Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Gladion stared at the paper in front of him, two fingers pressed against his temple to keep his head propped up. The paper itself had calculations scribbled on it in his handwriting, several crossed out with a few circled and question marked. He was working on a way to craft an early alarm system for Alola, to warn people of the formation of Ultra Wormholes. By making it, he hoped to save lives.

It had been a year since the Ultra Wormhole Fiasco, as the Alolan people had come to call it. Temporarily, Gladion had taken command of the Aether Foundation while Lusamine healed from the Nihilego's neurotoxins. The toxins had rendered her pretty much unable to do anything on her own. Gladion wasn't surprised since she had been exposed to them for years. Lusamine had been sent off to Kanto where doctors specialized in different types of poisons could find a cure.

Gladion had reluctantly become the president of the Foundation, but it was only until or if or when Lusamine returned. He still held a grudge against her for everything she had done to both him and Lillie. Lillie especially.

Ever since the Fiasco, Lillie had become a lot more confident in herself and her abilities in battle. It made him proud to see his sister emerge from her shell. She deserved everything.

So, when she had told him that she was going to Kanto to watch over Lusamine as she healed from the neurotoxins, he was baffled. Gladion had been more concerned, though, as her brother. He couldn't understand why she would willingly follow Lusamine to Kanto to take care of her. She didn't owe their mother anything. Not after what she had done.

"I'm not just going to keep an eye on her, Gladdie," Lillie had said, setting her hands on her hips and pinning her brother with a determined gaze. "I also want to go on my own journey. I want to explore Kanto and everything it has to offer. I'm eleven. You can't tell me what to do."

So, Gladion let her go. He knew if he latched on too tight she would leave anyway and possibly never talk to him again. Resent him for being too protective.

 While he knew where Lillie was, Gladion had no idea what the others were doing. He supposed they were off doing their own thing. Last he heard from a letter Lillie had sent him a few months ago, Selene was still reigning champion of Alola, keeping her title quite easily with her powerful team of Pokémon. Her twin brother Elio was traveling around Alola, studying the ancient ruins.

Lillie apparently even spoke to Guzma, at least from what Gladion had last heard. He no longer headed Team Skull, which had disbanded. The grunts scattered to Arceus knew where to do their own thing. Plumeria was working at Olivia's crafting shop; she was good with her hands, Gladion knew personally. She had been the one to teach him how to sew the holes in his clothes after all.

Guzma, on the other hand, was a Kahuna in training.

Good for him, Gladion had thought. Guzma deserved to be Kahuna and he knew from brief encounters with Hau that Hau didn't truly want to be Kahuna. Then again, it wasn't like it was up to them.

Tapu Koko chose Kahunas and it had pointed at Guzma during the annual Kahuna Festival where Kahuna hopefuls waited for a chance to be the next Kahuna. Apparently, everyone had been shocked at Tapu Koko's decision, even Guzma. Then he had started cheering, much to Hala's chagrin.

Later, Guzma had confided in Lillie over the phone that he hadn't thought he deserved to be Kahuna, not after everything he had done. She had reassured him that Tapu Koko never chose wrong. It could see into a person's heart to determine their strength and character.

Gladion knew Guzma deserved it. Guzma was a little rough around the edges, but his heart was in the right place. After all, Team Skull was made for people exactly like him. It was a small found family and one of the safer spaces Gladion felt like he could be himself.

Since Hau wasn't on the Kahuna list, he apparently went around, teaching children the history of the islands and the history of the Trials. Why they were a coming of age test for eleven year olds and sometimes even older teens.

That fit him, Gladion had thought. Hau was a ray of sunshine who was easy going and pleasant to be around.

Still, the letter had been a little bit of a shock to receive and at first, Gladion wondered if Lillie had somehow lost her phone. He would have instantly bought and shipped her a new one if that were the case. After checking his phone to make sure he hadn't missed any calls or texts because it had been off due to a lengthy meeting with the Science R&D department, he figured that Lillie had sent him the letter just to send him a letter. It was a cute stationery paper, he had to admit. Two little Pidgey perched on a tree branch, rubbing their heads together.

Symbolic, perhaps. He wasn't entirely sure. Knowing his sister, she had grabbed it just because it was cute.

Working as Aether's President kept him busy most days. Gladion didn't mind. He had a lot of work to do, dragging Aether's name out of the mud his mother had sunk it into. Many Alolan folks didn't trust them and he didn't blame them. So, he worked to regain the people's trust.

He had big plans during his time as Aether President. Alongside the early Ultra Wormhole detection system, he was also working on ways to conserve critically endangered species and even handle the exploding Pyukumuku population. The biggest plan of all was to find a way to ethically create Type: Null. Faba's creations had been less than...pleasant, Gladion had found out after reading through Faba's crazed notes. Taking only the basis for the Pokémon's creation, Gladion scrapped the rest and started from scratch. He would find a way to create Type: Null that didn't involve brutalizing poor Pokémon to obtain their parts.

Gladion sighed, closing his eyes when a headache started to form. He leaned back in his seat, rubbing both hands against his face.

Headaches felt common enough for him lately. Gladion knew he was under a lot of stress, but he felt close to a breakthrough with Type: Null's newest creation using wild Pokémon parts from ones who had died of natural causes. The combination of parts and DNA, he hoped, would make Type: Null stronger. Less likely to go ballistic at the scent of a Wormhole. The iron mask would come off easier to transform Type: Null into Silvally.

He hoped all his calculations were worth a shot.

Leaning forward, Gladion grabbed the paper he had been working on off the desk as well as a few others he had stacked to the side and stood. He briefly stretched his legs then his arms above his head, working out the tension of sitting for so long.

Once he was done stretching, Gladion made his way to the door of his office. The mirror Lusamine had put up on the wall by the door a while ago made him pause when he saw his reflection.

He looked tired. Then again, he always felt tired and now the mirror was shoving it in his face. The exhaustion was on him. Some days he stayed up late, working through the night on papers that needed his signature or working out his calculations on Type: Null or the Ultra Wormhole detection system.

While he didn't like wearing the uniform of Aether, he knew he had an image to uphold as acting president. That still didn't mean he liked wearing white when he had grown used to his ragged black sweater and pants during his travels in Alola to grow stronger alongside the then Type: Null. White didn't suit him. He would have preferred to keep his old jacket, but Wicke had insisted he dress for the role appropriately, so he had reluctantly dressed in a white suit to match the stark whiteness of the Foundation's walls. At least she had allowed him to keep the silver cuffs on his left ear.

Over the year, he had grown his hair out so now it was pulled back into a low Ponyta-tail. Sometimes, it got in the way and he had almost considered chopping it off. Taking care of long hair was a pain and he never understood how his sister did it. Her hair was longer than his and kept in impeccable condition. More than once his hair had gotten tangled to the point he had almost cut it off just to be rid of the pain. After a few pointers from Lillie, though, he was able to take better care of his hair and limit tangles. He almost saw the appeal of longer hair. Almost.

Shaking his head, Gladion turned away from the mirror and opened the door to the office. He stepped out into the hallway, shutting the door behind him. No sooner had he taken a few steps towards the science department that he was assaulted by Faba.

The head researcher who had been demoted to a low level scientist materialized seemingly out of nowhere, following Gladion's footsteps and holding a stack of papers in both hands. He looked absolutely gleeful at whatever it was he wanted to discuss and Gladion was not in the mood for his ramblings.

"President Gladion, I have some wonderful news. I know you're attempting to recreate Type: Null and I've been researching ways to do so in an efficient way as well as in an...ethical way, of course, since you seem to be focused on that aspect."

Gladion didn't trust that one bit. If there was anything Faba did, it wasn't ethical.

"I don't have time for your ramblings, Faba," Gladion responded, not even looking towards the scientist. He really wanted a nap, but there was still a lot to do. He couldn't relax yet.

"If you would just--"

Gladion stopped in his tracks, turning to face Faba who shrank back from the gaze Gladion leveled with him. Gladion was no longer the thirteen-year-old boy who was hesitant around Faba. He was fourteen and acting Aether Foundation President. He would not be swayed nor intimidated by the man. "Faba, enough. I told you that I don't want to hear any of your hairbrained schemes, especially concerning Type: Null and its creation. You know that you're in a less hands-on fashion in the science department. Please remember that."

For a moment, an expression passed Faba's face. One of disgust and contempt. He looked almost as if he wanted to say something quite nasty to Gladion's face and Gladion almost welcomed the idea of punching Faba for whatever he said. Instead, Faba growled, clenching the papers in his hands before he turned on his heel and stomped off in a huff.

Gladion watched him go then shook his head. Some days he wondered why he kept him and then he remembered why. Faba wasn't safe off a leash. Not with the valuable information his keen mind contained. Information people would quite literally kill for.

So, despite his hesitation, Gladion kept Faba on the Aether Foundation team, even if it was at a lower level. That way he could keep an eye on the scientist, make sure he couldn't sell any vital information on Type: Null or the Foundation itself to people eager to watch Aether crumble into the ocean.

Continuing down the hall, Gladion spotted a scientist punching in the code for the science department. He approached the scientist. "Excuse me."

The scientist turned and immediately straightened when he saw Gladion. "President Gladion. What can I help you with?"

"Switch out these cells for the ones I wrote down. They should allow for an easier transformation on Type: Null into Silvally."

"Of course, sir," the scientist said, taking the paper Gladion held out with a nod.

Gladion and the scientist looked up when there was a beep from the building entrance, the doors sliding open. For a moment, Gladion wondered if there had been a meeting he had forgotten about.

"Good morning!" Wicke greeted as five people walked into the main hall.

Gladion saw the person leading the group and he realized that he didn't need to be worried about a meeting. It was just Hau, Selene, Elio, Lillie, and Guzma. What were they doing there anyway? Had he missed a text about a meet up? Not that they texted him much anyway.

"We have come," Hau announced, planting his hands on his hips with a grin, "to kidnap the president!"

Gladion inwardly groaned, dropping the remaining papers he held in his hand by his side. He could hear Wicke giggling from where he stood.

Hau had the grace of a Copperajah rampaging through an antique shop.

Really? That was his announcement? That they were going to kidnap him? That was a stupid–

Gladion stopped in the middle of his thought process as he remembered that Wicke had insisted he hired some extra security around the Foundation. For caution, she said. Some people might not like that Aether was still up and running after everything that had happened and having extra security would prevent less than pleasant people from attempting to hurt Gladion or the employees at the Foundation.

There were two guards stationed at the metal ID scanners that sectioned off the main entrance of Aether from the hallway that led to the President's Office and the Science Department. Two more stood by the sliding guards to keep tabs on who entered the building and who left; they had metal detector hand scanners to keep anyone from bringing in weapons. The Poké ball interference signals were still in effect, to prevent Pokémon from being called upon inside the building.

Shit, was the first thing that went through Gladion's head before he was tackled to the ground by the nearest security guard. The other security guard vaulted over the ID scanner, joining in the ranks of the other two who detached themselves from the front doors.

"Protect the president!"

Hau held up his hands when the three security guards moved closer to him and others, surrounding them. "Whoa, whoa!"

"'Ey, you wanna go?!" Guzma asked, puffing himself up so he looked tougher to the security guards.

"Uh, Gladion?" Elio asked as he and the others were herded further away from Gladion, back towards Aether's front doors. "A little help!"

"He was joking; he's not going to kidnap me!" Gladion snapped, not even attempting to struggle under the weight of the security guards pinning him to the ground. "Wicke, help!"

Wicke was too busy wheezing on the ground from the scene she had just witnessed to explain Hau's usual jokes to the security personnel.

Useless, useless woman.

"He was kidding!" Gladion tried again. "Does he look like he can take me on?"

The security guard glanced at Gladion before eyeing Hau. After a moment, he backed off Gladion, helping the teen to his feet. "Stand down."

The other guards glanced at their companion before they backed away from the teens. All of them but Guzma released a sigh of relief. Guzma, instead, looked prepared to throw hands at the guards if they stepped closer.

"That was a completely stupid thing to say," Selene muttered, setting her hands on her hips and shooting a disapproving look at Hau.

"Hehe, sorry." Hau at least had the brains to look abashed by the trouble he caused. "I thought it'd be funny."

"Yeah, well it wasn't," Elio snapped, still frazzled by the ordeal.

"Don't ever do that again," Gladion grumbled. He didn't have to smack the boy on the back of the head since Selene got to it before him. He shouldn’t have felt as smug as he did from hearing Hau’s squeak.

“I’ll deck you if you ever try that again, punk,” Guzma threatened, wrapping an arm around Hau’s neck and pulling the preteen against him with a playful grin.

“Guzma, let go!” Hau whined, grabbing Guzma’s arm in a feeble attempt to get out of Guzma’s vice grip.

Now that Gladion was there, he realized it was a little awkward. He hadn't seen any of them in person for a whole year.

Selene and Elio looked like they hadn't changed much, except for their clothes. Selene wore casual clothes, outside of her normal Champion wear: white shorts and a green tank top with her dark hair pulled into an updo and secured with a hairclip. Selene carried a heavy looking duffel bag by her side.

Elio was dressed in a similar way with knee length white shorts that had two blue stripes along the bottom and a loose blue tank top that had a soaring Wingull on the front. A backpack filled with who knew what hung from one of Elio's shoulders.

Elio sported a tan, supposedly from all the time he spent hunting through ruins. Standing beside his twin, Elio was taller than Selene though Gladion was certain it caused arguments over the fact Elio wasn't that much taller. Maybe an inch or two at most.

Hau's hair was longer, grown out like Gladion's. Instead of his hair being pulled up into a high Ponyta-tail, Hau's hair was rearranged in a tiny man bun at the back of his head. Mildly amusing to say the least. At least Hau was wearing different clothes; beige cargo shorts and a black short sleeved jacket with pink flowers printed on the front. A necklace Gladion didn't recognize hung around his neck; some kind of small fossil that looked like a ribbed snail shell. Possibly something Elio had picked up on one of his delves.

Guzma was the biggest change. He stood less hunched, carried himself more confidently. The dark circles around his eyes from lack of sleep and playing too many video games in the dead of night had started to fade. He looked happier, at least to Gladion who had more than once been witness to Guzma's depressive episodes.

"That looks good on you." Gladion nodded to the orange Kahuna jacket Guzma had on over a black tank top. "H-how's the training going?"

Gladion wasn't scared of his old boss. It was just strange to talk to him as something other than an enforcer of Team Skull. He didn't think they could be called friends, but it was pretty close, he supposed.

Guzma shrugged, finally releasing Hau from his grasp. "Fine, I guess. I mean, Hala's pretty cool when he isn't chewing me out for being late or messing up the words for Tapu Koko's prayer blessing."

"That's my gramps for you," Hau said with a laugh and his bright grin. "He's pretty particular about the rituals of the islands."

Gladion turned his attention to Lillie who was grinning at Hau and Guzma as they began a playful banter between them about Hala's rules.

It was the first time in a long time he hadn't seen her through the phone screen. She looked good. Confident. It was good for her to be in a different region, traveling around to take in a different culture. Make new friends, both human and Pokémon alike. He was glad. Lillie deserved the world.

Compared to the feats all of them had completed, he felt rooted in the same place. He hadn’t done half the things they did. He wasn't a Champion of Alola. He wasn't studying the ruins of the islands or teaching youngsters about the Alolan people's history or even training to become a Kahuna. He was just there, stuck behind the Aether Foundation's walls as temporary president. Some days it felt as if he hadn't grown out of his thirteen-year-old angst ridden self, rejecting the world and keeping to himself. He still ate shitty take out. He had returned to the motel, even though with the money he got as the temporary president, he could afford his own apartment. The motel was his safe haven, a place of familiarity. Compared to that, the idea of an apartment was cold and scary.

Gladion shook himself out of his thoughts. This wasn't the time for wallowing in his own self pity. There were more important things at hand. He turned his attention to Lillie who was staring at him as if waiting for him to ask something or comment on why they were there.

"You could have told me you were visiting," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I would have picked you up at the airport.”

 "Like you picked me up the other times you offered?" Lillie countered, crossing her arms and cocking her hip. "Besides, it'd ruin the whole "surprise" theme we were going for."

Gladion opened his mouth to protest that he didn't forget the other times. Lillie's expression changed to that of someone just waiting to hear what excuse he came up with. He wisely closed his mouth, stewing quietly in resentment at himself for being stupid. He really was turning out like his mother, but it was all for Lillie. He didn't want her to be stuck like him or have to worry about their family anymore. He would do all that for her, as the older sibling.

"Come on, guys, let's go!" Hau called impatiently, already standing by the Aether Foundation’s doors.

Arceus bless Hau's heart for inadvertently changing the subject.

"Go?" Gladion repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Go where?"

"You are coming with us to the beach!" Selene said. "Come on."

Elio cheered, thrusting both fists into the air. "Beach day!"

"Oh, I..." Gladion hesitated, glancing back towards the office. There were still a few things he had to do. While he had gotten the proper paperwork to the science department concerning the creation of Type: Null, he still had to finish the calculations for the early alarm system. He was close to a breakthrough, he could feel it.

"No buts, mister!" Selene retorted, planting her hands on her hips and giving Gladion the best mom gaze she could muster. "You're coming with us whether you like it or not."

Gladion looked at Wicke helplessly. "Can you--"

"I've already cleared your schedule for the rest of the day."

Traitor.

Sighing, Gladion rubbed the bridge of his nose. There was no getting out of this, was there? "I suppose a day at the beach couldn't hurt."

"Aight, let's go!" Guzma said, pointing ahead of the group as if he were about to lead a charge.

"We should get some malasadas on the way there!" Hau said as the group started to leave.

"Have fun!" Wicke called, waving after them. "Enjoy your day off, Gladion!"

Glancing at the papers in his hands, Gladion followed the group. At the very least he could still get some work done.

"No." Lillie grabbed the papers from his hand, holding them out to Elio who shoved them into his backpack. "You're not allowed to work while we're at the beach."

Gladion didn't even get the chance to protest, his voice withering at the look Lillie was giving him. Instead, he nodded, keeping pace with her. He hesitated as a few questions formed in his mind concerning their mother, but he wasn't sure how to voice them. Even though he knew it was just the paranoia buzzing around the back of his skull, something told him that Lillie didn't truly want to hang out with him just to hang out with him. To him it felt like she was there merely because Selene and the others had asked her to and not because she missed being around her brother.

That had always been a fear for him, Gladion knew that. Lillie wanting nothing to do with him because he was too much of a workaholic at fourteen. He knew even if he tried to explain that everything he did was for her, she wouldn't truly understand. The last thing he wanted was their relationship to end in an explosive argument with nasty words flung between them.

