna become Top Coordinator, and you just can't insult the way I dress! My good friend picked this out for me and I like it!"

"Then tell your friend to get better tastes in fashion! And it's my Ribbon! You're just a newbie at contest, so you can't win!"

"Oh yeah? Then what contests have you done before, Little Miss Perfect?"

"That doesn't matter!"

The two girls literally clashed heads with fists connected, blonde hair spilling over the shoulder and warring with ginger hair. Before they could continued their clash, everyone's chatter died down in return of hearing the TV.

Adrian was on the screen, and a large blank space was next to her. "After careful consideration, our judges have selected the eight lucky and talented Coordinators who will be moving on to our Contest Battle rounds! Congratulations!"

Next to Adrian, a graphic was pulled up of eight different faces. While Cindy swore she heard a defeated sigh from a familiar blue-haired friend, she literally gasped upon seeing her face smile at her shocked one. A familiar set of bright blue eyes on the screen stared back at her own, which were shining with excitement. Even the sight of Heather's face and the absence of Stephanie's didn't change the reality she was now living in.

She had made it.

She had passed the appeal round and was going to fight for the Hau'oli Ribbon.

She looked back at Stephanie, who was behind her. She had her clothes folded in her arms. Stephanie gave a smile despite her recent knock out, then mouthed some quiet words that she made out as 'I'll be cheering for you'. With no more, she left the room with seemingly not a trace of sadness painted on her face.

As she contained her excitement through the means of making really high-pitched squealing noises, she sat back down and then took a glance at Heather. Based on that attempted of a greeting and friendship, she was certain that a friendly and happy rivalry that she had seen in interviews with famous Coordinators wasn't happening here.

But it didn't matter to her. She and Litten were going to give their all again and fight for that Ribbon. Whether she faced Heather or not, whether they would become friends or not, it didn't matter right now. What mattered was the Hau'oli Ribbon.

Her Hau'oli Ribbon, she assured herself.

~~~~~~~~​

The Hau'oli City Contest has started! Using her fined-tuned Flame Claw combination, Cindy starts off the contest with a bang! After she receives high marks, it's Stephanie and Rowlet's turn to wow the crowd. Despite entering without any practice, Stephanie is able to put on a great show. But it's the next notable contestant that catches Cindy's eye, a rich and privileged young woman named Heather. After her appeal with Fomantis, it looks like Cindy's got some competition for the Hau'oli Ribbon! With Stephanie out and Cindy and Heather establishing a very quick and explosive rivalry, the fate of the Hau'oli Ribbon is in one girl's hands as the Hau'oli Contest and the journey continue!

 

Chapter 14!

Spoiler: Chapter 14

Episode 14: Birds of a Heather!

It wasn't even three minutes after seeing that she had passed the appeal round did Cindy find a green room to herself in the expansive backstage area of the Contest Hall. As she was alone, she was given some peace and quiet to not so quietly celebrate and jump around the room like a Buneary on a sugar high. Even Litten, who was a Pokémon that didn't show its feelings that often, was joining its owner in the party for two.

But the Ribbon was still waiting. She had some battles to beat before that stepping stone to the Alola Grand Festival was added to her turbulent path.

Cindy bent down and held her arm down while leaning her shoulder toward the floor. "Are you ready, Litten?" She stood up as soon as she felt Litten perch back onto her shoulder. "You did great in the appeals, so I know that you'll do just as good in the battle rounds!" She approached the doorway and walked down the corridor as she continued, "now, Contest Battles are a little different from other battles. But I'm sure that you'll get the hang of it!"

Litten simply meowed quietly.

Now face to face with the curtain, she fisted a hand in determination. "Our first opponent is out there." She held up Litten's Pokéball and returned the Fire Cat Pokémon back into the device. She placed the Pokéball into a clear blue covering and pressed her Seal on. "Let's do this."

~~~~~~~~​

"And we've reached our final semifinal battle!" Adrian announced. "It's Heather VS Wilson, who will be moving onto the finals to face Cindy for the Hau'oli Ribbon? Five minutes on the clock... begin!"

In the audience, Allen adjusted his glasses and then crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Y'know, even watching Cindy battle twice in Contest Battles, I still don't get it."