Instead, he picked his words carefully like he was walking on eggshells.

"H-how's mother doing? She's getting better?"

"She gets better day by day," Lillie replied with a nod. She wasn't looking at Gladion, instead focusing on Hau and Guzma who were doing some sort of weird sidling dance as if they were mimicking Krabby. Their actions were causing Selene and Elio to laugh. "She's able to walk around a little now and I guess I shouldn't be upset that I thought after a year...she'd have more progress, but..."

"It's okay to be upset," Gladion said. "You have to remember she was exposed for a long time to the neurotoxins for years, so we can't possibly expect them to dissipate in such a short time."

Lillie nodded. "Sometimes she seems coherent enough to be apologetic for what she did to us. I try to take that with a grain of salt though. Other days, she seems to think Father is there with her."

Gladion's hands clenched at his sides. "I see."

He knew even though their mother wasn't in the right mind, she still loved their father deeply. Loved them. The Nihilego's poison had twisted it to a psychotic level. Still, they didn't even know where their father was. That was another thing Gladion wanted to do, once he was free of Aether's shackles: start a journey to find where his father was and whether he was still alive.

"You know I could never hate you, right?"

Gladion startled, not realizing he had become lost in his thoughts over his father's whereabouts. He looked at Lillie to see that she was staring at him with earnest eyes. "I...where did that come from?"

"Sometimes, you look kind of sad. Like you think you've lost me."

"I-I always look this way," Gladion protested, offended at himself for being such an open book to his sister and upset that she figured out his thoughts so easily.

Lillie chuckled as Gladion looked away. She wrapped her arms around Gladion's arm, leaning against him as they walked. "I know that you're only doing what you think is best for me. I'm not a little kid anymore. I don't need my big brother's protection from the scary world."

"I know that."

"Then why don't you get out of that stuffy office and go live? You don't have to be stuck there for hours on end like mother was. You can do what you want. You could spend more time with people outside of Aether." Lillie shot Gladion a mischievous smile. "Like hanging out with Hau."

A flush crossed Gladion's face and he quickly looked away from Lillie. "I-I don't need to hang out with him!"

"Why not? You like him." Lillie rolled her eyes when Gladion whipped his head around to shoot her a shocked expression. "You're not subtle about it, Gladdie. You talk about him a lot. Wonder what he's up to. Whether he's eating malasadas or training. It's kind of pathetic, really."

Gladion mentally shuffled through the conversations he and Lillie had over the phone and dang it, she was right.

"Don't you dare tell him."

Lillie pushed away from Gladion so she could walk ahead of him. She turned to face him, continuing to step backward. "Honestly, it's a wonder he hasn't figured it out himself. We all figured out your crush on him a few months ago."

"All of you?" Gladion repeated in a small voice, shooting a nervous look towards Selene, Elio, and Guzma.

Selene and Elio were busy talking to Hau about something as Guzma leaned against Hau while they walked.

Guzma grinned over Hau's head when he caught Gladion's gaze then made a kissy face, pointing at Hau then at Gladion.

Gladion was going to have Lycanroc bite his ass for that.

"I think it's cute," Lillie said as Gladion groaned.

"Please stop talking about it."

Lillie just smiled, turning on her heel then jogging to catch up to the others.

This was going to be a long day. Gladion could feel it.

Like Hau had suggested, the group first stopped at the nearest malasada shop for the sweet treat. Gladion wasn't a huge fan of them, not like Hau at least. He got one that wouldn't be as sweet and picked at it as they walked to a small, secluded beach near the southern border of Melemele.

Apparently, Elio had found it while hunting for new ruins to delve into and since not many people knew about the location of the beach, that meant it was completely empty by the time they arrived.

The bag Selene was carrying contained everything they needed for the beach trip. Gladion had a sneaking suspicion they had been planning it for a while and not told him about it because they knew he would find a way to worm out of going. They would have been right. He would have done anything in his power to avoid going to the beach.

Selene, Elio, and Lillie started unpacking the bag that Selene had brought, pulling out blankets to lay on the sand and even a beach umbrella. A few toys for the Pokémon had been brought as well.

The group had definitely planned for the day as the girls had their swimming clothes on underneath their clothes. Guzma, Elio, and Hau took off their clothes, adding them to the discarded clothes pile, to reveal their swimming trunks.

After a bit of arguing, Gladion had been coerced into a pair of swimming trunks with mini Sharpedo on them. Apparently, Lillie had bought them for him before leaving Kanto for the journey back to Alola. She said they reminded her of him.

So, I'm a Sharpedo? Gladion thought sourly, staring down at his swimming trunks with baleful eyes. With everyone exposing more skin, he could see just how pale he was in comparison.

While the others didn't seem too concerned about themselves, Gladion refused to take off his jacket. He was not going to take off his jacket if he didn't have to. It wasn't that he was shy about his body, he just didn't want to be exposed more than he felt comfortable to.

Still, it had been quite a shock to see the old wounds mottling Guzma's skin. Even though he hadn't spoken of it a lot, Gladion knew Guzma had a less than pleasant childhood. His dad had been abusive from what Gladion was aware of through Plumeria who had quietly confided in him one time that the reason for Guzma's personality was because his father wasn't a nice man.

No one asked about the wounds on Guzzma's skin and Guzma didn't give them an answer or an excuse. Instead, he threw up the Poké balls containing his Pokémon.

“Yeah, beach time!” Hau cheered, tossing up his team’s Poké balls.

Selene, Elio, and Lillie followed suit, each one throwing up one Poké ball and releasing the Pokémon inside. It was unusual for Gladion to see Selene without her full team as she was Alola’s Champion. He assumed that meant the others were elsewhere and she only kept her ace on hand, like Elio.

Gladion hesitated before he released his team as well.

With everything settled, the group broke off to do their own thing. It took a bit of coercing, but Gladion managed to coax Silvally and the others to go have fun. For a moment, they hesitated, not used to doing anything other than battle or train, before they all bolted to join the other Pokémon in play. Silvally was the last to leave, giving a look at Gladion that asked if he was certain. When Silvally got a nod, the Pokémon ran off to join Lycanroc and Zoroark and Guzma’s Pinsir and Masquerain in a game of popping the bubbles Elio's Primarina was making.

Golisopod and Raichu were making a sandcastle. The large bug type was amicable to Hau's Raichu using the flat of its tail to smooth down the sides of the sandcastle.

A volleyball net had been set up a distance away with a rectangle drawn in the sand by Guzma's Ariados. On one side of the court stood Guzma's Scizor and Ariados alongside Lucario and Crobat. On the other side was Selene's Incineroar, Lillie's Bulbasaur, and Hau's Decidueye.

Lillie was joining in on the fun between the Pokémon, on Incineroar's side, creating an even team.

Hau's Noivern, Vaporeon, and Crabominable were playing some kind of game with Umbreon that Gladion couldn't figure out. It appeared to be a mix of tag and red light green light.

Gladion smiled as he watched his team enjoy themselves. It had been quite a long time since they had been allowed to do anything outside of fighting.

Gladion remained in the shade under the umbrella, more comfortable sitting and watching everyone else have fun rather than engage in it himself.

Beside him, Elio was laying in the sun, soaking up the rays. He seemed to be asleep, unconcerned about the potentiality of getting sunburned. Gladion tried not to be jealous. He knew if he tried to sunbathe, he would become redder than a Corphish's shell.

A noise startled Elio out of his nap. He sat up, looking towards the sandcastle Golisopod and Raichu had been building.

Gladion hadn’t seen what had occurred and only knew the aftermath: Incineroar laying on top of the now smushed sand castle.

Golisopod’s expression was absolutely devastated at the hard work Incineroar had ruined.

 Incineroar looked apologetic as it rapidly stepped away from the decimated sand castle, rubbing the back of its head. 

"Rai rai," Raichu said, patting Golisopod's arm to soothe the Pokémon. It was obviously telling Golisopod they could build another sandcastle.

Golisopod clambered to its feet, facing Incineroar with a low chitter.

Incineroar growled deep in its chest, puffing itself up in challenge.

Before the two could get into a full blown scuffle, Lycanroc stood between them.

“Ly ly lycanroc.” Lycanroc gestured to where Primarina was helping Silvally and the others make awkward sand sculptures that looked more like lumps of sand rather than anything recognizable.

Whatever Lycanroc had said seemed to satisfy Golisopod. It grumbled as it followed Lycanroc to the sand sculpture area, far out of reach of the volleyball game. Raichu followed them.

Elio hummed, relaxing as Incineorar returned to the volleyball court. He leaned back on his elbows. “Well, that could have gone worse.”

Gladion snorted in response, turning his attention back to the water in front of him where Hau and the others were entertaining themselves.

Hau and Selene had started some kind of sand war, hurling balls of wet sand back and forth at each other as they laughed, standing in the surf.

Guzma was slowly creeping closer to Hau, apparently having the idea of rubbing wet sand into the boy's hair, judging by the glob of sand held in his hand.

Selene either didn't see Guzma sneaking closer to Hau or was in on it because she didn't falter in pelting Hau with sand balls.

Guzma suddenly froze as he stepped on something before he was shocked with a small bolt of electricity. He yelped, falling on his back from the attack.

From where he sat, Gladion could see a Pincurchin worming its way out of the sand, shooting the nastiest look a shy Pincurchin could manage, sparks of electricity jumping between its spines.

For a moment, Selene and Hau stared at Guzma before they burst into laughter, pointing at him.

Guzma shoved himself into a sitting position, furiously shaking the last bits of electricity off him before he shot a glare at the Pincurchin as it attempted to scurry away for another hiding spot. Clambering to his feet, Guzma kicked the Pincurchin as hard as possible. He smirked as the Pincurchin landed in the ocean with a faint splash.

"Guzma!" Selene gasped.

"What?" Guzma shrugged innocently as Selene stepped closer to him. "It shocked me. Little bastard deserved it."

Selene set her hands on her hips, straightening her posture and giving the best mom look she could muster. "Apologize."

For a second, Guzma looked as if he were about to protest further, but even Gladion knew not many could argue against the mom look Selene had perfected. Even Gladion knew from personal experience; she had jabbed him in the chest after meeting him for the first time, demanding he apologize for what he had said to Hau after their battle.

Grumbling, Guzma kicked at the sand, avoiding eye contact with Selene as his shoulders slumped. "Aight. Sorry."

"Not to me." Selene shook her head, pointing to the ocean. "Apologize to the Pincurchin you punted."

Guzma scowled at Selene who merely crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for him to do as she said. He sighed, turning to the ocean, cupping his hands around his mouth to yell, "Sorry, ya little bastard!"

Gladion chuckled as Selene shook her head, leaning back on his hands and closing his eyes. He hadn't realized how nice it felt to be by the ocean with the warm breeze and the smell of salt stinging his nose and the warm sand beneath his hands.

Maybe they had the right idea by dragging him out of his office.

There was a sigh. Gladion opened his eyes just in time to see Hau flopping right next to him, leaning back on his hands as well. Their pinkies almost brushed against each other.

Gladion jerked his hand away as if he'd been burned, even though they hadn't touched. He turned his head away in an attempt to hide the blush crossing his cheeks at how close Hau was sitting to him. Curse his dumb teenage hormones.

"Are you having fun, Gladion?" Hau asked, giving Gladion his trademark sunshine smile.

Gladion avoided looking at Hau, playing with his Ponyta-tail instead. "Uh, yeah...it's nice."

"That's good! Even though you're sitting here in the shade, I'm glad you're having fun. That was the whole point of today."

Gladion hesitated. He knew he shouldn't just let the conversation drop off into awkward silence. He hated awkward silence. "You've been...doing all right?"

Hau hummed, taking his hair out of the man bun and shaking it, brushing out any sand that had gotten caught in the locks. "Yeah! It's fun teaching all the kids about our islands' history. They're so bright eyed and fascinated, it's funny."

His hair looked soft enough to touch. No, don't think about that.

Gladion quickly looked away when he realized he was staring at Hau, trying to find a different distraction. He stared towards the volleyball court, the game continuing without interruption. 

Something caught his eye and he glanced down, completely forgetting that Elio had been sunbathing beside him.

Elio had one eye open, staring at him with an infuriating smirk.

Gladion grumpily stared out at the ocean instead, resisting the urge to kick sand in Elio's smug face.

"So, how are you doing?"

Gladion startled out of his sulking thoughts, turning his head to Hau.

Hau was staring out at the ocean, smiling when he saw a small pod of Mantine leaping out of the water. "I don't think anyone's asked you how you're doing. We all know how each of us have been faring, but since no one's kept in contact with you..."

The back of Gladion's neck prickled. Even though he knew it was just paranoia, he still felt as if Lillie and the others were glaring at him behind his back. "They hate me for not keeping in constant contact, huh."

"What? No." Hau waved a hand to dismiss Gladion's jaded response. "We all know you're busy as the Aether Foundation President! We didn't want to bother you while you were trying to fix everything your mother ruined." He seemed to realize that the subject of Lusamine was potentially still sore and quickly changed the subject. "I just think that what you're doing is pretty cool."

"Huh?" Gladion stared at Hau, confused. It wasn't that hard to secure praise from Hau, but this praise felt different. Welcomed. Not faked simply for Gladion's undivided attention.

"Well, I watch you whenever you do interviews." Hau rubbed the side of his neck, staring at the ground as if he were sharing an embarrassing secret. He flashed a smile at Gladion. "Early alarm system for Ultra Wormholes, huh? Pretty cool."

Work he could talk about. Gladion felt comfortable talking about work.

Relaxing slightly, Gladion sat up straighter. "That's not all I've been working on. I've also found a way to sustain the Corsola population without taking away the Mareanie's need to feed on them."

Hau's eyes sparkled and he leaned closer to Gladion. "No way? That's awesome!"

"I've also found a way to create a new antidote for Qwilfish's poison. Did you know over four hundred people every year get poisoned by Qwilfish every year? Either due to ignorance, preparing it improperly, or touching the Qwilfish's spines with bare hands."

"Really?"

Gladion's feathers were definitely being preened by Hau's interest in his rambling about Qwilfish's toxins. He had a lot more to ramble about.

"Staryu and its evolution Starmie are rare in certain regions because of its gem--"

A shadow fell over Gladion who had no time to react as he was suddenly scooped up under the arms by a grinning Guzma.

"Get off me!" Gladion growled, struggling in Guzma's vice grip. Even though he knew Guzma meant him no harm, his skin still crawled at being touched without warning.

"Uh-uh! You gotta stop being a stick in the mud!"

Gladion growled as he continued trying to free himself before he stopped when he saw that Guzma was making his way towards the ocean.

"Don't you even think about it--" Gladion started, but Guzma ignored his protests as he tossed the teen into the water.

"Gladion!" Hau called, standing when Gladion hit the water.

Gladion broke the water's surface, furiously shaking his head and spitting out salty water.

The water he had landed in was only up to his waist, but now his jacket was soaking wet and his hair would eventually dry and be itchy with sea salt.

"Ugh..." Gladion stared down at his jacket before he scowled at Guzma who was laughing and pointing at him like it was the most hilarious thing in the world.

"You look like a drowned Pichu!"

Gladion stood up and started towards Guzma. "Oh, you're going to regret that.”

"I'd like to see you try, punk." Guzma held out his hands in a 'come at me' gesture, grinning.

Selene jumped up from behind Guzma, slapping wet sand into Guzma's hair. "Tag team!"

"You little shit!" Guzma turned to make a grab at Selene, apparently aiming to toss her into the water as well.

With Guzma’s back turned towards him, Gladion took the opportunity to smack sand directly into Guzma's face.

Hau whooped, running over to join in on the renewed sand war.

Elio watched them hurl sand at each other before he sniffed, laying back in the sand and burrowing a little into it, getting comfortable.

A ball of wet sand somehow found its way to Elio, smacking him in the face.

Elio brushed off the sand as he sat up, scowling towards Gladion and the others. The sand could have only come from them.

All of them pointed at Guzma who looked shocked at the betrayal he was experiencing.

"All right, that's it!" Elio got up from his sunbathing spot and stomped over to them.

"The lion has awoken!" Selene giggled. "Run!"

All four scattered as Elio started chucking sand at them.

The sun was beginning to set beyond the horizon by the time the group decided to pack up. Cozy orange rays reflected off the ocean's calm water. Wingull cried out in the distance, soaring over the ocean as they hunted for food. Pincurchin came out from the ocean, ready to bury themselves in the sand to keep warm for the night. A few Pyukumuku eyed the Pincurchin from their spots on top of algae-covered rocks jutting from the ocean, waiting to defend their territory.

The group of five kids started for Elio and Selene's house once the Pokémon had been returned to their balls and all their supplies had been packed up. Apparently the 'take Gladion out for the day' also encompassed spending the night at the siblings' house.

For some reason, Gladion didn't mind. He felt refreshed, even with the itchy scalp and the stiff jacket. It had been a long time since he had been able to just be a teenager, having fun with his friends.

"We should get some malasadas!" Hau said, turning to face everyone so he was walking backwards. "Malasadas!"

Lillie chuckled at Hau's enthusiasm. "We already had malasadas today!"

For a moment, Hau considered the response. Then he grinned, interlocking his hands behind his head. "We should get some more!"

Everyone laughed at Hau's response, not expecting anything different from the boy who loved malasadas.

Chapter Text

"Mom and Dad are out on a date night," Selene said, skipping up the steps to her and Elio's house. The house was more traditional in style, much like the other homes in Iki Town. "So we get the whole place to ourselves for the night."

"What are we going to have for dinner?" Hau asked, filing into the house with the others.

"I cannot believe you are still hungry," Gladion muttered, shaking his head as he slipped off his shoes in the small foyer that divided the front door from the rest of the house. "We just had more malasadas on the way here."

Hau hesitated as he considered Gladion's words before he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, yeah. I'm still hungry though."

"I got some chips we can eat," Elio piped up, already making his way to the kitchen. "Hope you like jalapeno cheddar."

"Awesome!"

"Ah-ah." Selene stood in front of the boys with her hands on her hips. "First of all, you're going to take a shower. Get the sea salt out of your hair and your clothes in the wash before you get settled in."

"Yes, mother," Guzma and Hau said at the same time.

Selene sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "There are two showers: one upstairs in the bathroom and one outside on the left side of the house. Fight amongst yourselves on who gets the bathroom inside."

As Selene left to stop Elio from eating all the chips, Guzma and Hau glanced at each other. Gladion ignored them; he wasn't one to be competitive over a shower. He could wait his turn, even if his jacket was becoming itchy as it dried.

Gladion made his way to the stairs leading to the second floor. He wasn't going to take the bathroom and instead was going to look at the rest of Selene and Elio's home out of curiosity.

He wasn't normally one to snoop, but he hadn't been in someone else's home that wasn't his own, Team Skull's base, or the motel room. Not that the base in Po Town was anything special with how trashed it was due to the unruly grunts. His motel room was bland, appearance exactly the same as when he had first moved in, with only a bed for Silvally to lay in; it wasn't like he had much time to take things with him when he fled Aether after stealing Type: Null. The emptiness of the room had suited him just fine. His earned money from Team Skull had been put towards more useful things than material goods like healing items and food.

Gladion remembered the mansion he had grown up in with Lillie. It was, of course, thanks to their mother's efforts they were able to live a comfortable life with everything they could ever want. Being on his own had made him realize how much had been done for him. It had been a huge learning curve teaching himself to cook, even if the food was crappy microwavable food, and wash his own clothes without ruining them. Thankfully, Plumeria was the practical mother of all the rowdy teens who composed Team Skull and she was more than willing to teach Gladion the basics without looking down on him. He had a huge debt to repay her for everything she had ever taught him about survival. One he could never pay back.

Being in a small home like Selene's was humbling.

"Race ya!" Guzma said, footsteps already pounding towards the stairs.

"You're on!"

"Hey, watch it!" Gladion snapped when the two burst past him, pushing him against the railing.

Guzma beat Hau to the open bathroom door, slamming the door before Hau could fight him for it.

"Aw, man!" Hau gave a good natured grin at Gladion as he made it onto the landing of the second floor. "Guess I get the outside one."

That had been the most pointless race. Guzma would obviously win due to his larger stature and longer stride.

Gladion stared at Hau as the boy skipped down the steps to the front door. He rolled his eyes then stepped down the hallway. The hallway was wide enough that he couldn't touch either wall with his arms stretched out, a vast difference from the halls he remembered in the mansion. Small and narrow, even for a child.

Pictures were hung on both of the walls. Family photos, shots of Elio and Selene together and shots of them separate. There was even one of when Selene had won the Alola League, holding a trophy above her head and grinning.

Gladion had photos in his office. They were from a time when Lusamine had cared. Perhaps, even in her madness, she had still cared. After all, the photos had remained on the wall where she could look at them and the frames had been kept clean. Gladion kept them on the wall as a reminder of happier and simpler times when he and Lillie had been kids. When they hadn't known what the future would bring and only cared about what was going to be for dinner.

Gladion stopped to stare at a group of photos hung on an open section of wall. They were photos through various stages of Elio and Selene's life. One in particular caught his eye. A young Elio and Selene were holding up a rock together, grinning. It was larger than both of their heads combined and contained some kind of ancient plant fossil. Both of them were covered in dirt, indicating they had been digging.

The photo reminded Gladion of the time he and Lillie had been playing in the garden, alternating between helping pull out weeds from the flower beds and throwing dirt at each other. Hobbes had kept a dutiful eye on them while he also worked on clearing the garden, amused at the children's game of dirt chucking. Lusamine had been stuck between being mad at the two for getting dirt tracked into the mansion and laughing at them. She had settled on teasing them about being her little Mudbray and picking both of them up under each arm, carrying them to the bathroom to get cleaned up.

It was one of the few fond memories Gladion had of their mother before she had started to become isolated and withdrawn into her work on Ultra Wormholes.

"Spying doesn't suit you, you know."

Gladion jumped at the voice, whirling around to see Lillie standing nearby.

She was grinning at him, rocking on her heels with her hands behind her back.

"I wasn't...spying..." Gladion mumbled, averting his gaze from his sister. He had been curious about what Selene and Elio's home looked like. From the moment of stepping past the front door, he already knew the smell and the feeling of the home; warm, welcoming, with a faint hint of sandalwood.

Okay, maybe he had been spying a little bit. He at least wasn't snooping through their rooms or anything. For Lillie to come find him, he must have been staring at the photo for quite a bit.

Lillie came to stand beside Gladion before he could further argue his point that he wasn't spying. She stared up at the photos on the walls with a small smile. "These remind me of all the photos Mother has in her office."

"Do you not want to hang around me?"

The words were out of Gladion's mouth before he could stop them. He immediately regretted the lack of filter between his brain and mouth. Clenching his hands at his sides, he avoided looking at Lillie so he wouldn't have to see whatever expression she was wearing.

Lillie laughed at the question, startled by it more than amused. "What are you talking about?"

"I just..." Gladion sighed, relaxing his hands. He couldn't take back what he said, so he might as well tell her the issues that had been plaguing him the entire day. "I figure that you don't actually want to hang out with me today. You're just...doing it to make Selene and Elio happy."

Lillie set a hand on his arm. "If I didn't want to hang out with you, I wouldn't have left Kanto." Lillie pulled Gladion closer to her, wrapping her arms around his waist.

He stiffened slightly at her touch, but quickly relaxed. He leaned against her, careful not to smother her with his full weight, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing. It had been so long since they had last hugged each other.

"I know your relationship with Mother is tense. You don't have to forgive her for what she did. I don't fully forgive her either. What she did was dangerous and wrong with no forethought on how it would affect us. She's still our mom, though, Gladdie. That's why I want to be there with her through her therapy. I don't want her to feel abandoned, like we felt abandoned by her."

All the concern over Lillie secretly hating him was washed away like a wave crashing against the shore by her words. He squeezed her tighter, a lump forming in his throat as hot tears pricked at the corners of his eyes.

Gladion quickly pulled away from Lillie, turning his head slightly and furiously rubbing at his eyes to stop the tears. Embarrassing. At least it was just him and Lillie in the hallway. He doubted he could live it down if Guzma caught him crying.

"I-I'm not thirteen anymore. This is stupid..."

"You put too much weight on yourself, taking over Aether and trying to show the Alolan people its true nature. What it's purpose was supposed to be before Mother lost sight of her original vision. You need a day to relax. That's why I agreed to this. I don't want you to--"

"Turn out like Mother." Gladion sniffed, rubbing his left eye with the palm of his hand. "I know."

Lillie shook her head to dismiss his answer. Gladion would never become like their mother. "I don't want you to burn yourself out. You have Wicke there for a reason. You have a lot of drive, but that won't do you any good if you wear yourself out to the point of collapse."

Gladion knew Lillie was right even though a part of him loathed to admit it. He had felt the fringes of burn out creeping in with everything he stacked onto his plate. He was stubborn, though, and it was part of his stubbornness and pride that caused him to not ask for help when he knew he needed it. "Then I suppose I have to go thank Selene and Elio for dragging me out of the office for the day."

"Actually, it was my idea," Lillie said, wrapping one of her hands around her bangs with a sheepish smile. "I figured today would be as good of a day as any to drag you out of the office."

Gladion blinked, rubbing his eyes once more to make sure all the tears were gone. He hoped he didn't look like a mess. "Is...is today special, or...?"

Had he missed something? Forgotten an important date? Gladion racked his brain, trying to remember exactly what today was.

It wasn't Lillie's birthday. It wasn't his. Was it Selene or Elio's birthday?

Lillie laughed softly at her brother's expression. It wasn't a surprise to her that he had forgotten since it wasn't entirely a special day, at least to the Alolan people. "It's the anniversary of the Ultra Wormhole Fiasco."

"Oh."

"I thought it'd be a good time to get the old gang back together. Not to celebrate it or anything, but just to be together. After all, it was through everyone's efforts that we saved Alola from collapse."

In hindsight, that made sense. The Fiasco had brought all of them together to take on a singular enemy. Even Guzma, though he had been one of the victims of Lusamine's insanity. Gladion's drive to save his mother from the Nihilego had been strengthened when he and the others had discovered Guzma within one of the Ultra Spaces, sitting alone. It was one of the few times Gladion had seen Guzma actually afraid and that hadn't sat well with him who had been used to Guzma's aggressive and confident personality. After that, Gladion suspected Guzma hung around Selene and Elio as a way of apology to how he had treated them before. Guzma had changed a lot in the past year, all for the better. Even if he sometimes didn't act any different from before.

"Aw, lookit you two getting all emotional over your little family reunion."

Lillie and Gladion both turned to see Guzma leaning against the doorframe to the bathroom, arms over his chest as he grinned at them smugly. The tips of his hair were dripping water on the front of his black tank top.

"You know eavesdropping is rude," Lillie huffed, setting her hands on her hips and giving Guzma her best Selene stare. "We were having a private sibling moment."

"And it's very cute," Guzma said with a nod. "You even got Gladdie to cry."

"I'm going to kill you," Gladion hissed, taking a step towards Guzma.

It was an empty threat that Guzma didn't take seriously as he cackled, running to the stairs and sliding down the banister. The moment his feet touched the floor, he shouted, "Gladdie and Lillie are bonding!"

"Fucking finally!" Elio responded as Hau whooped.

Gladion sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "He's even more annoying now that he's not running Team Skull."

Lillie smiled fondly with a small shake of her head. She made her way to the stairs, stopping at the landing and looking back at Gladion. "You should take your shower now if you want to have any hot water left."

"Hey," Gladion said as Lillie started to descend.

Lillie stopped on the steps, turning to look at him.

"I love you."

Lillie beamed. "Love you, too, bro."

Gladion watched her go, his shoulders and chest feeling lighter than he ever remembered them being, like he had shrugged off an invisible weight. He breathed in then made his way into the bathroom to get the sea salt out of his scalp.

"Stop fucking hitting me with a blue Shellder, you asshole!"

"You're the one who keeps lobbing Nanab berries! I'm only defending myself!"

Gladion raised an eyebrow at Elio and Guzma's shouting as he stepped onto the front entrance floor, continuing to dry his hair with a towel. He was refreshed after the shower; less sticky and the itchy feeling in his scalp was gone.

Lillie had thrown some clothes into the bathroom while Gladion had been in the shower.

Gladion barely heard what she said over the shower's noise, but he got the gist. They were clothes for him to wear while his jacket was getting cleaned. Gladion had forgotten that his jacket had gotten wet when Guzma had thrown him into the ocean, so he was grateful for the change of clothes.

Upon getting out of the shower to see what Lillie had gotten him, Gladion spotted a pair of black cargo shorts and a black tank top with the words Spikemuth Smashers on the front in blue and yellow. Two smirking Toxtricity stood back to back, sandwiching the words between them.

Spikemuth Smashers was a relatively new band, cropping up in Galar a few months ago. They had been practical nobodies, playing small gigs in an alley of all places. Someone had caught wind of their music along with their penchant for using the Amped and Low Key forms of Toxtricity as guitarists. Gladion had listened to one of their songs on the radio while working one day and had been hooked after that.

For a moment, Gladion wondered when he had told Lillie about his love of the Smashers' music then he remembered he had spoken of it in the last letter he had sent her, replying to the one she had sent him.

Typically, he wasn't one to wear tank tops or short sleeved shirts. Since he had no other clothes, however, he supposed one night of wearing a tank top couldn't hurt.

Gladion owed Lillie. She had gotten him clothes; even if he knew the reason for getting the clothes was so he didn't go back to his old, torn sweater or wear his Aether clothes. Still, it was the thought that counted. Gladion would have to buy her something to repay her before she returned to Kanto. Maybe something that could be useful on her journey.

Guzma and Elio were sitting on the floor in front of the couch, aggressively shoving their arms against each other in an attempt to distract the other. Sitting on the couch were Hau, Lillie, and Selene. Hau and Selene each held a controller, playing the game as well, though less aggressively. Lillie was watching the entire thing, smiling at the interaction. Gladion did not fail to notice how Lillie was leaning against Selene casually. He said nothing on that, but kept it filed away to be used at a later date, especially if the contact was what he thought it was.

Gladion didn't consider himself quick on the uptake when it came to other people's feelings, especially romance. After all, he still didn't know the exact relationship between Guzma and Plumeria who went from talking and leaning against each other to trading insults. This, however, Gladion could see clearly: his sister had a crush on Selene.

Lillie had never told him about her crush. Then again, he imagined the reason why: she knew he'd blackmail her in return. Clever girl.

The television screen was split into four boxes, one for each of the players. It was hard to tell which screen held which of the teen's avatars.

With his hair sufficiently dry, Gladion pulled it back into a Ponyta-tail so it would stay out of his way. He tossed the towel into the hamper in the laundry room right next to the kitchen before returning to the living room.

"What are you guys playing?" Gladion asked, staring at one of the boxes on the screen as two Cyclizar zoomed along a stretch of desert road, bumping into each other several times. There were two avatars on the Pokémon's backs. At the back of his mind, Gladion had a feeling that he had seen the game somewhere before. Had it been a pastime of the grunts to play on their shitty old television found in the trash?

"We’re playing Cyclizar Racing!” Hau replied cheerfully, turning to look at Gladion with a grin. When he noticed that Gladion was wearing a tank top, a faint blush coated his tan cheeks.

Was it a blush? No, it had to be a trick of the light. Hau turned back to the screen too quickly for Gladion to be sure. He brushed it off as he stepped closer to watch the competition.

The moment Gladion moved to one of the couch's arms, Lillie sat up straighter, hands clenched on the top of her legs. Selene appeared momentarily disappointed before turning her attention back to the race in front of her.

Ah, now Gladion remembered the game. It had been a favorite pastime of the Team Skull grunts. It was a max four player game in which players created their own racing avatars then chose a Cyclizar as their racing companion. Cyclizar were apparently customizable as well. One Pokémon partner to aid in the race could be chosen; depending on which one chosen, they could be used as an offensive advantage, a defensive guard, or even aid in a burst of speed. Gladion wasn't one for racing video games, so he had mostly ignored it.

Guzma and Elio were currently vying for first place, slamming their Cyclizar against each other in an effort to knock the other back. Hau and Selene weren't in much of a hurry, both of them in fourth and third place respectively. Gladion could see their strategy clearly: slow and steady won the race.

Guzma abruptly broke off from Elio, getting ahead and pressing a button on his controller.

An Octillery hovered on the top left section of the screen before squirting ink, blinding Elio's field of vision.

“Fuck you, Guzma!”

Gladion had never heard such a colorful language from laidback Elio of all people. Guzma, sure. He was a cursing machine. Elio rarely cursed. Perhaps the heat of competition was making his mouth filter loose.

Elio shuffled his items before his avatar threw out a Poké ball. From within the ball, a Morpeko emerged. It blasted Guzma's Cyclizar with a Bullet Seed, stunning Guzma's Cylizar and allowing Elio to speed past him.

"You little shit..." Guzma hissed, flipping through some of his items before coming across his Pokémon companion: a Galvantula.

The Galvantula released a Thunderbolt, electrocuting Elio's Cyclizar, causing it to spin to the side, slamming into the track's railing.

While the two were fighting, Hau and Selene slipped past the two, both of them advancing to first place.

Hau put on a burst of speed to get ahead of Selene, maneuvering his Cyclizar in front of hers. Moments later, a blue Shellder was released, smacking right into Selene.

"Wha--hey!" Selene protested, startled at the sudden attack as her Cyclizar skidded to a halt, allowing Hau to get even further ahead. 

With his substantial lead, Hau was able to pass the finish line. His avatar started to pump a fist in celebration as a Victini appeared on the screen, flashing a victory sign.

"Yeah!" Hau cheered, leaping off the couch and throwing his hands in the air.

"No fair," Elio mumbled, his character coming into third place with Guzma bringing in fourth.

"Let's go another round!" Guzma said. "I'll beat you this time!"

Elio grinned at the challenge. "You're on!"

Gladion rolled his eyes, pushing off the side of the couch where he had rested his hip against to watch the tournament. He was not going to watch another round.

Instead he went to where Elio's backpack was thrown against the wall by the front door, crouching down and opening it. He took out the papers Lillie had given to Elio to be shoved in with a mess of other things, like digging tools and Elio's Z-Ring. The papers were a bit crumpled and dotted in spots of dirt, but otherwise readable.

Smoothing down the pages, Gladion returned to the couch where he plopped down in the seat Selene and Lillie had vacated. The two were in the kitchen, speaking to each other in soft voices as if they were sharing a conspiracy, just between them. They appeared to be grabbing some drinks from the fridge to tide everyone over until dinner was decided.

Apparently, Selene and Lillie weren't wanting to go another round of racing either. Hau was watching the tournament, legs curled up under him, resting his cheek in his right hand.

Settling back, Gladion tuned out Guzma and Elio's shouting, starting to scan the top paper full of his notes and mathematical notations. He was so close to crafting the early alarm system. The only problem was rigging the device to go off when the cracks formed in the sky and not when the Ultra Wormholes split open. He wanted as much warning as possible for Alolan citizens so they could evacuate while more capable trainers handled any emerging Ultra Beasts.

Perhaps if I just remove this equation and add in a different one...? Gladion wondered, leaning his elbow on top of the couch arm, supporting his chin in the palm of his hand, deep in thought.

Gladion barely registered the weight dropping next to him until the papers were snatched out of his hand.

"Hey!" Gladion protested. He scowled at the offender and was met with a grinning Hau, holding the papers above his head.

When Gladion made a grab at the papers, Hau leaned just out of reach. He wagged a finger at Gladion like scolding a naughty child. "Uh-uh, you're not supposed to be working."

Gladion was not in the mood to deal with Hau's streak of childishness. He hadn't looked at the papers the entire day. What could it hurt to look at them while Elio and Guzma were busy playing a game and they were waiting for dinner?

"Hau, come on, give them back." Gladion made another grab for the papers. "I'm not going to look at them for long."

Hau hopped off the sofa to avoid Gladion since their space was limited. He kept the papers above his head, still grinning. "You want them, come and get them."

Gladion growled under his breath, gritting his teeth. He was not interested in playing a game in order to get his paperwork back. He doubted Hau would fight over the papers enough to rip them, but he still didn't want to risk it.

Standing, Gladion strode closer to Hau, once again reaching for the papers.

Instead of holding them above his head again, Hau danced out of Gladion's reach with a small laugh. "You have to try harder than that!"

Gladion managed to snatch Hau's left wrist, pulling the boy closer and reaching for the papers.

Hau was still laughing as if this was the funniest thing on the planet. Instead of continuing to keep the papers out of Gladion's reach, Hau allowed Gladion to yank him closer until their chests collided. He hooked one of his ankles around Gladion's, pulling his leg back and causing Gladion to become unbalanced.

Gladion kept a tight hold on Hau's wrist as he fell on the ground, bringing Hau down with him.

The two collapsed on the floor in a tangle of limbs with Hau on top of Gladion.

Gladion hissed, grateful he hadn't hit his head on the floor. He froze as his nose brushed against Hau's, realizing how close they were to each other.