Stephanie, who was back in her grey top and indigo miniskirt, took her contest rulebook out and cleared her throat. "It says here in the rulebook. According to this, a Contest Battle is a five minute battle where Coordinators face against each other while continuing to show off their Pokémon's style and skills." She read ahead further. "Every battle begins with each Coordinator receiving a fixed amount of points. The objective is to use moves to decrease your opponents points. Points are taken away when a Pokémon is hit by an attack, when a Pokémon's attack fails, when the opposition executes an appealing move or combination, or when the opposition uses the other side's move to their advantage."

"...that's really hard to remember."

The smaller girl shrugged her shoulders. "Just think of it as the more appealing, the better."

Allen shifted his forest green eyes around, then shrugged as well. Good thing he wasn't on stage, he mentally told himself.

~~~~~~~~​

It was a few minutes after the last semifinal battle. Cindy, nose to the curtain she had become so familiar with. Litten's Pokéball in her hand. The Hau'oli Ribbon practically gracing her fingers.

The curtains parted, so she took her few steps out onto the field. Across from her, Heather's rich snobby scowl pierced her future attempts at any kind of friendship. She despised Heather with all her being on this stage. That in itself seemed to fuel Cindy's desire to win tenfold.

Adrian looked to the camera and scuffled away from it. "The final battle for the Hau'oli Ribbon is set! It's Cindy from Celestiluna City VS Heather from Hau'oli City! Who will win the coveted Ribbon? Five minutes on the clock..." Between the two pictures of the two girls, a small box brought some digital yellow numbers to life. "And begin!" A single beep ripped through the air and the clock's time started falling.

Cindy backed up just to spin around one. Mid spin, she let go of the Pokéball in her hand as she shouted, "Litten, the spotlight's on you!"

The Pokéball gracefully spun around just like the Coordinator that had tossed it, and out of the device came a mass of white plasma and shreds on confetti. The plasma formed into the shape of Litten, another pop of shiny and reflective rainbow confetti joined the open air as the white glowing material revealed Litten. It fell onto its furry paws flawlessly as it stared down Heather with the same level of hatred as Cindy was.

Heather snickered at the looks and twirled around like a princess. "Alright, Oricorio, shine for us!"

Like Cindy's Pokéball, the device spun around in midair before spiting open the plasma it contained. Also from the Pokéball cam long tendrils of sparkly blue ribbon-like lines that wrapped around the plasma and formed a bow before the lines erupted into sparkles and accented the descending Pokémon. The Pokémon in question was bird-like and pink. Fluffy light pink feathers formed a ceremonial headdress type of formation along with a skirt made solely of the soft plumage.

In the audience, Allen pulled his Pokédex out and aimed it towards the Pokémon. "Woah, who's that Pokémon?"

Oricorio, the Dancing Pokémon, Pa'u Style. Pa'u Style Oricorio has sipped a bright pink nectar, enabling it to change into a Psychic Type. It sways as it relaxes, which increases its Psychic Type energy. It can fire this energy at opponents who are distracted by the sight of its gently swaying hips.

"Of course I would use the most elegant form of the Dancing Pokémon for this performance," Heather said in her cover-up fake sweetness tone, "it just shows off not Oricorio's natural beauty, but it has the most potential to defeat that ally cat you have."

Cindy's eyes went from 'whoa a Pokémon I've never seen before' mode to narrow and angry with literal flames shooting from her eyes. "Excuse me, what did you say about Litten?! If you're so confident that you're gonna win, then you show it, pretty princess!"

Heather placed a hand upon her chest. "Why, what a lady you are!" She used the previously gentle hand and fiercely swung it out. "Oricorio, darling, start us off with an Air Cutter!"

Oricorio crossed its wings in front of its face in an X-like shape, the appendages gaining a new glow almost as blue and bright as the Alolan sky. It didn't retain this pose for long, as it uncrossed its wings while chirping a battle chirp of some sort. Now ripping through the air was an X-shaped mass of energy that had no brakes applied.

"Now here we go!" Cindy stamped a foot forward. "Litten, use Ember on the Air Cutter and stand back!"

Litten meowed with a slight hiss, then hunched over and gathered a bunch of flames and embers in its mouth. When the time came, Litten released those flames and a ball of fire was on the route to crash into the Air Cutter. And crash the two projectiles did, creating a blast that sent little blue embers and lights into the cheering audience. Litten ran back to its side of the field and casually started licking its paw.

Adrian motioned to the electronic scoreboard. "And Litten's Ember manages to stop Oricorio's Air Cutter dead in its tracks!" On the board, next to each picture of a girl was a full circle of yellow. On Heather's circle, the yellow receded about an eighth. "And that's gonna perform some serious points!"

Heather fisted both hands and gave a quite unladylike grimace. "So you wanna play this way?" She resumed an orderly fashion. "Oricorio, charge up another Air Cutter!"