Hau pulled back and grinned infuriatingly, not at all seeming to grasp the situation and implication of their position. Stupid Hau.

Frustrated and mildly embarrassed at their position, Gladion shoved Hau off him, turning the tables so he was on top with the advantage.

"Give me them back!" Gladion growled, grabbing the papers.

Instead of keeping them out of reach, Hau let Gladion grab them. He kept his grip on them, however, causing a tug of war to break out between them.

"Hau!"

"You're not supposed to be working!" Hau's words were less effective with his giggling and flushed face.

Someone cleared their throat. Both boys looked up sharply, remembering that they weren't alone and there were four others who were bound to be annoyed by their play fighting.

Lillie stared down at them with her hands on her hips. Selene peered over her shoulder with an amused smile before moving past Lillie and the boys to return to the living room.

Even Elio and Guzma had stopped their game to watch the scene playing out before them. Guzma had taken up residence on the free space of the couch, leaning against one of the arms with the rest of his body stretched out. Elio leaned against the couch cushions, grinning.

"He took my paperwork?" Gladion tried, still trying to pull the stack of papers out of Hau's grasp.

Hau held on tightly, crinkling the papers between them.

"As he should." Lillie snatched the papers from the both of them, stomping back to the kitchen. "You're banned from even looking at paperwork until tomorrow."

"B-banned?!" Gladion spluttered, scrambling off Hau and ignoring Hau’'s protests as he followed Lillie into the kitchen. "You can't ban me from--"

Lillie shoved the paperwork into a drawer then turned to poke a finger in her brother's chest. Her expression gave him no more room for argument. "Banned, Gladdie."

From his spot on the couch, Guzma snickered. "She told you, Gladdie."

Gladion shot him a death stare. He only received a shit eating grin in response as Guzma dropped his legs to the ground when Selene smacked his feet so she could sit on the couch. "Lillie, come on. I just–"

"If you continue to try and work on your day off, Gladdie, I'll tell Hau about that."

"You wouldn't,” Gladion hissed, the back of his neck prickling at the implication of Hau hearing about his crush on him through a third person, much less his own sister.

Lillie raised an eyebrow, planting her hands on her hips, challenging her brother. When she didn't get the immediate response she was looking for, Lillie turned towards Hau and called, “Hey, Hau, Gladion wants to tell you something!”

“Hey, shh, shh, okay, all right!” Gladion growled as Hau glanced towards them with a questioning expression. “I won’t touch the damn paperwork until you return to Kanto! Happy?!”

Lillie gave her brother a smug smile.

Hau trotted into the kitchen, looking between Gladion and Lillie. He wasn’t exactly sure what was going on between the two, but it didn't seem like a sibling spat. “What’s up?”

“U-uh…” Gladion shot his sister a look that pleaded at her to save him from further embarrassment.

“He was just thinking it’s about time we order some pizza!” Lillie said with an innocent smile, clasping her hands behind her back.

Elio cheered, throwing his hands in the air. “Pizza!”

“Let’s get stuffed crust!” Guzma said.

Gladion released a sigh as Hau returned to the living room to discuss with the others what kind of pizza they should order. He shot Lillie a baleful stare when she patted his arm, making her way into the living room as well. “I hate you.”

“Love you, too.”

As Lillie joined the others in discussing what toppings the pizza should have, Gladion hesitated in the kitchen. For a moment, he looked at the drawer Lillie had shoved the papers into, considering the chance of taking them out while her back was turned. He shook that thought out of his head, not wanting to risk her actually blabbing to Hau about his crush.

Gladion stepped back into the living room in time to hear that everyone seemed to have agreed on what kind of pizza they were going to order. Half of the pizza would be pepperoni, mushrooms, bell peppers, and sausage while the other half would be pineapple, black olives, and Paldean ham. Those were just fine by Gladion, who wasn't picky about what went on his pizza.

The group had also decided on breadsticks with a mix of sauces for dipping and three two liters of soda. Between the six of them, the food was bound to go fast with little chance of leftovers.

"I got it," Selene said, pushing off the couch to place the pizza order. "You guys keep having fun and I'll be back in a few minutes."

"While we're waiting, let's go another round!" Guzma said, sliding from the couch back to the floor, picking up his controller.

Elio flapped a hand, slumped against the couch. "Nah, I'm kinda pooped."

"Aw, come on, man. Don’t be a buzzkill."

"You should play a round, Gladion!" Hau suggested, flashing a grin at Gladion as he plopped down into Selene's empty spot on the couch.

Gladion fidgeted when Lillie, Elio and Guzma all focused their attention on him. "I don't really like racing games."

"Come on, Gladdie," Lillie whined, grabbing his arm and dragging him over to where Elio and Guzma were sitting.

Elio moved off the floor and onto the couch, letting Lillie shove Gladion right next to Guzma.

"Yeah, don't be a wuss!" Guzma agreed, smirking at Gladion as he held out the second controller.

Sighing, Gladion took the controller held out to him. “Fine, just one round.”

One round turned into five. The first time Gladion played, he had lost only due to the fact he wasn't sure what buttons did what. After that, he figured out a strategy and demanded another round which turned into more rounds. Despite his earlier reluctance to play, it seemed Gladion also had a competitive streak like Elio. He got into the game, trying to beat Guzma who kept coming into first place. Gladion's constant Pokémon companion was Zoroark whose special power acted as Octillery Ink, blinding opponents.

"I got it!" Selene said when there was a knock at the front door.

Lillie pushed off the couch from where she had been curled against Selene, trotting after her. "Let me help."

Elio, Hau, Guzma, and Gladion didn't seem to notice the girls leaving, too focused on the game in front of them.

This race was tight with Gladion and Guzma neck and neck.

Gladion used a blue Shellder to cause Guzma's Cyclizar to spin out, allowing him to run ahead and cross the finish line in first place. He cheered, pumping a fist into the air. "Hah! I beat you!"

Guzma chuckled, holding up his hands in defeat. "Yeah, you beat me, kid. Good job."

"Come get some pizza, guys!" Selene called as she and Lillie went into the kitchen. Selene was carrying two boxes of pizza with the package of breadsticks on top while Lillie carried the soda.

Everyone got up from their seats, following Lillie and Selene into the kitchen. Glasses for the soda and plates for the pizza were pulled out and divided among them.

"You got a deck of cards here?" Guzma asked, grabbing two slices of the pineapple pizza.

Elio hummed, taking several bites of the pizza slice he held in his hand. He received a smack on the back of the head by Selene in response followed by her chastising, 'get a plate, dumbass!'. "Mm, probably? I think there's one in a drawer here."

"Sweet. I'll teach ya guys how to play Blackjack."

"I don't know how I feel about learning a casino game," Hau muttered, frowning as he finished pouring himself a glass of soda.

"Hey, no betting involved. Just a fun game to pass the time."

"Does mom approve of the card game?" Elio teased, grinning at Selene.

Selene rolled her eyes. It wasn't the first time she had been teased about acting like the mom of the group. Someone had to, though. "I suppose it's fine, as long as there's no betting."

Guzma grinned. "It's real simple. You guys will enjoy it."

While everyone ate, Guzma showed them the rules of Blackjack. He acted as the dealer, shuffling the cards and cutting them between the four. All they had to do was beat his hand by getting as close to twenty-one as possible. Any higher and they were out of the game.

As it turned out, Elio was a card Sharpedo. He picked up on the rules faster and seemed to win more often than not. A few times he had busted due to sheer bad luck.

Hau was a little more nervous, rarely taking the chance to ask for another card for fear of busting.

Gladion won a few times, but only because he got used to the rules and mechanics of the game. It was probability and if there was one thing he could do, it was use his brain to his advantage and predict whether he had a chance of busting or not.

Lillie was the same way, always frowning at her cards before becoming distracted when Selene would lean close to her and the two would strategize with their cards. Guzma didn't have the heart to break them up, so he let them work together to decide whether asking for more cards was worth the risk.

After all, there was no gambling involved. It didn't matter if they teamed up.

Selene called it once midnight came around. Everyone was starting to get tired and the only ones still playing Blackjack were Guzma, Elio, and Gladion. The other three had quit playing, watching the remaining rounds as they ate their dinner.

Lillie suggested everyone sleep in the living room in one big sleep over. She had come prepared with her own sleeping bag.

Elio found two extra sleeping bags in the storage closet. Guzma offered to sleep directly on the floor since they were lacking one sleeping bag, muttering about how he was used to sleeping on a shitty couch at the hideout.

With the five sleeping bags spread out on the living room floor, the group got ready for bed. If Gladion had any doubts about his sister's relationship with Selene, they were gone now as he watched the two pull their sleeping bags right next to each other, obnoxiously close.

Gladion found himself between Hau and Guzma, which didn't bother him. Well, he was lying. One thing bothered him as everyone else started to fall asleep, exhaustion creeping in, and he was still wide awake.

Guzma snored. They weren't loud snores, but they were still loud enough that it made it difficult for Gladion to readily fall asleep. If there was a pillow within his reach, Gladion would have smacked it over Guzma's face to silence the snores.

With a glower in Guzma's direction, Gladion almost considered shoving him onto his side to muffle the snores. He ultimately decided against it. Seemed like too much trouble when he could just burrow into the sleeping bag to block out the noise.

Gladion went back to staring at the ceiling, supporting his head on his hands. Exhaustion was laying over him like a blanket, yet he didn't feel like sleeping. Was it because he was used to pulling all nighters?

"Hey."

Gladion startled, turning his head to see Hau staring at him.

Hau was rolled onto his side with one arm under his head as a pillow.

Gladion had thought Hau was already asleep like everyone else, but it turned out he was wrong.

"Can't sleep either, huh?" Hau asked in a soft voice with a grin and a small nod in Guzma's direction.

"He's not that bothersome," Gladion muttered. "I guess I'm used to my sleep schedule being out of whack."

Hau hummed in response, closing his eyes for a few seconds before staring back at Gladion. "Did you have a good time today?"

Gladion turned his eyes back to the ceiling, considering the question. It had been a long time since he had just been a regular teen with no pressure put on him. A heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulders, one he hadn't noticed was there until it was gone. Gladion smiled, turning his head to look at Hau. "Yeah. I had a good time."

"That's good," Hau said, his words punctuated with a yawn. He rolled onto his back and stretched his arms above his head. "I'm glad."

Gladion watched as Hau's eyes slipped closed and his breathing slowed. Without thinking, Gladion reached out his hand. He hesitated a moment, then brushed his fingers against Hau's bangs.

If it meant never ruining whatever they had, Gladion would stay silent on his feelings for Hau. Even if that meant he would pine for the rest of his life.

Dropping his hand by his side, Gladion went back to staring at the ceiling and waiting for his body to adjust to the fact that it was time to sleep and not think.

Hanging out with Selene and the others that day had been one of the best days of Gladion's life. His sister truly knew how to get him out of his shell, even if it was by force. He was grateful, though. Never would he have realized on his own that he desperately needed a break from work and Aether itself.

Closing his eyes when the exhaustion finally crept into the edges of his vision, Gladion wondered if what he was feeling was true friendship.

Chapter Text

Gladion woke up to a warmth against his chest. He blinked, reaching a hand to his face to rub the sleep out of his eyes. Even though he didn't have a clock on him, it was still dark outside; it felt like he had gotten a full eight hours of sleep, but he knew he had actually been asleep for less than two hours. It had been a while since he had actually gotten a good rest.

Squinting against the darkness, Gladion glanced down to see what was against his chest to make him feel all cozy and froze when he saw that it was Hau cuddled against him. During his sleep, Hau must have rolled over and latched onto him. Gladion must have automatically responded by putting his left arm over Hau since it wasn't trapped in Hau's vice grip around his waist.

Gladion pulled against Hau gently, trying not to wake him up. It was embarrassing enough for Gladion who had dreamed about cuddling with Hau for nearly a year. This was not how he wanted Hau to find out about his crush. When Hau didn't move and instead held onto Gladion tighter, burying his face in his chest, Gladion gave up trying to free himself. Instead, he took the time to admire Hau, cautiously running his fingers through Hau's hair.

It was a rare sight to see Hau with his hair out of its clips and hair ties. Gladion had always thought his hair looked cute when it was down, even if he never said it out loud.

Gladion's hand froze when Hau shifted, mumbling something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'malasadas'. Gladion chuckled, resting his arm across Hau's waist. Hau even dreamt of his favorite treat.

Gladion glanced at the others to see that they were also still asleep, all exhausted from their day of fun. Lillie had moved from her sleeping bag into Selene's, both girls curled up against each other with their foreheads touching. Guzma had moved sometime in the past few hours to the couch, curled up against one corner like a sleeping Meowth, head buried in his arms. Gladion wondered if sleeping like that was another unconscious way to protect himself; either way it couldn’t be good for his back. Elio had thrown off the covers of his sleeping bag and was spread Braviary, snoring softly with his mouth slightly agape, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth.

With a sigh, Gladion dropped his head back down. He was wide awake now with no hope of getting back to sleep. With the freedom afforded to him thanks to the day off, he realized he could do something he hadn't done in ages: train Silvally. Before taking over as acting president for Aether, Gladion had trained with Silvally consistently, trying to teach the Pokémon Z-moves. He tried some combinations with the Z-crystals and the Memory Discs, his hope that thanks to Silvally's Multi-attack--which changed typing depending on the Memory Silvally held in their RKS System–he could bypass the limits of the Z-crystals.

During his travels in Alola, Gladion had gathered several Z-crystals, aiming to gather all 18. His goal had been to become the strongest trainer after all. What was stronger than a Pokémon who could change its type on a whim and know all possible Z-move types? Still, he had never gathered all 18. He only had a total of 6, some gathered from Trials he had completed from boredom and others he had discovered in his travels: Normalium, Flyinium, Dragonium, Rockinium, Darkinium, and Ghostium.

He had last been training Silvally to use the Flyinium Z-move: Supersonic Skystrike. That had been postponed, of course, due to the Ultra Wormhole Fiasco and then taking over Aether Paradise as the acting president. It had been months since Gladion had last had the time to train his Pokémon, something he had thoroughly enjoyed doing since it released stress for both him and his partners.

Leaving to go to his normal training spot wouldn't be that hard. Sunrise was still three hours away and Gladion would return before then. The only issue was Hau.

Dropping his gaze down to the sleeping boy clinging to him, Gladion thought about what he could do to get out of Hau's grasp without waking Hau. He didn't want the hassle of explaining why he was leaving and having Hau come with him. Gladion liked training alone and he wasn't entirely keen on showing his secret training grounds.

Carefully, Gladion pulled away from Hau again. Just enough that there was space for Gladion to reach behind him and grab the pillow Guzma had been using. He shoved it between him and Hau, pulling away until he felt Hau's grip release.

Scrambling to his feet, Gladion managed to avoid becoming captured again as Hau's arms locked around the pillow. Hau held onto it tightly, curling around it.

Sighing, Gladion stepped over Hau and began to make his way around the sofa. Like the others he had left his Poké balls on the front table by the front door; he only planned on taking two Pokémon with him for the training and his Poké balls would be easy to spot among the others.

The moment Gladion set his foot down right by Elio, the floorboard creaked from his weight. The noise sounded a lot louder in the silence of the house. Gladion froze, the back of his neck prickling as his heart pounded. His eyes darted between Lillie, Hau, and Guzma, checking to see if any of them were stirring from the noise. Everyone seemed to still be sleeping.

Relaxing slightly, Gladion stepped around Elio and made his way towards the front door.

He felt more like he was attempting to sneak out of his house without his parents finding out so he could go to a party. Not that Gladion had ever gone to a party. More often than not, Gladion was realizing he hadn't had a typical teenage lifestyle. He had been too busy either preventing his mother from destroying the world with Ultra Beasts or making sure Aether Paradise wasn't shut down.

Maybe Lillie's right and I should let Wicke take some of my workload, Gladion thought, pausing at the threshold between the living room and the foyer. He glanced over his shoulder at where the others were sleeping. 

He was grateful for the day he had, hanging out with them at the beach then playing video games and eating pizza. He never would have realized he needed a day away from the stress as Aether President. Now he just needed to make plans to be sure he didn't fall back into his old habits which could be hard to break.

Stepping into the foyer, Gladion slipped on his shoes then grabbed Silvally's premier ball and Lycanroc's ultra ball from the pile of Poké balls on the table against the wall. He carefully opened the front door, stepping onto the deck and closing it behind him with a soft click.

Hau snorted quietly when the door clicked, opening his eyes sleepily. The noise hadn't been loud, but it had been enough to rouse him from his slumber. He looked down when he felt something in his arms and saw that he was clutching at a pillow.

"Heh?" Hau pushed the pillow away then sat up, rubbing his eyes. He glanced around, noticing that Gladion wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Gladion…?"

Standing, Hau's eyes drifted to the living room window when they caught movement outside. Gladion was making his way down the steps and walking towards the beach. Where was he going at this time of night?

As quietly as possible, Hau jumped over Elio and went to the foyer. He shoved on his shoes, grabbed Raichu and Decidueye's Poké balls, then opened the front door to follow Gladion.

When the door closed again, a bit louder than last time, Guzma jerked his head up with a snort. He blinked, half-asleep, then dropped his head back down.

"Stop slammin' th' doors, Plumes..." He mumbled, burying his face back in the crooks of his arms. "Yer gonna break 'em..."

Elio and Selene's house was close to Gladion's usual training spot: an old abandoned house. The area was a perfect place to train.

The house was right in the middle of a forest clearing. It had resided there for a long time, forgotten by everyone. Moss and vines covered the house's exterior, coating it in a thick green film. It was almost as if the forest itself was attempting to swallow the house and return it to Alola's soil. The house stood strong against nature's advance. Despite the rough outside, the inside was in slightly better shape if one ignored the splitting walls, faded wallpaper, and holes in the floor. The stairs leading to the second floor had all but deteriorated, rendering the second floor inaccessible. Not that Gladion wanted to go to the second floor; looking at the ceiling, he had seen that the second floor was not stable enough to support anything, much less his own weight. Staying on the ground floor was satisfactory anyway. It wasn't like he was going to move into the home. Only a few furniture items remained from the previous owner; the rest had been taken or stolen over the years. What remained were broken chairs, a kitchen table snapped in half, and a moldy sofa with exposed springs. Against a wall was an old grandfather clock that no longer ticked, hands frozen at 4:20.

Gladion had come upon the house one day by sheer luck while trying to find shelter from a sudden rainstorm. It was a good place to hide out since no one came by; he knew that because he had staked the house out for a few days to see if anyone visited. Ever since, he had kept a few items at the house for safekeeping: his Z-ring, the Memory Discs for Silvally, and his Z-crystals. Far from people, he could train in peace without interruption.

Gladion took in a deep breath as he emerged from the treeline and into the clearing where the house sat, his footsteps crunching on the moss beneath his shoes. The air was clean, much like Iki Town's breeze. Overhead, the full moon beamed its light down into the glade, creating an ethereal peace in the area. Other than a few Yungoos bounding through the undergrowth and a howl from a distant Lycanroc, the area was quiet.

Gladion approached the house, pulling out Silvally and Lycanroc's Poké balls. In the time he hadn't visited the house, the right door had collapsed on the floor; for the longest time, it had been hanging on by one hinge. At least the inside would no longer smell of dust and mold. Now, though, with one door off the hinge, the elements would have an easier time infiltrating.

Stepping up the creaking steps leading to the house, Gladion tossed up the two Poké balls to release the Pokémon inside. "Ready for some training?"

"Lycan!" Lycanroc grinned as Silvally nodded.

"Of course you are." Gladion went inside the house, picking up the fallen door on his way in and leaning it against the wall so it was out of his way.

Kneeling in front of the rotten couch shoved against the east wall, Gladion pulled out a board where he stored his Z-ring, crystals, and Memory Discs. Just because he trusted no one to find the place, didn't mean he was going to be foolish enough to leave everything out in the open.

Taking out his Z-ring, Gladion slipped it onto his wrist. It felt heavier than he remembered, but he chalked that up to not wearing it for about a year. Pulling out the small pouch that held his Z-crystals, he took out the Flyinium crystal. Turning, he showed the crystal to Lycanroc and Silvally who were watching him from the doorway.

"Let's try the Supersonic Skystrike again."

Silvally made a grumbling noise at the back of their throat, expression souring.

Gladion wasn't surprised at Silvally's reaction. The last time they had tried the flying type Z-move, it hadn't worked. There hadn't been enough power built up between Gladion and Silvally. Of course, it was hard for Silvally to use Z-moves in the first place, being a chimeric experiment rather than a natural Pokémon. Gladion had done some research on why Silvally had difficulty with Z-moves and tried to find a way around it, but even in simulations, the result was always the same.

Still, Gladion was stubborn. It would be a huge feat for him to discover a way for Silvally to use Z-moves. He would also become stronger if he could find a way to have Silvally able to use all 18 crystals, bypassing the rule of move type and instead relying on Silvally's Multi-attack that changed depending on the Memory Disc inserted into Silvally's RKS System.

Replacing the board, Gladion stood and slotted the crystal into his Z-ring. He went over to Silvally, placing both hands against the Pokémon’s cheeks.

"I believe in you, Silvally. You can do it."

Silvally's expression was still doubtful, but the Pokémon nodded then licked Gladion's cheek.

Gladion chuckled at the affection, setting his forehead against Silvally's. "That's my good buddy."

"Lyyy." Lycanroc butted between them, pouting at the affection Silvally was receiving and not him. “Lycanroc.”

Amused, Gladion ruffled Lycanroc's mane. "You're my good buddy, too."

"Ly." Lycanroc's short tail wagged.

Gladion stepped between the two Pokémon, making his way down the front steps. "All right, let's get into battle positions."

Silvally followed Gladion to one side of the clearing, standing in front of their trainer. Lycanroc stood across from Silvally and Gladion, tilting his head side to side with a low growl.

"You ready, Silvally?"

Silvally growled, shifting their stance lower, preparing for their first command.

Lycanroc slid one foot back, smirking. He raised a paw then made a 'come at me' gesture.

Gladion had an idea of what he wanted to do before unleashing the Z-move: fight. Build up the energy necessary to unleash the Z-move. That strategy had been the most likely to work out of all the simulations he had completed.

"Start it off with an Air Slash!"

Silvally raised their head, crest glowing, before swinging down and unleashing a flurry of wind formed into sharp sickles.

Lycanroc howled, raising a fist before slamming it into the ground. Shining blue stones burst up from the earth, cutting through the scythes of air and racing towards Silvally.

"Dodge it and move in close!"

Silvally leaped up to avoid the Stone Edge, landing neatly on the tip of one of the rock pillars. They started to hop from pillar to pillar, closing the gap between them and Lycanroc.

"Crush Claw!"

Silvally leaped off the last Stone Edge, right leg glowing a fierce red as they raised it above their head, ready to strike Lycanroc.

Lycanroc slid to the side, avoiding the attack.

Silvally's strike slammed into the ground, pinning their leg between bits of rubble. Growling, Silvally attempted to free their leg from the ground.

With Silvally trapped, Lycanroc grinned, then opened his mouth and lunged forward, clamping his jaws around Silvally's throat.

Silvally screeched, shaking their head in an attempt to dislodge Lycanroc, yanking their leg free.

Lycanroc released Silvally and hopped back just as Silvally blindly lashed out with a Crush Claw.

Silvally growled, putting distance between them and Lycanroc.

Gladion felt the power connecting him and Silvally, charging the air and buzzing in his veins. This was their chance to unleash the Z-move.

"Now, let's try it, Silvally!"

Silvally huffed, changing their stance, preparing to accept the power for the Z-move.

"My full body becomes the winds that fly over Alola."

Silvally copied Gladion’s movements as he began the pose necessary to activate the full strength of the flying type Z-move. Trainer and Pokémon as one.

"Strike their bodies like a gale force hurricane!" Gladion raised his fist to the sky. “Supersonic Skystrike!”

Silvally howled as the blue aura around Gladion split and arched towards them, surrounding their body. A pair of translucent wings spread from Silvally’s back.

Gladion grinned. This was the farthest they had ever gotten with the Z-move. "That's it! Now fly!"

With a flap of their wings, Silvally lifted off the ground and rose into the sky, climbing higher and higher.

"Yes, that's it!" Gladion cheered as Silvally flew closer to the apex of flight before they would divebomb. "Come on!"

Silvally kept flapping, gaze fixated on the sky above them. The aura surrounding their body sputtered before fizzling out, wings vanishing in a scattering of translucent feathers.

"Silvally!" Gladion called as Silvally plummeted from the sky. The fall wouldn't kill Silvally, but the Pokémon would be severely injured. He didn't have Zoroark who could change into a flying type Pokémon to catch Silvally either.

Lycanroc moved without an order, darting to the top of the abandoned house and launching himself towards the falling Silvally, colliding with the Pokémon. Lycanroc landed on the ground, skidding several feet as he held Silvally around the waist.

"Ly!" Lycanroc gently laid Silvally on the ground, staring at them with concern. "Lycanroc?"

Silvally growled softly, shaking their head as Lycanroc released them. Silvally headbutted Lycanroc in thanks, remaining curled up on the ground, body shuddering in exhaustion.

Gladion sighed, tension leaving his shoulders as Lycanroc gave him a thumbs up to show that Silvally was all right. He staggered back, attempting to keep himself standing when the fatigue hit him like a freight train.

Normal Z-moves didn't exhaust him as much as attempting them with Silvally. That was another thing he had wanted to check out. The first time the exhaustion had hit him had been a surprise, nearly knocking him out from the force. This time he was a bit more prepared for the aftermath of the failed Z-move. Instead of attempting to fight to remain standing, Gladion let himself fall on his back to give his body a break.

He frowned, staring at the night sky and the stars. Annoyance flared up as he continued to stare at the stars twinkling above.

"Damn it! We were so close!" Gladion lifted his arm above his head, staring at the Z-crystal embedded in the Z-ring. The crystal had lost its glow, indicating it needed a recharge. "What are we doing wrong?"

"Lycan?" Lycanroc asked, walking closer to Gladion to check on him.

"I'm all right, Lycanroc. I just need to rest for a few moments."

A twig snapped behind Gladion. His senses immediately went on high alert. The noise could have been a Pokémon walking past, but he wasn't about to find out whether the Pokémon was friendly or not.

Gladion rolled over halfway, setting a hand against the ground as he stared towards the source of the noise. “Lycanroc.”

“Ly.” Lycanroc stepped past Gladion, raising a paw above his head.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Hau stumbled out of the treeline, waving his hands. “Don’t attack!”

"Wha--Hau?!" Gladion asked as Lycanroc lowered his paw. He rolled onto his stomach then pushed himself into a sitting position. "What are you--did you follow me?"

"Heh, yeah." Hau rubbed the back of his neck with an abashed expression. "I saw you leave and wondered where you were going, so I kinda tailed you. Sorry."

Gladion supposed it would have only been a matter of time that Hau or someone else found out about his secret spot, but this wasn't exactly how he wanted it to be discovered. "Don't tell anyone about this place."

"Promise!" Hau raised his right hand and made an X over his heart with his left hand. 

Amused by the child-like response, Gladion pushed himself to his feet.

Lycanroc held out a paw, ready to support Gladion if he faltered. When it was apparent Gladion could stand on his own two feet, Lycanroc scowled at Hau before returning to Silvally's side to help the Pokémon to their feet.

Hau shrugged off Lycanroc's stare with an easy grin, approaching Gladion who was taking off his Z-ring. "You were practicing a Z-move with Silvally, huh? You got pretty close."

"Pretty close isn't good enough. I wanted to fully realize it." Gladion stared at the Z-ring like it had offended his family. "I just don't know why it won't work. Perhaps it is because of Silvally's nature as an artificial Pokémon."

"Have you tried Normalium Z-crystals?" Hau suggested, following Gladion to the porch of the abandoned house. "Perhaps Flyinium is too hard."

Gladion hummed, setting the Z-ring down then dropping on one of the steps. He leaned back on his hands with a soft groan. "Ah, maybe. I'll try it next time."

Hau plopped right beside Gladion with a grin. "So, still on about becoming a strong trainer, huh?"

"Of course. Though, I suppose with how busy I've been as Aether's president, I've lost sight of that."

"You do work a lot for someone your age,” Hau admitted.

Gladion chuckled softly, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. "You and Lillie think the same way."

Hau didn't respond right away.

Gladion opened his eyes when he heard the sounds of Poké balls snapping open, lifting his head to see Raichu and Decidueye standing in front of Hau.

"You guys go play with Lycanroc and Silvally," Hau said, waving a hand towards Lycanroc and Silvally who were watching them from a distance.

Both Pokémon glanced at each other, but seemed to understand something their trainer wasn't telling them, and wandered off to go play with Silvally and Lycanroc.

Hau watched as the four Pokémon started a game of what looked to be tag before he glanced at Gladion. "You know we're just concerned about you."

Gladion smiled then pushed off his hands so he could lean his arms on his legs. He stared at the ground, clasping his hands. "You know, for a moment, I was convinced that she hated me because of how much I worked and how I didn't want to forgive Mother for her actions."

Pain lanced through Gladion's arm and he jerked to the side, grabbing his arm. He looked between Hau and his wounded arm, offended. Had Hau actually punched his arm?

"Ow, what was that for?"

"I can't believe that even went through that thick skull of yours," Hau said, scowling at Gladion. "Lillie could never hate you! You could burn down the world and she'd forgive you!"

Gladion blinked at Hau's response before he started to laugh. He wasn't sure if he was laughing at Hau's attempt at being serious, when his scowl looked more like a pout, or Hau's statement of Lillie forgiving him for burning the world down which had gone through his head as an angsty thirteen-year-old.

Hau grabbed Gladion by the front of his shirt, shaking him slightly. "Don't laugh; I'm being serious!"

"I know, I know!" Gladion held up his hands in surrender and Hau released his shirt. "I realize that now. We talked about it, so I know that my thoughts were just paranoia."

Hau seemed satisfied as Gladion stopped laughing. He went back to leaning on his hands, watching Raichu and the others play.

Gladion sighed, leaning his arms back on his legs as he also watched the Pokémon. "I've noticed that Lillie seems to be extremely fond of Selene. Do I get to know the nature of their relationship, or...?"

"I think right now it's just painful pining," Hau said after a moment of thinking. He grinned at Gladion. "They act like they're dating, but when Guzma points it out, they say they're just friends. Elio is extremely confused, but he told me he's confused about romance in general. Why not have a cool rock collection, he told me."

"Elio has a rock collection?" Gladion asked, raising an eyebrow. He knew Elio loved Alola's history and was digging in the ancient ruins, but he hadn't even considered Elio collecting rocks.

"They're really cool rocks. He let me see them one time." Hau's expression brightened as he started to babble about Elio's collection. "You should have seen them; he had all kinds of rocks from bismuth, quartz, calcite, and even a black opal that looked like it had a mini lightning storm inside it!"

A bolt of jealousy went through Gladion. He wasn't threatened by Elio, who obviously wasn't interested in romance or dating, but the jealousy bit into Gladion's veins anyway. A hissing voice told him that Hau was his. No one else could have him.

Gladion shook the thoughts out of his head. He wasn't possessive. It wasn't up to him whether Hau wanted to be with him or not; it was up to Hau.

"You all right?" Hau asked when he saw Gladion rubbing an eye. "Are you tired?"

"No, I just..."

This was his chance to confess how he had been feeling about Hau. No one else was there to judge him or stare at him. If Hau rejected him, that was fine. It would be painful, but he would accept Hau's decision. Just...tell him!

Gladion swallowed then licked his lips. He rubbed his hands against his shorts to wipe off the nervous sweat, gathering his courage. He prayed Hau couldn't hear how loud his heart pounded.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something..."

Hau tilted his head with a soft, questioning noise. "Yeah?"

Before Gladion could say anything else, Silvally screeched then howled. The noise startled both boys as they looked towards the Pokémon who was bristling, staring at the sky.

Gladion looked up and saw a vertical crack splitting the sky not too far from where they were. "A crack!"

"That means an Ultra Wormhole is about to appear."

It had been months since Hau had last seen the formation of an Ultra Wormhole. He had almost thought they had seen the last of them after the Fiasco.

Gladion stood up, taking out his Poké balls and returning Silvally and Lycanroc. "Let's go before an Ultra Beast emerges!"

"Wait for me!" Hau called when Gladion bolted for the trees. He returned Raichu and Decidueye then followed Gladion. "You want just us two to take on an Ultra Beast?!"

"Would you rather it hurt innocent people?" Gladion asked, shooting Hau a mild glare. "We need to keep it from major cities so it doesn't hurt anyone."

Hau bit his lip, uncertain. Ultra Beasts weren't like normal Pokémon. They were much stronger and harder to defeat. He knew even Selene had difficulty taking down one Nihilego. Arceus forbid it was a larger Ultra Beast like Buzzwole or Guzzlord. Hau gave a nod when he finally settled on a decision. He was going to help Gladion fight any Ultra Beast that emerged from the Ultra Wormhole and force it back into Ultra Space.

The corner of Gladion's mouth quirked up when he sensed Hau’s determination. He returned the nod.

The two continued to race through the forest, ducking under low hanging tree limbs and jumping arched tree roots until they emerged into a small clearing.

The crack hovered right over the clearing in the forest, far enough from any towns or cities. Still, whatever Ultra Beast emerged was sure to be attracted to a place with many humans gathered as Ultra Beasts had a tendency to turn violent when ripped from their home.

The smell of ozone was thick and acrid, charging the air with buzzing electricity. The charge caused the hairs on the back of Gladion’s neck and arms to stand up.

"Get ready," Gladion said, shifting his stance as the crack split open into a wormhole, distorting the sky around it.

Hau nodded, staring at the wormhole above them, hand hovering by his waist as he readied himself to grab a Poké ball.

The two waited, tension thick between them, for an Ultra Beast to emerge. The only noise was the whirring of the Ultra Wormhole’s energy, white light swirling in the center, and a faint, nervous chirp from a distant Pikipek.

After what felt like an age of waiting, Hau tilted his head.

"Maybe nothing is going to come out?" Hau suggested, slowly lowering his hand. It was taking an awful long time for an Ultra Beast to emerge. Usually, they came right through.

Gladion narrowed his eyes at the Ultra Wormhole. The skin on the back of his neck prickled as if Cacturne needles had pierced him, a familiar chill racing through his core. "No, something's coming."

Before the two could react, a black claw burst out of the Ultra Wormhole's depths, clamping around Gladion's waist.

"Gladion!" Hau grabbed onto Gladion's right wrist, pulling against the claw that had grabbed him. His efforts were futile as the arm attached to the claw yanked both of them into the Ultra Wormhole.

Gladion grunted, struggling against the claw holding him. Hau kept both hands clasped to his wrist so they wouldn't be separated.

Ultra Space was not a place they wanted to be without the aid of Solgaleo or Lunala to traverse its winding tunnels that lead to a vast expanse of terrain and alternate worlds. Who knew where they could end up.

The claw continued to pull them through the Ultra Wormhole's tunnel before it stopped abruptly. Gladion and Hau found themselves face to face with a Guzzlord, one of the most dangerous Ultra Beasts, mainly due to its insatiable hunger and tendency to grab whatever it could reach and fit into its mouth.

The Guzzlord seemed to be confused at the two humans it was holding as if it hadn't meant to grab them. After a moment, it seemed to shrug before retracting its claw towards its massive, gaping mouth.

Gladion reached down, his hand touching the side of the Guzzlord's claw, then glanced down as he realized the claw was covering access to his Poké balls.

Shit! Gladion looked between the Guzzlord and his trapped Poké balls, panicked. Without access to Silvally, he and Hau didn't have a chance of taking the Guzzlord down. They could hurt it, sure. Make it angry. Defeating it though? That would be impossible, especially without solid ground or support from Solgaleo and Lunala.

Behind him, Gladion heard the sound of a Poké ball opening and Hau shouted, "Decidueye, make it hurt with a Leaf Blade!"

Decidueye trilled, flying past the two and towards the Guzzlord. The tips of Decidueye's wings glowed a bright green, sharpening into blades. Decidueye swung both wings forward, cutting into the Guzzlord's face.

Bellowing, Guzzlord raised its arm above its head then flung the two humans away from it.

Decidueye flapped his wings once, turning in an arc and soaring after Gladion and Hau, catching both of them by the arm, one in each talon.

Hau laughed as Decidueye tilted his head down to look at the two. "Good job, Decidueye! Let's get out of here."

Decidueye cooed then flew towards the Ultra Wormhole opening they had been pulled through.

"That was too close," Gladion muttered.

Hau sighed. "Tell me about it. Almost thought we were goners for a second there. Can you believe--"

"Stop." Gladion held up a hand in front of Hau's face, his eyes narrowed. "Stay still."

Decidueye stopped flying, hovering in mid-air, flapping once.

To their left, a flock of twelve Nihilego floated past. Their bell-shaped heads were an angry red, the star markings flashing, communicating with each other. The flock of Nihilego took no heed of their presence, chittering indignantly as they glided past.

Hau waited until the Nihilego had floated past before he asked, "Where do you think they're going?"