Like the last time the move was charged, Oricorio crossed its wings over its face and held its stance there. No attack was fired, though. It just stood and waited.

Cindy turned to Litten and pointed to the opposition. "Get ready to use another Ember, Litten. We gotta show her that the same show and dance from Oricorio is gonna result in the same song and dance from us!"

"What a nice strategy you have there." Heather flipped her curled golden locks and laughed. "Now use Helping Hand!"

In the audience, Stephanie set her arms on the border separating the stage from the bleachers and cocked an eyebrow. "But Helping Hand's a move that would be used with two Pokémon to raise their Attack and Special Attack. Surely Heather's not helping Litten?"

Allen adjusted his silver frames and shook his head. "No way would an opponent help her opponent. I'm no Contest Master, but I think that she has a different use for Helping Hand, and it's definitely not going to help Cindy in any way I fear..."

Back with Oricorio, while still holding the Air Cutter, it started to glow even brighter as pure white aura that bore a striking resemblance to electricity surrounded the Dancing Pokémon. The aura all seeped into the wings where the Air Cutter was still being held, the wings now glowing even brighter and crackling with loud snaps and flashes of lights that could remind anyone watching of an Electric Type Pokémon.

On the scoreboard, the circle that detonated Cindy's points fell downwards a bit due to the appealing usage of moves. She was just a hair above Heather's score.

"Now finally use that Air Cutter!" the blonde-haired girl shouted.

Cindy knelled down one one knee to hopefully project her voice to Litten over the sharp sounds of the combination move. "Here it comes! Get an Ember up and do the works, just like last time!"

Litten nodded, then started to gather up more heat and flames in its mouth. It launched the fireball forward at the same time Oricorio let its Air Cutter loose. Instead of a bright blue energy, it was practically blinding and had sparks and glitter flying everywhere from it that showered the audience. The Ember stood no chance as it burst from the projectile, only adding another color of the rainbow to Heather's attack which hit Litten squarely. It flipped a few times in midair before landing right at Cindy's dress shoe-clad feet.

In the audience, Allen twisted his head away from the stage. "Ouch, that was brutal!"

"And I'll say that to Cindy's points," his friend merely whispered. On the scoreboard, Cindy's points took a tumble: a quarter tumble. She was now no longer the leader in the points division, her points uncomfortably hanging between three quarters and one half. "Sure hope she gets back into the swing of things..."

"What a show! Helping Hand has really helped Air Cutter, and that has gotten Heather onto the board!" the MC announced. "And we've got three minutes left!"

The girl with ginger hair picked Litten up and set it back on its four paws. "You okay, Litten?" As soon as she got the nod, she stood back up and dusted her dress off. "This isn't over yet. We can still make a comeback!" She thrust a hand forward. "Litten, let's start right back up and Lick Oricorio!"

Litten charged right back at Oricorio, its little paws pounding on the ground and taking it closer to the Dancing Pokémon. Its face shone with that of vengeance and determination all mixed into one.

Heather snorted, "really? Oricorio, counter with Pound and knock it back!"

As Litten approached its destination, the destination raised a wing up in preparation of the Fire Cat Pokémon running its way. Litten was now in prime striking distance, which made a sinister smirk crawl onto Heather and Oricorio's face.

"Dodge it!" Cindy called.

Before a feathered hammer could slam onto it, Litten sidestepped out of the way. Oricorio's wing hit the ground, and not even Litten's long tail was harmed by the attempt of an attack. With Oricorio paused and looking for where the Fire Cat Pokémon could've gone, its eyes went wide and it started to tremble as it felt a sandpaper like feeling grace its extended wing. It looked down, and there was Litten, its long tongue and all.

Adrian moved the mic closer to her face. "Wow! Litten has come back and incapacitated Oricorio with Lick! How will this shape the battle with two minutes remaining?"

"Now use Scratch!"

Litten finally put its tongue where it belonged. Instead of a long tongue, Litten's long and extended claws decided to pay Oricorio a visit. The claws raked across the Dancing Pokémon, a feather or two still stuck in Litten's sharp claws.

In the audience, Allen looked to the scoreboard. Heather's points fell some more, the two girls now separated by a thinner margin. "If Cindy continues like this, she could actually make a comeback and win!" He examined the point circles. Cindy between three quarters and a half, Heather exactly at three quarters. "C'mon, Cindy... pull through!"

Heather gritted her teeth together. "How?!" She puffed her cheeks out and huffed. "Well, I'm still in the lead. So I'm still winning." She laughed like a little girl and put both of her hands under her chin. "Oricorio, let's use Aerial Ace!"

The Dancing Pokémon rushed forward, then cried out as white streaks flared to life around its body. It jumped up and started flapping its pink wings for some extra speed to crash into Litten with, a few loose feathers dragging behind it.

"Litten, dodge it!" the other girl cried.