"Wherever they're going, at least it's not the way we came in. Let's go before that Guzzlord comes back."

Hau nodded then gestured for Decidueye to keep flying.

Decidueye nodded once, continuing to fly towards the Ultra Wormhole's exit. Decidueye squawked when a black claw swerved towards him out of nowhere, flapping once to pull himself out of its reach.

"Shit!" Gladion growled as the Guzzlord from before floated in front of Decidueye's path, planting itself right between them and their exit. He reached for Silvally's premier ball, ready to teach the Guzzlord a lesson.

Rapid movement out of the corner of his eye caught Hau's attention.

"Watch out, Decidueye!" Hau called as the Guzzlord's other claw whipped towards them in Decidueye's' blind spot.

Decidueye squawked, turning his head towards the oncoming claw, but had no time to react to the attack.

Guzzlord's claw struck Decidueye head on, knocking the Pokémon back.

Decidueye attempted to right himself even as he tumbled head over heels from the strike. His strong feet kept a tight grip on Gladion and Hau's arms so they wouldn't be flung from his reach. Decidueye hit the side of the Ultra Wormhole's naturally formed shaft.

The fabric of the Ultra Wormhole's tunnel snapped from the force of Decidueye's body hitting it, sending the three into uncharted Ultra Space.

Guzzlord tried reaching for them as the three broke through the Ultra Wormhole's tunnel, its claw snapping air as it missed. It retracted its arm just as the Ultra Wormhole fixed the tear in its side, bellow echoing in the vast expanse of Ultra Space.

Above a small copse of trees, the sky split open and pulled itself inward, forming an Ultra Wormhole. From the depths of the Wormhole, three forms were thrown out. Two fell to the ground while the third used its wings to slow its descent.

Decidueye flapped to steady himself. He glanced down to see that his grip on his trainer and Gladion had loosened enough to release them. Decidueye rapidly turned his head side to side, searching for the two humans. He didn't have to look far as Gladion and Hau were sprawled on the ground, tangled in each other.

Gladion and Hau groaned softly as they slowly tried to extract themselves from each other.

Decidueye cooed as he landed on the ground by his trainer and Gladion, tilting his head before leaning down to check on them.

Hau shook his head, pushing himself onto his knees. Other than some aches from hitting the ground, nothing felt broken to him. Thankfully the drop from the Ultra Wormhole to the ground hadn't been too far. He smiled at the worried Pokémon, reaching up to rub Decidueye's cheek. "I think we're fine, Decidueye."

Decidueye rubbed his face against Hau's cheek, allowing his trainer to return him to his Poké ball.

Hau looked down at Gladion who was pushing himself onto his elbows, expression puzzled. "You all right, Gladion?"

"Yeah, I think so," Gladion replied after a moment more of staring at Hau, eyebrows furrowed.

Hau tilted his head up just as the Ultra Wormhole pulled in on itself, returning to a crack splitting the sky before it fully vanished from sight. "Looks like we got spit out somewhere else on Alola." Hau glanced at their surroundings, searching for something familiar to give him an idea of where they were. All he saw were trees that didn't help. "Maybe...Melemele?"

If they were on Melemele, he supposed they could just get a Ride Charizard to fly to Iki Town. He was too exhausted to walk and Hau was sure Gladion felt the same way. The only issue with that was he had left his Ride Pager back at Selene and Elio's house and Gladion seemed to walk everywhere or use a boat to traverse between islands rather than use a Ride Pokémon.

Better stop wasting time then, Hau thought as he pushed himself to his feet. He steadied himself, his equilibrium slowly returning from their chaotic trip through the Wormhole, then grinned down at Gladion.

"Well, let's see if we can find the nearest Pokémon Center to see if we can borrow someone's Ride Pager." Hau clipped Decidueye's Poké ball back onto his belt, right beside Raichu's Poké ball. He pulled his hand back when he felt a faint wetness against his skin and saw red spots on the tips of fingers. Pulling his shirt out a bit, Hau could see a sizable dark splotch on the front. He touched the stain again, his fingers coming back red and smelling of copper. Blood.

"Whoa, crap." Hau patted himself, pulling his shirt up halfway and looking at his body to see if he could find the source of the blood. Other than a few bruises starting to bloom against his tan skin, there were no cuts or any indication he was bleeding. "Huh."

He wasn't bleeding? Where had the blood come from if he wasn't injured?

A soft groan drew Hau out of his own thoughts. He glanced towards Gladion to see that he was still supporting himself on his elbows, holding his right side with his left hand, grimacing. His shirt had a jagged cut on the right side, covered mostly by his hand, a dark stain spreading across the fabric.

Hau gaped at the blood oozing between Gladion's fingers, dripping onto the ground beneath him. "Y-you're bleeding!"

Slowly, Gladion removed his hand from his side, staring at the blood coating his hand. He stared at the blood for several moments, watching it slide down his arm then drip onto the ground.

"I'm bleeding," he echoed in a faint voice.

Chapter Text

"All right, don't panic."

Gladion raised an eyebrow at the waver in Hau's voice. "I'm not panicking."

Of course Gladion wasn't panicking. Hau was. How was he supposed to help someone who was bleeding? He knew a little first aid thanks to Hala's insistence, but to actually have to use his knowledge, especially on his friend--

"Okay, okay," Hau said, raising his hands before beginning to pace side to side. "Llet me think..."

The wound was on Gladion's right side, possibly created by the Guzzlord's claw judging by the cut in Gladion’s shirt. Gladion didn't appear to be in pain. That was probably because he was still running on adrenaline from their trip through the Wormhole and encounter with the Guzzlord. There was a higher risk he could go into shock especially since he couldn't process the severity of the wound and he was losing blood at a decent rate.

Hau smacked his forehead, silently berating himself for being stupid as he halted in his tracks. He could call an ambulance to come pick them up. The EMTs would be able to give him more solid instructions on what to do until they got there.

Gladion watched silently as Hau started searching through his pockets for his phone.

Hau groaned when he came up empty handed. Okay, that was fine. He just left his phone back at Selene's place. They could still use Gladion's phone.

"Do you have your phone?"

"Phone?" Gladion repeated, tilting his head. He used his free hand to start looking through his pockets. After a few moments he shook his head.

No phones meant no calling the ambulance to take them to the hospital. That was fine. They were bound to be near the city, so Hau's first step was to try and stem the bleeding, which meant he had to get a better look at the wound.

"I'm going to take your shirt off to get a look at the wound, okay?"

Gladion tilted his head with a faint shrug. "Sure, go ahead."

Gladion was being a little bit more carefree than Hau remembered him being when it came to others seeing him without his shirt. That could have just been the borderline shock talking.

"Okay, cool." Hau kneeled next to Gladion, hands hovering over the blood stained tear in the side of Gladion's shirt as Gladion removed his hand.

He didn't know why he was so nervous at the idea of taking Gladion's shirt off. They were both guys.

Come on, Hau, get yourself together! Hau berated himself, shaking his head furiously. We can't waste time!

Faint vibrations rattled Gladion's lower spine. The vibrations slowly got stronger. Whatever it was was getting closer to them.

Without thinking, Gladion grabbed Hau by the arm, yanking him to the ground so they were both laying down.

"What are you--"

"Shh." Gladion set his hand over Hau's mouth, eyes fixated ahead of them.

Hau stared at Gladion, momentarily confused, before he looked ahead of them. On the ground, he felt the vibrations against his arms. They were rhythmic, almost like footsteps. Whatever was coming towards them was huge.

As Hau contemplated what Pokémon made such heavy footsteps, the head and torso of a Golisopod paused right between two trees.

Hau tensed then pressed further against the ground, breath catching in his throat.

The Golisopod was the largest he had ever seen, nearly twice as large as Guzma's Golisopod. Hau's only thought was that he hadn't known there was a Totem Golisopod. There wasn't a bug type Trial Captain. Perhaps it was new.

Remaining where it was, the Golisopod turned its head side to side, sniffing the air. The small appendages on its chest rubbed together in anticipation. It had yet to look down and notice them.

They were not in any shape to take on the Pokémon, especially one so large. It would take too much time that Hau was already wasting, waiting for the Golisopod to leave.

After a few more moments, the Golisopod snorted then stomped off.

Once its footsteps had receded, Gladion removed his hand from Hau's mouth and dropped his head to the ground with a sigh.

"That was the hugest Golisopod I've ever seen," Hau muttered, still processing what they had just witnessed. "You think it was a new Totem?"

Gladion grunted in response, closing his eyes.

"Ah, wait, no." Hau pushed himself up, patting Gladion's cheek.

Gladion swatted at Hau's hand, squinting at him with an annoyed expression.

"You have to stay awake."

Gladion stared at Hau for a few moments before he sighed. "Fine."

Satisfied Gladion would do as he was told, Hau started to pull up Gladion's shirt. He was being fast, but careful; it wouldn't do if the shirt was stuck to the wound and pulled at any areas attempting to clot.

Thankfully, the shirt peeled away easily from the wound and with Gladion's help, Hau was able to get the shirt off.

The wound itself wasn't exactly pretty to look at. Jagged, red, and raw. It wrapped around Gladion's side, nearly a foot in length. To Hau's untrained eyes, it didn't look deep; at the very least he didn't see organs. Still, the wound was bleeding more now that the shirt wasn't soaking up the blood.

Stemming the bleeding was Hau's main priority. He could use Gladion's shirt as a pack and his own shirt to keep it in place. After that, if Gladion felt able, they could try and make their way to the nearest city for the hospital.

Hau nodded to himself, satisfied with the plan he made. Tearing off the bloodied end of Gladion’s shirt, Hau folded the fabric a few times before setting it against the jagged slash in Gladion’s side. “Hold this against your side as tight as you can.”

Gladion did as he was told, pressing the wadded shirt against his side, wincing.

Hau took off his own shirt, planning on using it as a strap to hold the padding against Gladion’s injury. He held the shirt above Gladion, turning it side to side, testing the angles a few times to see if it would work. Once he was sure he could tie his shirt around Gladion’s waist without tearing it up, Hau started wrapping it around Gladion.

Gladion watched him work silently, only grimacing when Hau tied the knot to secure the shirt around his waist. "Why are you helping me, anyway?"

“Why?” Hau laughed as he made sure his bandaging was tight, but not tight enough to cut off blood flow. When he was satisfied with his work, Hau sat back on his heels with a grin. “You’re my friend, obviously, idiot. You’d do the same for me.”

Gladion stared at Hau, eyebrows furrowed. “I don’t know you, though.”

Hau stared at Gladion for a few moments before he laughed, patting Gladion on the shoulder. "All right, that's a good joke, Gladion, but I'm not in the mood for that."

When Gladion didn't immediately tease for being easily trusting, Hau tensed, hands clenching the fabric of his shorts. "You're not joking."

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Gladion asked with a raised eyebrow. He pushed himself up straighter when Hau stood.

"Did you hit your head or something?" Hau asked, grabbing both of Gladion's cheeks and turning his head side to side so he could look for any injury he hadn't noticed before. "Does your head hurt?"

"You're making my neck hurt doing that!" Gladion hissed, shoving Hau away from him. He hissed when the movement caused pain to lance through his side. "I thought you said we had to get to a hospital."

Hau shook his head at Gladion's words, centering his focus back on helping Gladion. He could figure out the whole amnesia thing later. "Right, right! Sorry. I'm going to get you on your feet okay?"

"I don't see how else we're going to get moving unless you're going to drag me."

Hau couldn't help but chuckle at Gladion's dry response. That was the sardonic Gladion he knew.

Bending down, Hau held out his arm. "Grab my arm and I'll pull you up on three."

Gladion nodded, grasping Hau's arm in both hands before shifting his weight, ready to push himself to his feet when Hau pulled.

Hau nodded, holding onto Gladion's left arm with his other hand, stabilizing both of their grips. "Okay. One, two. Three!"

Gladion pushed his feet against the ground as Hau pulled him. Together, they got Gladion to his feet and Hau continued to hold his arms to keep him steady.

Gladion hissed as the movement caused more pain against his side. He looked down to make sure the makeshift bandage was still wrapped around his waist.

Blood was seeping through the shirt. Other than that, the wrap was still securely in place.

"It's still bleeding," Gladion noted as Hau slung his arm across his shoulder, supporting him on his weaker side.

"Yeah, but that wrap should slow it down until we get to the hospital."

At least, that was Hau's hope. He wasn't prepared to watch his friend slowly bleed out with not much he could do to stop it. He doubted anyone would be prepared for something like that.

Then again, Hau realized he could use Decidueye to fly them, but he didn't want to risk Gladion's wound to get worse during the ride or to have Gladion pass out on him in the air. At this point, walking was a safer bet.

"Anyway," Hau said. He started to walk, taking slow steps so he wouldn't push Gladion, "my name is Hau."

"Thanks for your help...Hau."

"So, you really don't remember anything, huh?" Hau asked after a few moments of silence.

Gladion shrugged his left shoulder. "Just my name. Well, Alola too. Other than that, it's blank. I feel like I'm forgetting someone important to me."

"Maybe Lillie?" Hau suggested, glancing at Gladion.

For a moment, Gladion didn’t answer. Then he looked at Hau with confusion etched onto his face. "Lillie?"

“Your younger sister.”

“No. I mean, maybe?” Gladion gave a frustrated sigh, shaking his head. “I don’t know. I just want to sleep right now.”

Hau chuckled at the slight pout in Gladion’s voice. He felt the same; he wanted a nap as well. They had both been through a lot, but Gladion’s want to sleep was due to lack of blood and going to sleep like that was dangerous. “You’ll have to wait for that.”

“If you say so.”

Hau ignored Gladion's easy retreat, focusing on getting them out of the forest so he could get his bearings better. Once he knew where exactly they were he could go to the city for the hospital or if he were lucky, hitch a ride.

Morning sunlight streamed through the tree branches as the sun began to rise, the rising heat chasing away the faint chill of the night. Dawn was upon them. They had been out for hours.

Hau sighed then muttered, mostly to himself, "Man, they're really gonna be worried about us."

"Who?" Gladion asked. He stumbled a bit and Hau slowed down to let Gladion catch his balance.

"Selene and the others. Our friends. We kind of left and now we're who knows where on Alola."

Gladion raised an eyebrow. Something about the way Hau worded it seemed off. "We?"

Hau rubbed the back of his neck before returning his hand to hold Gladion's wrist so Gladion wouldn't fall. Gladion was still as sharp as ever. "Well, you left to go train and I kind of followed you. Then the Wormhole happened and..."

"We got dumped here. I know that much." Gladion shook his head. "Why don't you use your Decidueye to get us to the hospital?" Gladion blinked then furrowed his eyebrows, as if he weren't sure where that had come from. He looked at Hau. "Do you have a Decidueye?"

"Y-yeah." Hau nodded, surprised Gladion remembered his Pokémon, even if Gladion wasn't certain. " I thought the ride might be too hard on you. It could make things worse."

Gladion hummed then nodded, agreeing. "I don't think I'm up for being in the air right now."

"Just stay awake, all right?"

"Keep talking to me and we'll see," Gladion replied with a sardonic smile.

"Smartass," Hau muttered fondly.

He kept walking until he managed to break out of the treeline and onto a dirt road. Hau grinned at the positive sign.

"Ha! Okay, let me see..." Hau looked around, searching for a familiar landmark. He spotted a wooden post with signs pointing in different directions. "There, that will give us an idea of where we are."

Hau walked closer to the sign so he could get their location. From where they were, it seemed they had actually landed in Melemele Meadow and were on Route 3. That gave Hau a little bit of direction.

"There, that one." Hau pointed to the sign pointing south. "That says it will lead us to Hau'oli...Town?"

"Is that not familiar?" Gladion asked as Hau read the sign again.

"It should be Hau'oli City. Not town. Maybe I'm reading it wrong?" Hau squinted at the sign, but it didn't change its lettering. The words were still Hau'oli Town. "Huh. Well, anyway, to the south we go."

"Lead the way."

"Hey, you two!" a voice called as Hau started down the path towards Hau'oli Town.

Hau stopped to see a man in his mid-twenties running towards them, grinning and waving an arm above his head.

The man wore a white tank top and grey knee-length shorts. A sleeve of tattoos ran down both arms. A ring of arrows wrapped around his upper right arm and a dual ring of Sharpedo teeth circled his left wrist, forming the outlines of jaws. The spaces between were made of various geometric shapes. A Sharpedo tooth necklace hung around his neck. His shoulder length brown hair was braided in a few places using colorful beads.

The man's face seemed familiar to Hau, but he wasn't sure why. After a few moments of staring at the man's face in an attempt to remember why he recognized it, Hau gasped. Outside of the various tattoos, longer hair, and tank top, Hau recognized why the man was so familiar.

"Professor Kukui?!"

The man tilted his head before he laughed. "I'm afraid you must have mistaken me for someone else. My name is Kekei. I guess you could call me a professor of sorts, though." Kekei scratched the side of his cheek before setting his hands on his hips with a smile. "I study the phenomenon of the Z-crystals. I'm looking for a way to allow humans to use them. They're too raw for use by anyone other than Totems or some wild Pokémon." Kekei furiously shook his head. "Wait, no, I'm getting distracted. Your friend looks like he could use some medical attention."

Hau looked between Gladion, who was leaning against him even more, then Kekei. "Oh. He got hurt. We, uh..." Hau hesitated. Should he tell this total stranger about the Ultra Wormhole? It seemed to him that whatever Alola they had landed in wasn't the one they were used to. For all he knew they weren't aware of the existence of Ultra Wormholes.

Kekei smiled. "It's okay. I know you came from the sky."

Hau tensed up, taking a step back. That was why Kekei was there then; he must have seen the Ultra Wormhole in the sky. If he saw it, who knows how many other people saw it as well.

"Your friend needs help and my wife is a good medic. You can trust me." Kekei knelt so he appeared less threatening. "Let me take you to my house."

Hau glanced down at Gladion. Gladion had his full weight against Hau, eyes closed. Hau knew he didn't have the time to walk to Hau'oli City. Kekei was offering a closer place and someone with medical knowledge. It would be foolish to turn the offer down. Hau nodded. "Okay."

Kekei smiled as she stood, holding out his hands. "I can carry him. Looks like you're losing your grip."

Hau didn't hesitate to carefully shift Gladion over to Kekei, watching as the older man knelt to pull Gladion onto his back, pulling Gladion's arms over his shoulders and supporting his legs.

"All right," Kekei said once he had gotten Gladion situated on his back. "My place isn't too far. Right by that beach." Kekei pointed to the beach in the distance. "Bruna will help your friend. She's good at sutures."

"He'll survive, right?" Hau asked, following Kekei. "He won't die?"

"Well, your friend seems like a stubborn type of guy. I know someone like him. With some rest and good food, I think he'd be just fine."

Hau sighed, setting a hand against his chest in relief. "That's good."

Kekei glanced at Hau out of the corner of his eye, raising an eyebrow. "So, the sky?"

Kekei didn't need to ask anything else. Hau knew what he meant. Kekei wanted to know where they were from, or perhaps when they were from.

"I want to ask a question first. What year is it?"

"That's a strange question," Kekei replied with a short laugh. "I'll tell you though. It's 770 A.G."

Hau ran through his history memory banks. 770. That was 250 years ago. 250 years ago, Alola had been recently united under one banner after being four separate islands for generations. King Malauoi was a benevolent ruler; he had merged the islands into one without bloodshed or violence. Alola united was stronger than Alola divided. Kantonian, Hisuian, and Galarian immigrants were becoming commonplace, bringing their cultures, food, and language to meld with the Alolan people.

"So you aren't from this time," Kekei confirmed when he saw Hau's expression. "I won't pry further. Still, you're quite a long way from home."

"Don't we know it," Hau muttered. The others were bound to be worried when they couldn't get into contact with him or Gladion. They were stuck in the past Alola until or if an Ultra Wormhole showed up.

"Don't worry, kid. You can stay with me and Bruna until you figure out how to get home. We've always wanted a kid or two."

"How come you don't have one?" Hau asked before his brain could warn him that the question could come off as rude or insensitive.

Kekei laughed despite the question. "We already have another guest who could be considered a kid is why." Kekei stopped in front of a traditional Alolan house with a wrap around lanai. "All right, here we are. Home sweet home."

Hau stared up at the house. The house looked similar to Professor Kukui's home. Hau wondered if that meant it was indeed the same house, passed down through the generations like the homes of Iki Town.

Kekei started up the steps of the lanai, the boards creaking under his feet. "Bruna should be making food right about now, but I'll take over so she can tend to your friend."

"Thank you very much for everything you're doing."

"No thanks is necessary.” Kekei shook his head with a smile. “Have to keep up that Alolan hospitality like the heat of a Blast Burn, eh?"

Hau returned the smile at the signature move used in the sentence. Well, that was one thing that hadn't changed. Professor Kukui must have gotten his penchant for including moves in his statements from Kekei.

Kekei pushed open the door to the house. "Hey, Bruna--"

No sooner had he spoken than a bucket of water dumped from its precarious perch above the front door, soaking both Kekei and Gladion. The bucket clattered to the ground, rolling away innocently.

"Gladion!" Hau gasped as water dripped off Gladion and Kekei. The water appeared to have woken Gladion.

"Why am I wet...?" Gladion muttered, raising his head from Kekei's shoulder and blinking slowly.

Kekei released a heavy sigh as cackling was heard a man a few years younger than Kekei emerged from a side room, clutching his stomach as he wheezed.

"Oh, I got you good!"

The man, who had obviously been the one to set the bucket of water above the door by his reaction to Kekei getting hit, had brown hair pulled back into a low Ponyta-tail. Faint stubble ran horizontally across his upper lip. He wore a lightweight orange jacket with white flowers over a blue sleeveless shirt and white shorts.

The man stopped laughing when he noticed Gladion on Kekei’s back and Hau looking around Kekei’s side. “You have guests.”

“Dang it, Khala,” Kekei growled, shaking his head as he stepped into the house. “One of the worst times for your stupid pranks…”

"How was I supposed to know you brought home two straggly teens?!"

Chapter Text

"Come on, I said I was sorry," Khala grumbled as Kekei continued to dry his hair. Kekei hadn't said much, but Khala knew him well enough to know Kekei was angry. "How was I supposed to know you'd bring guests?"

"I don't know, actually not play a prank for once?" Kekei sighed, his hair finally dry and his wet clothes hanging on the front porch. He had changed out of them into dry clothes. "If that kid gets a cold because of your water prank, it's on your head, Khala."

Khala frowned, considering the consequences. He hadn't meant to hit someone else with his prank, much less someone who was injured. He cast his gaze towards the guest room where Bruna and the two teenagers were. "You think she can help them?"

"Bruna's a good medic.” Kekei headed into the kitchen to continue cooking dinner. Thank the Tapu they had enough food for two extra mouths. “I trust she'll be able to get that kid better."

Hau hovered on the other side of the bed as he watched Bruna use a mortar and pestle to crush a mixture of berries and herbs. She was planning on making a numbing agent so she could start stitching the laceration in Gladion's side. Hau wasn't exactly sure how he could help her out, especially when he had almost embarrassed himself yet again.

Bruna looked like Burnet, strikingly so. Short white hair, golden eyes. Hau shouldn't have been surprised. He knew the time period they were in and that these people were Professor Kukui and Burnet's ancestors. She had introduced herself as a medic and a historian of Alolan's myths and legends. Recently, she and a few other researchers had discovered some old ruins with ancient drawings of strange beasts that didn't quite look like Pokémon. Hau could only assume she meant Ultra Beasts, but he kept quiet on that fact. He didn't want to inadvertently change the future by mentioning something like Ultra Beasts.

Due to the water from Khala's prank, Gladion and Hau's shirts had to be removed from the wound. Hau let Kekei toss them; the shirts were torn and bloody, so there wasn't a reason to keep them. Kekei let Hau borrow one of his shirts which was a little big on him, but Hau was grateful. 

Thankfully, the wound had slowed its bleeding. Hau had been concerned about the bed getting bloody, but Bruna said she didn't mind. She was focused on getting together the proper items to prepare stitching the wound and getting it bandaged. She had some Spinarak silk as thread, a needle for the stitches, scissors, two forceps with round heads, and bandages made from Dewpider thread; strong and able to handle submersion in water, meaning Gladion could take a bath without exposing the stitches to bacteria.

As Hau wondered what he could do to help Bruna so she wasn't handling everything alone, Hau had noticed several scars littering Gladion's chest and arms that he wondered how he hadn't seen them before. They were old scars. A few were small but there were a few larger ones that could have been stitched at one point. Hau wondered if the wounds had been caused by Type: Null; he remembered Gladion mentioning that the reason his clothes had so many holes in them was because of Type: Null's iron helmet. Hau couldn't ask of course and he never would; the scars were obviously a private matter and Gladion would tell Hau whenever he was ready.

Gladion was quietly laying in the bed, watching Bruna work on the numbing paste. He was paler than normal due to the blood loss. Mostly, he looked exhausted and Hau didn't blame him. The only reason Hau wasn't tired was because he was running on pure adrenaline.

"You know, you could hold his hand if you want to."

Hau startled at the voice bringing him out of his own head. He looked at Bruna, who was still staring at the mortar and pestle in her hands. "H-huh?!"

"You can hold his hand." Bruna chuckled, raising her head to look at Hau. "If you want to be useful. The numbing agent does most of the work, but he'll still feel tugging sensations. Might be uncomfortable."

"Oh. Uh." Hau looked at Gladion to see if it was all right.

Gladion gave a small shrug before holding out his left hand. "I guess it's all right. Can I sleep once you're done?"

"I know you're tired," Bruna said, scooping up the berry and herb paste using two fingers. She carefully smeared it around the edges of Gladion's wound, ignoring his flinch at the cold. "I'd like you to eat something before you sleep. Best to help your body recover with some food."

Carefully, Hau sat on the mattress, right by Gladion's side so he could hold Gladion's hand. He crossed his legs to get into a comfortable position, resting his and Gladion's intertwined hands on his leg.

Hau wanted to help Bruna more, but he wasn't a medic. He knew nothing about suturing. The best he could do was hold Gladion's hand, which made him feel useless. All he could do was offer comfort while his friend was in pain.

Bruna glanced at Hau as she continued to smear the salve on Gladion's wound. "So, where are you two from?"

Hau knew what she was doing. She was keeping him distracted by asking questions. Keeping him grounded. Hau appreciated it.

"We're from Alola. Though, we're not--"

"From this time period." Bruna chuckled as she set the mortar and pestle on the table beside the bed. She used a towel to wipe the mixture off her hands. "I can tell by your strange clothes. You also did fall out of the sky."

Hau blinked, surprised. So she and Kekei knew about that wormhole? "Wait, you know about that?"

"Why do you think Kekei was outside to find you? We were on the porch, ready to watch the sunrise, when that crack opened up. Then to our surprise, three figures fell out of the hole that appeared after the crack split. He wanted to check it out and he found you two." Bruna wagged her finger at Hau as if berating a naughty child. "You're lucky he did, too. You're too far from town to get your friend help."

"I...we're really grateful you helped us," Hau said, his grip on Gladion's hand tightening. "You didn't have to do this."

"Well, we can't very well leave kids lost in a strange time to fend for themselves, can we?" Bruna smiled. "Besides, it's not our nature to do so. Alola is stronger together with people and Pokémon helping each other."

"That man..." Gladion said, his eyes tracking Bruna's movements as she grabbed the thread and needle. "Khala. Who is he to you?"

"He's another stray we sort of took in. He was chosen by Tapu Koko as the Kahuna for Melemele." Bruna shook her head, focusing her attention on prepping the stitching needle. "Fitting, honestly, as Khala is a notorious prankster."

That was right. It was the time period that the Rite of Island Trials began; after catching wind of the Trials Poni Island citizens would have their 11-year-olds complete as a rite of passage into adulthood, the other islands began to do the same thing. When King Malauoi united the islands into one Alola, he decreed every year to have the Trials take place between islands and all of age children. If there were no 11-year-olds to complete the Trials, the islands would instead do festivals and wrestling to honor the Tapu guardians. Four Kahunas, brave in spirit and mind, were chosen by the Tapu to lead the Trials with Captains of their choosing. The Captains would administer the Trials themselves, using their partner Totem Pokémon--abnormally large Pokémon that were stronger than others of their kind with the unique ability to raise their stats by force–as proctors to determine whether a Trial goer was worthy of facing the island Kahuna.

Only recently had Hau discovered that the Totem Pokémon's size and ability to raise their stats was due to energy from the Ultra Wormholes. During this time period, though, Totem Pokémon were thought to have been blessed by the Tapu as guardians of the islands, protecting the people and Pokémon should something happen to the Tapu.

Wait, was that Golisopod...? Hau wondered, recalling the giant Golisopod he and Gladion had run into shortly after arriving to Alola's past. He didn't recall a bug type Captain, but perhaps, 250 years ago, there was one. Even though Hau had read all he could on Alola's past, the answer he sought about the Trials still eluded him. Perhaps some of Alola's past had been erased. That begged the question of why it was erased unless it held sensitive information.

No, that couldn't be it. 250 years ago, immigrants from Kanto were just arriving, bringing with them some of their region's Pokémon, like Pikachu, Meowth, and Rattata. Rattata had yet to become an invasive species that required the help of Yungoos to get under control. Ilima's Totem had been a Gumshoos, but 250 years ago, Gumshoos weren't in Alola. Perhaps then--

"You're hurting my hand."

Gladion's voice cut into Hau's thoughts. He was squeezing Gladion's hand too tight.

"O-oh, sorry!" Hau released his grip on Gladion's hand, leaning away with his hands raised in defeat. Gladion frowned, rubbing his hand. "Sorry. I didn't--"

"You get deep into thought, don't you?" Bruna asked with a gentle smile in Hau's direction. "Kekei is the same way when he's thinking. Sometimes, he doesn't even hear me calling for him."

Hau sighed, dropping his hands into his lap. "Sorry. I guess I'm just thinking about what I've read on Alola's past and...trying to line it up with the future?" Hau rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not making sense. I shouldn't even be talking about the future."

Bruna hummed, amused. Of course she tried to sympathize with Hau; being trapped in a different time, with no obvious way home was unsettling and scary. It was easy to cling to familiar waters and Hau’s familiar waters were history. Bruna pushed on the outer edges of Gladion's wounds, watching him intently for a response. "Do you feel anything when I do this?"

Gladion shook his head.

"Good." Bruna looked at Hau. "Actually, I think you can help me with the stitches, Hau."

"I-I can?" Hau asked, glancing at Gladion before slowly scooting to the edge of the bed. "What do you want me to do?"

"I'm going to have to do deeper stitches to make sure everything heals properly with as little scarring as possible. See those forceps?" Bruna gestured to one of the metal pincers laying near the mortar and pestle. "I'd like you to use them to keep his wound open a little wider so I can see while I stitch his muscles. Do you think you can do that?"

Hau nodded quickly, eager to do something to help out. Even if it was just as an assistant. "Yeah, I can do that."

"Good. Glad you aren't squeamish."

Hau grabbed the forceps and kneeled by the bed, giving enough space for Bruna to do her work. The last thing he wanted to do was get in her way and make it more difficult to stitch.

Bruna picked up the second pair of forceps, holding them in one hand and the needle in her other hand.

"All right." Bruna smiled at Gladion to reassure him, holding the tip of the needle against the outer edge of Gladion's wound. "You'll just feel cold from the metal and a pinching sensation with every pass of the needle. If you feel anything else, let me know so I can put more of the numbing agent on."

Gladion nodded. "Okay."

“Thank you for being so patient.” Bruna looked at Hau. "Okay, use the forceps to keep the wound open. Not too wide. As I go along, just move the forceps down."

Hau nodded, carefully pressing the rounded blades of the forceps against the outer edge of the wound. He glanced at Gladion to see if what he was doing was painful, but Gladion didn't appear uncomfortable.

The only sign that Gladion gave of discomfort was when Bruna stuck the needle through his skin to begin the process of stitching.

As Bruna started a steady rhythm of sticking the muscle, using the forceps to pull the needle through, then looping the needle back to tighten the sutures, Hau spotted a tattoo inked onto the skin of her left ring finger. A black tattoo in the shape of Tapu Koko's shell markings.

Back before the Alolan people had discovered a way to waterproof wedding bands to last through Alola's monsoon season and survive the salt of the sea, tattoo wedding rings were common. Long-lasting, never fading, and able to withstand temperature changes. Usually, it was an elder of the village who would tattoo the couple, but only after strict measures were met. Tapu Koko, or the other Tapu depending on the island, had to accept the marriage. That meant after vows were spoken, the priest would call upon the Tapu and ask if they agreed the marriage was acceptable. If the Tapu showed themselves or called out, the tattoo bands would be inked.

If there was no appearance or answer, then the couple could choose to not be recognized as a married couple and remain together or break up to find their perfect partner.

Hau had always considered it a backwards way of finding the 'perfect someone'. Though, he supposed even if the Tapu never acknowledged the couple, if they were in love, then what did it matter if they were recognized by law or not? He was still young and wouldn't know the true meaning of love for a while.

"There we go." Bruna pulled her hands away as she finished the last stitch. "Much better."

Hau blinked, lowering the forceps so he wouldn't stick the stitches and ruin them. His body had gone on autopilot while he had been thinking. It was better than forgetting what he was doing in the first place, he supposed.

"Give me one second." Bruna stood and took the mortar and pestle before leaving the room. "Need to get some water and herbs for antibiotic salve."

Hau watched her leave before he looked at Gladion. "You doing all right?"

"As okay as I can be, I suppose," Gladion replied with a small shrug. "Will you fill me in more on what happened before the Wormhole?"

Hau nodded quickly. "If you want to know, sure!"

Gladion smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Thanks."

Hau never liked Gladion's smile. It reminded him of when Gladion had refused anyone's help, determined to become stronger all by himself without leaning on anyone for support. Even if he was in Team Skull as their enforcer, he and the grunts never seemed to get along. Gladion's relationship with even Guzma had been tense with the two trading nasty words. Only once Gladion had realized he couldn't do everything alone forever and was desperate to save Lillie did he reluctantly allow Hau, Selene, and Elio to help him infiltrate Aether Paradise. Not that he needed their help since he was Lusamine's son and could come and go freely. Hau had never gotten an answer as to why Gladion had kept that a secret.

Had he been afraid they'd treat him differently, knowing he was related to the President of Aether? Gladion didn't need to worry about that at all; Hau would have kept treating him the same either way. They hadn't been quite friends at that point, but Hau had hoped at one point they would be once everything had been said and done.

Things had worked out in the end. While Gladion didn't call them friends, Hau knew if Gladion didn't like them, he'd make sure they knew it. Gladion didn't quite keep his heart on his sleeve like Hau, but he did not mince words. The fact Gladion remained around the presence of Hau, Selene, Elio, and even Guzma said all Hau needed to know about their friendship status.

Even after the events of the Ultra Wormhole Fiasco, Gladion rarely smiled. It was a defense mechanism, Hau was fully aware. Gladion was still healing from what his mother had done, even a year later. Determined to fix the Aether Paradise from the inside out with his own two hands. Still used to doing everything by himself.

His smiles were usually geared towards Lillie, whom he would kill for. Those smiles reached his eyes, softening his tough guy exterior. His other smiles hadn't been quite as warm as the special ones he saved for Lillie, but there was still a spark of life in them.

Now it was like Gladion had gone back to before the Fiasco. Back to bitter, alone, and suffering. Hau wasn't going to let that happen. Not if he could help it.

"What?"

Hau blinked then shook his head. Gladion was staring at him with a raised eyebrow. "Huh?"

"You've been staring at me for the past minute."

“Oh, sorry.” Hau rubbed the back of his neck. He was still holding the forceps so he set them on the stand beside the bed. “I guess I spaced out again.”

Gladion tilted his head, bangs falling out of his right eye. "You've been spacing out a lot. Is that normal for you?"

Hau chuckled. “It depends on who you ask.” He sighed, staring at Gladion with a sorrowful expression. “So you really don’t remember anything, huh?”

“Just my name. Well, my age too. I’m from Alola.” Gladion hummed, running his fingers through his bangs. “Sil…vally?”

“Oh, that’s one of your Pokémon partners! They've been with you forever.” Hau glanced around before he stood. He had put his Poké balls on the dresser right beside Gladion’s. “I can let them and Lycanroc out if you want me to. I’m sure they’d like to know you’re all right.”

“You can let them out once I’m finished with him,” Bruna said with a small chuckle as she entered the room with the mortar and pestle as well as a small bowl with warm water. A small towel was thrown over her shoulder. "I still have a few more things to do."

"O-oh, of course!" Hau stood quickly and moved out of the way so Bruna could get to Gladion's wound. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. You're worried about your friend." Bruna placed the mortar and pestle on the nightstand then sat beside Gladion once again, dipping one end of the towel in the warm water before wiping the stitches. "He's lucky to have you."

Hau laughed, rubbing the back of his neck.