Despite Litten's best efforts to jump out of the way of danger, a feathered pink missile got to it first. Litten flew through the air and skidded to a halt on its paws once it landed.

"And Aerial Ace hits!" The points on the scoreboard went further in Cindy's intended direction, now down to half. "We've got a minute and thirty seconds left, folks! Will we see a comeback from Cindy and Litten?"

Cindy felt a warm bead of sweat crawl down the back of her neck. "Ugh... Litten, c'mon! We still have a chance to win this!"

Heather gave a loud and booming laugh from across the stage. "You're still trying? I find that hard to believe yet absolutely entertaining! Funny joke." She thrust her hand forward. "Oricorio, Aerial Ace again!"

Oricorio took flight once again, the open air flashing to life as white streaks gathered around its body. It once again dive bombed down right towards Litten.

"Now use Ember, Litten!" Cindy shouted.

Before Oricorio could make the hit again, the target quickly gathered some flames in its mouth and spit them forward. The fireball smashed into the Dancing Pokémon, the streaks from the Aerial Ace fading away as it crashed into the ground.

On the scoreboard, Heather's points dropped down again, once again locking the girls in a near tie. Cindy took note of the board as well. If she could get just one more hit, she'd reclaim the lead and hopefully the Hau'oli Ribbon.

Cindy took a slow breath, then swung an arm out. "Litten, it's time! Use Ember and then Scratch, we have to get a Flame Claw up!"

A new spark of confidence revealed itself on Litten's face as it nodded in understanding. It angled its head up as it shot another Ember into the open air. Just as the flames were forfeiting to gravity, the Fire Cat Pokémon's claws extended and started to glow a blinding white. It raked its claws through the Ember, the leftover flames wrapping around Litten' claws and setting them ablaze.

"Wow, look at Litten's claws!" Adrian shouted as Heather's points dropped, "they're literally on fire from the Ember! How can Cindy use this with fifty seconds left?"

Heather's legs quivered as she eyed the combination move. "H-how?!" She inhaled and exhaled, then pointed to Litten. "Oricorio, use Air Cutter!"

Oricorio, with a clear picture of worry painted on its face, crossed its wings again and started to charge up an Air Cutter. However, it took slightly longer than usual with the Flying Type Pokémon's fear of the Fire Cat Pokémon glaring it down with the raging inferno known as claws.

The ginger-haired Coordinator shouted, "go, Litten, go!"

Litten sped off not even a second after the command, its flaming claws leaving small scorch marks wherever they had been prior. Even with the Air Cutter that had been fired at it, it swung its front paws around in a frenzy, thus marking the end of that Air Cutter's chapter. Litten was then staring down Oricorio beak to nose after the smoke cleared from the mix of Flame Claw and Air Cutter, which made Oricorio's eyes bug out and produce small chirps akin to whimpers. The Fire Type Pokémon showed no mercy though, as it spun a whole three-hundred sixty degrees and graced the opposition, stray embers and sparks following the claws.

Adrian took a while to collect herself as she merely whispered, "wow, I've never seen a Litten with such passion to win!" On the scoreboard, Heather's points fell downwards again, now just a bit behind Cindy. "And we have twenty seconds!"

Cindy felt a smile grace her lips as she jumped upwards. "Yes! Great job, Litten! We're in the clear to win this contest-"

"Aerial Ace!" a snotty voice interrupted.

The girl's happy face went perhaps totally white and slack-jawed as she heard an Oricorio's angered chirping. Litten hopped up and started running in midair as it tried to get out of the way, but as Cindy knew, some things never worked the way she wanted.

She never wanted Litten to get hit by that Aerial Ace and fly back to her feet. And she never wanted to see her points fall a bit right as the buzzer rang. However, the scores were hard to determine, especially with such a slim difference.

"Time! And the winner of this Hau'oli Contest is..." the MC called. Because of the point difference, a side-by-side was pulled up on the scoreboard. Cindy's points were sitting at about below half, Heather's was closer to one half.

Closer than she was.

"Heather from Hau'oli City! Congratulations!"

Heather's face changed from worry to happiness, then changed yet again to one of snideness. She placed a hand on her heart as she laughed. "What did you expect from Alola's next Top Coordinator, hmm?"

Cindy kept her eyes on the board as she felt her body fully tense up. She slowly tilted her head down to Litten, it was sitting on its haunches and looking down as well. She bit her lower lip, then bent down and ran a gentle hand over Litten's head. "Hey, it's okay, Litten." She slipped her arms under its front legs and picked it up in her arms. "It was our first contest, and I'm so proud of you for getting this far. Don't worry, we'll practice even harder and get even better for our next contest."

Litten mewed quietly and licked her arm.

In the audience, Allen and Stephanie stayed silent. While Allen had gone to distract himself by cleaning his glasses, Stephanie was looking off with a blank yet disappointing look. Not the kind of disappointing as in angry at a friend's failure, but a sadness at a friend's failure. She grabbed Allen's hand and started out of the audience section, hopefully to see Cindy.

~~~~~~~~​

On the stage, Heather was now standing on a small podium along with Fomantis (who was still in her purse) and Oricorio. While the cameras were still rolling, Mr. Contesta strode up to the victor with a small box in his hands. He stopped in front of Heather and bowed downwards.

"Congratulations for winning the Hau'oli Contest." He resumed a natural stance as he presented the box forward. Resting in the box was a Ribbon with an oval-shaped golden clasp with orange pieces of fabrics bordered by a crisp white. "We hope to see you take this Ribbon and ride it further to the Alola Grand Festival!"

Heather picked the Ribbon up and dipped her head down. "Thank you, sir." She snickered and spun around, using a foot to halt herself as she held the Ribbon up. "The Hau'oli Ribbon is mine and only mine now!" She stepped down from the podium after the applause died down and returned backstage, her poofy dress following her all the way.

~~~~~~~~​

It was in the lobby that Cindy had been sitting for some time. With her dress folded in her arms and Litten laying next to her, she managed to keep her head up. It was a rocky contest, and she never knew how they really felt despite watching what felt like every contest in existence- twice.

"Cindy!"

She quickly snapped up, where she saw a boy with forest green hair running up to her. Behind him was a smaller girl with a high blue ponytail.

"Allen! Stephanie!" She stood up and wrapped an arm around the two. "So, how do you think I did for my first Pokémon Contest?"

Stephanie gave a small grin. "It was great. I really liked seeing you and Litten battle. Maybe if I decide to try another contest I can take some ideas from you."

Allen gave her a thumbs-up. "I liked it! It was my first time watching a Pokémon Contest, and I couldn't have picked a better contest!" His smile faded. "Though I'm still upset that you somehow lost... I thought you really had it with Flame Claw!"

The girl held her arm out for Litten, to which it accepted as it jumped up. "Me too. But you know what they say: you win some, you lose some. This is my loss, so next time, it's my time to win!" She looked to her friends and offered a smile. "I think we should leave this chapter behind me and start anew. How about we go back to the Pokémon Center and finally relax for our next day in Hau'oli City?"

The two nodded, prompting the three to finally leave the Contest Hall. Even as Cindy passed by people who were chattering about Heather and her recent upset victory, she kept a smile on her face as she repeated her rhetoric in her mind. Today's contest was a loss, but that would hopefully mean that the next contest was hers, and her first Ribbon was perhaps closer than she thought.

~~~~~~~~​

It's time for the finals of the Hau'oli Contest's battle round! It's Cindy and Litten VS Heather and Oricorio, two very standout Coordinators in term of strength and showmanship. At first, it's a battle that swung both ways until Cindy managed to secure a small but definite lead! But it seemed that her cockiness and assumption that she was going to win was ultimately her downfall, leaving her open for Heather to come in and take the victory! Even without her first Ribbon in her case, she keeps confident that her time to earn her Ribbon will be soon. Cindy's quest to become Top Coordinator has started and is still going strong as the joureny continues!