Bruna gently dried the wound then grabbed the mortar. Inside the mortar was a clear salve. Once she had applied some of the clear salve, Bruna covered the stitches with a square bandage before wrapping gauze around Gladion's waist. "There we go, all finished. Please, try not to move around too much. It wouldn't do to open the stitches. If you need help with anything, I'm sure Hau would be more than willing to aid you."

Gladion smiled slightly while Hau nodded fiercely. "Thank you, Bruna."

Gathering up her supplies, Bruna made her way to the door before stopping by the threshold. "I'll be right back with dinner."

"We'll be right here," Hau said, moving back to Gladion's side with Silvally and Lycanroc's Poké balls.

Once Bruna had left, Hau opened the Poké balls to release the Pokémon inside.

Silvally and Lycanroc looked at their surroundings, sniffing the air. When they spotted Gladion, they both moved to the bed. Lycanroc stood right beside Gladion's bed, placing his paws on the edge while Silvally jumped onto the bed.

"H-hey, careful, Silvally!" Hau warned. He knew he didn't have to. Silvally was avoiding jostling Gladion too much.

Silvally sniffed Gladion before rubbing their nose against Gladion's cheek.

Gladion set a hand against Silvally's cheek, staring at the artificial Pokémon silently for a few moments. He smiled, setting his other hand on Silvally's cheek. "Silvally."

Silvally huffed as if offended it took Gladion a long time to do that. They licked Gladion's cheek, practically enveloping Gladion's head with their mouth in the process.

Gladion laughed at the awkward show of affection, pushing Silvally's face off him. "Ugh, that's so gross, Silvally!"

Silvally grumbled then laid beside Gladion, resting their head on Gladion's chest, being careful of his bandages.

Gladion rested his left hand on Silvally's back then looked at Lycanroc. "Hey, buddy."

"Ly." Lycanroc shuffled closer when Gladion reached his other hand to rub Lycanroc's mane. His short tail thumped at the affection he was receiving. "Lycan."

"I'm all right. Thanks for being so patient."

Hau smiled as he watched Gladion interact with his two Pokémon. He always knew Gladion was a softie towards Pokémon, especially since he had Lucario and Umbreon, both of which evolved through friendship. Despite his tough guy exterior, Gladion cared about his Pokémon a lot.

"So, you said you'd like to know more?" Hau asked as he sat beside Gladion while Gladion continued to rub Lycanroc's mane.

"I'd like to know about what we did before we went to the Wormhole."

Hau nodded, though he was hesitant. How much would be enough? He didn't want to somehow corrupt Gladion's memories by telling him stories and events Gladion remembered differently. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't at least tell Gladion about Elio and the others. Perhaps something would jog Gladion's memories of them. He would just have to be careful and allow Gladion time to remember himself.

"All right, well...we spent the day at the beach..."

"How's the kid doing?" Khala asked as Bruna pulled out two extra bowls to put dinner into. 'He doing all right?"

"He's fine. Strong kid."

"Told you," Kekei said. He was sitting at the table with his own bowl of dinner. "Feeling guilt for you stupid prank?"

"It wasn't a stupid prank. It was an excellent prank."

"You two, behave." Bruna pinned both of the men with a warning look when Kekei was about to continue the argument.

The look was enough to get Kekei and Khala to continue eating their dinners.

With that settled, Bruna picked up the bowls and returned to the guest room. She stopped at the threshold.

Inside the room, Gladion was asleep with Silvally by his side. Lycanroc had hopped onto the bed, curling up by Gladion's feet.

Hau was still by Gladion's side. He was asleep as well, head buried in his arms. The fingers of his left hand were loosely intertwined with Gladion's fingers.

She sighed, shaking her head with a small smile. Well, she supposed she could cover the food and keep it in the ice box until morning. 

"They're asleep?" Kekei asked when Bruna returned to the kitchen with the two bowls. "Is that all right?"

"They've been through a lot, Kekei. I'm surprised they've stayed awake as long as they have." Bruna sighed, setting the bowls on the countertop. "I just don't know what we should do with them."

"Well, we can't abandon them," Kekei said adamantly. "They're lost in a strange world. It'd be cruel of us to help them then kick them out to fend for themselves."

"I know, Kekei. I wasn't going to abandon them either. I suppose for now we can take them in. Just until we can figure out how to help them return home."

Khala listened to the couple quietly, but didn't input his thoughts. Even though he was Kahuna of Melemele, he was not the owner of the house. His suggestions held no weight and weren't final.

He was wary of the kids. They looked harmless enough, but they had fallen from the sky out of a strange opening. While he didn't mind the idea of the kids staying for an unknown amount of time, he wasn't the only Kahuna. The other three Kahuna were bound to resist the idea of sheltering sky fallen kids.

Kids from the sky? Khala thought, shaking his head as he stared at his remaining dinner. From a different time, no less? This is a bad omen.

He hoped Kekei and Bruna knew what they were getting themselves into.

Chapter Text

Hau woke up right as the sun was beginning to rise. It had become a habit for him to rise with the sun and take full advantage of what the day had to offer. He had no plans, of course; not with Gladion injured. That didn't stop his internal clock from telling him it was time to wake up and seize the day.

Rubbing his eyes, Hau stretched his arms out in front of him with a quiet groan. Falling asleep hunched over at the side of the bed hadn't been the best idea in the world, but after everything they had gone through the day before, he had been exhausted. Before he knew it, he had just fallen asleep right by Gladion's side instead of moving into bed. Hau sat up straighter and stretched his arms above his head to loosen his sore muscles before he glanced down at Gladion.

For several moments, Hau stared at Gladion, watching him to make sure he was still breathing.

When he saw Gladion's chest rise in his sleep, Hau relaxed. It had been a long day and after the blood Gladion had lost, Hau had been concerned that he hadn't made it through the night, weak as he was. Like Kekei had said, Gladion was strong. Stronger than Gladion gave himself credit for, if Hau was being honest.

Hau knew Gladion was strong, not only in battle but also physically and mentally. After all, Hau couldn't have done what Gladion had: run away from home at a young age like a criminal, stealing a secretive experiment in order to protect it. Living off the money of a criminal gang. All of it was to protect the then Type: Null and his sister. Hau couldn't have done any of it. He would have returned home within a few hours. Gladion stayed away for two years, living with just himself and Type: Null in a motel room.

Hau hadn't told Gladion, but he had visited Gladion's motel room one time while he had been away. It had been a concerned Elio who had told him about the living conditions. The room wasn't that bad. Gladion was a clean person. He cared about Type: Null enough to buy a dog Pokémon bed for them. Even now, as the President of the Aether Foundation, Gladion lived in the same motel room. Hau didn't need to ask why to understand: it was his home. A place he felt safe.

Even though Gladion had changed a lot between the events of the Fiasco and now, Hau wished Gladion would be a bit more open with his feelings. They were friends, after all. Friends helped each other no matter what.

Perhaps this was Hau's chance to help teach Gladion that relying on others didn't make you weak. Relying on others was a sign of strength.

Hau blinked, his gaze focusing in on Gladion's left ear. The two metal clasps were fake. His ears actually weren't pierced.

Hau actually hadn't noticed that much about Gladion's appearance outside of his usual torn clothes, hoodie, and the fringe of hair hanging over his right eye; staring at someone wasn't something Hau usually did as it was considered rude. Still, the first time he had run into Gladion, he remembered the first thing that had been easily noticeable hadn't been his clothes or hairstyle. It had been his eye color.

Outside of Lillie, Hau hadn't seen someone with such bright green eyes before. At that time, he hadn't even considered the possibility of the two being related by similar eye color alone. He had seen several people with green eyes before, just not as bright as Gladion's.

Elio had related Gladion's eyes to emerald and Hau had agreed. Now, though, he realized they didn't really fit an emerald. They fit green sea glass. Bright, almost transparent. Hardened by the trials of the world. Still, somehow, fragile in its strength.

Not that Hau would ever tell Gladion what he thought about his eyes. That would be weird.

Lycanroc had moved sometime in the middle of the night to lay on his back between Gladion's legs. His legs were sticking in the air, head tilted back at what had to be an uncomfortable angle. Lycanroc's paws twitched in his sleep, as if he were chasing something in his dreams.

Silvally was still by Gladion's side, but was wide awake. Silvally was staring at Hau with an amused expression, head tilted slightly.

Hau realized he may have been staring at Gladion a little too long to be considered normal.

"What? I can't make sure he's all right?"

Silvally said nothing and instead lowered their head back onto Gladion's stomach, closing their eyes to resume sleeping.

Hau shook his head then stood. He didn't want to just sit around waiting for Gladion to wake up. Since they were staying at Bruna's place, he wanted to help out however he could to repay her and Kekei for their kindness.

"Tell me if he wakes up, okay?" Hau asked, patting Silvally's crest before he left the room.

Silvally huffed their response.

Outside of the guest room, Hau could smell brewed coffee, eggs frying, and sizzling meat. Bruna was in the kitchen busy with breakfast preparations. Kekei was at the table, reading a newspaper. A cup of coffee sat beside him. Khala sat across from Kekei, glancing between two pieces of paper in his hand, eyebrows furrowed.

Hau hadn't really taken in the house the night before, concerned more for Gladion than the place they would be staying in.

It was a decent sized house. The living room flowed into the kitchen which had lacquered Alolan Parana pine wood cabinets and countertops. A raised, smooth black stone served as a stove where scraps of kindling would be slid beneath and lit to heat the stone for cooking. Against one side of the lower cabinets was a medium white box carved from large slabs of grey stone with a wooden lid.

Since refrigerators had yet to be invented, Alolans used ice boxes insulated with the fur of Crabominable. Ice was crafted with the help of Sneasel or Snorunt. Less ice was used on one side to create a cooler section for fruit, drinks, and thawing meat. The ice box was still used by some in the modern day as a way to save on electricity. Hau knew Hala had two ice boxes in the storage area at the back of his house where he stored spare meat.

There was a loft near the front door that Hau assumed was where Khala slept. Across from the guest room where he and Gladion were staying was another room that had to be Bruna and Kekei's. A hall branched off from the kitchen, leading to the bathroom.

"Good morning, Hau!" Kekei greeted, glancing up from the newspaper in his hand. Khala also raised his head from his paperwork before he returned to the task at hand. "You made quite the stir with your arrival, you know."

Hau blinked, tilting his head as he walked into the kitchen. "I'm sorry?"

"Here." Kekei folded the paper in half then tossed it across the table. "Halfway down."

Hau picked up the newspaper, looking towards the middle of the news columns to see a title Mysterious Wormhole In The Sky Above Melemele in bold. Beneath the words was a blurry, black and white photo. The photograph showed the Ultra Wormhole wide open in the sky. From it were three indistinguishable figures that Hau knew were him, Gladion, and Decidueye.

"Oh." Hau slid the newspaper back to Kekei. "I'm sorry."

"Making all sorts of headaches for me," Khala muttered, dropping the papers on the table. "I have so many letters to sift through from concerned residents about alien invaders. King Malauoi is sure to catch wind of this and have all Kahuna speak with him concerning the matter."

"Oh, don't sound so sour," Kekei said, taking a sip of his coffee. "As long as you ease the people of Melemele's fears, then you shouldn't have to deal with King Malauoi."

"Easy for you to say. You aren't the Kahuna chosen by Tapu Koko to defend the island."

There was something about Khala that was bothering Hau ever since he had first seen the Kahuna. He felt like he should know Khala. He was familiar somehow. The realization struck Hau like a Thunderbolt out of the blue.

Of course it had taken Hau a while to remember why Khala looked familiar, but now he knew why. When he was around six, he had been shown old family photos from the safety of his mom's lap. It was fun looking at all the pictures of himself as a baby, his many cousins, and even his uncle Hala. One photo had been of Hala from when he was in his twenties, shortly after taking up the mantle of Kahuna of Melemele.

His hair was brown and he was much thinner. Still, he wore the Kahuna jacket over his regular clothes even though it was a bit large on him, handed down from the previous Kahuna. The start of a mustache was barely noticeable.

Now that Hau got a good look at Khala, the resemblance was undeniable. He and Hala were practically twins. Even the penchant for pranks was similar. Hau recalled his mother fondly telling him of the times Hala had played pranks on her and his brother, Hau's father.

"You see, Koko sometimes chooses Kahuna with a similar penchant for mischief," Ele said. "While those with strong hearts and noble spirits are excellent candidates for Kahuna, the Tapu are fickle with their decisions and a lot of times, the simplest answer is the right answer."

"Uncle Hala was the bestest answer?"

"Your uncle was the bestest candidate. He is strong in mind, body, and spirit. He's made the people of Melemele proud."

"How are you feeling, Hau?" Bruna asked, drawing Hau out of his thoughts.

Hau shook his head to clear it. He really needed to stop being shocked at the revelation of meeting the ancestors of people he knew. "Oh, I'm fine. Thank you for asking."

"Your friend is all right, as well?"

"He's still sleeping."

"Good. We'll let him sleep while I finish up breakfast."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Hau asked. "I'd like to be of some use to thank you for your hospitality."

"Actually, you can help make the fruit bowl." Bruna pointed to the ice chest against the wall. "The left side of the ice chest holds the fruit. Take out the blueberries, strawberries, banana, and kiwi then cut them up into a bowl. After that, sprinkle some sugar on them."

Hau nodded. He could do that.

As Hau went over to the ice chest to grab the fruit, Kekei came into the kitchen to place his empty coffee mug in the sink.

"That Loco Moco smells delightful," Kekei said, wrapping his arms around Bruna's waist and setting his chin on her shoulder.

Bruna chuckled as Kekei kissed the side of her neck. She was well aware of his ploy. "Stop trying to steal some before everyone else, you naughty man."

Loco Moco was an Alolan specialty and it was even rarer back in that time period. With Miltank and Tauros only recently coming into Alola from the arrival of Johto and Kanto immigrants, the discovery of their delectable meat was recent for the Alolan who only used them for milk and milk byproducts. Loco Moco had been crafted by a traveler who had needed to use the Miltank meat before it expired. With only gravy, a single bird Pokémon egg on hand, and rice, he had combined all three to create a hearty, filling meal that could be made for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Once he had shown others how to make it, Loco Moco had caught like wildfire in Alola.

It was one of Hau's favorite foods. Alongside Malasada, of course.

"If you want to help, you can make some Pinap juice."

Kekei sighed dramatically as he went to the ice chest to grab four Pinap berries from its depths. "All right, all right."

Hau smiled at the interaction as he focused on cutting the fruit. Professors Kukui and Burnet acted the same way around each other; their personalities and actions complimented the other. It was as if they had been made to be with each other.

With all three of them in the kitchen, breakfast was made in no time. Bruna divided the fruit into five small bowls which fit neatly into the space left on the plate of Loco Moco. After setting aside her plate, Bruna made plates for Kekei, Khala, Hau, and Gladion.

Hau was working out how to take both his and Gladion's plates to the guest room. He didn't want to make two trips to get the Pinap juice, but he also didn't want to spill the food Bruna worked so hard on.

"Here, let me take the other plate." Bruna picked up the plate of food for Gladion in one hand and the glass of Pinap juice in the other.

Hau smiled. He wasn't about to deny her help. "Thank you."

After grabbing his glass of juice, Hau followed Bruna to the guestroom where Gladion was already awake. He had pushed himself halfway into a sitting position. Silvally and Lycanroc had hopped down from the bed and were sitting right beside it to keep Gladion company.

"Good morning, Gladion," Bruna said, setting the plate and glass on the nightstand. "How are you feeling?"

"A little sore."

Bruna nodded. "That's to be expected." Bruna smiled at Lycanroc and Silvally, leaning her hands on her knees. "Would you two like some food as well?"

The two glanced at each other before they looked at Gladion.

"Go on." Gladion waved a hand. "You should eat something."

"Right, I bet Raichu and Decidueye are also hungry," Hau muttered, remembering his Pokémon hadn't eaten for a long time.

"I can make a berry mix for them," Bruna said. "They'll love it. Go ahead and call them out."

Hau set his plate down and went to grab his Poké balls from the desk. He opened them to release Raichu and Decidueye.

Bruna gasped as Raichu and Decidueye both stretched out, relieved to be free of their confines.

"What a delightful little Raichu you have," Bruna cooed. "Hey, little guy. You're not like the Kanto Raichu, huh?"

"Rai?" Raichu tilted his head before looking at Hau.

That was right. Pikachu and its evolution had only just recently been brought over from Kanto. They had yet to become their regional variant.

"Uh, it's kind of hard to explain?" Hau said, but Bruna waved a hand.

"No need. I've heard of a phenomenon of physical differences between Pokémon of different regions that a Professor from Galar dubbed 'regional variants'. Some Pokémon evolve to fit their environment." Bruna looked Raichu over, circling him. "Fascinating. Is it still an electric type?"

"He's also half psychic."

"Ah, yes, to surf on its own tail it has to have some kind of psychokinesis. What a beautiful Raichu."

The compliment preened Raichu's feathers and Raichu puffed himself up. "Rai rai."

"Come. Let's get you some food." Bruna made her way to the door with the four Pokémon trailing behind her. She looked over her shoulder at Hau. "Make sure he eats. I'll be back in a little bit."

"Yes, ma'am." Hau nodded.

"Is that a Raichu?!" Khala's voice asked.

Hau shook his head before he handed Gladion's plate to him. "Here. Try and eat some."

Gladion watched Hau move to the other side of the bed where he picked up his own plate. Hau sat on the edge of the bed and dug into the Loco Moco first.

"It's really good!"

Gladion stared down at the plate on his lap before he began to pick at some of the fruit. They were sweet and juicy. Despite the fact he hadn't eaten for a while, it seemed his body had yet to pick up on that.

Hau noticed that Gladion had stopped eating his fruit and hadn't even touched the Loco Moco. "You should try and eat some more."

"I'm not really that hungry."

As if summoned by that single phrase, Bruna returned to the room. She stood at the foot of Gladion's bed with her hands on her hips. "Young man, you better eat more. You need to regain your strength if you're ever going to heal."

Oh, she was in full mom mode now and Hau knew it was best to not step into that territory of attempting to dissuade her from her mission.

Gladion opened his mouth to continue arguing that he wasn't hungry, but Bruna held up a hand to stop him.

"No buts. You eat even if you're not hungry." Bruna clapped her hands. "Now, while you eat, I'm going to check your stitches. Then you can have a bath."

A bath sounded delightful. Hau felt absolutely dirty from their crash onto the ground the day before.

"Is it all right if he takes a bath?" Hau asked, watching Bruna take off the bandages around Gladion's waist.

Gladion was reluctantly eating some of his Loco Moco to avoid being reprimanded more.

Bruna nodded. "As long as there's no soap in there, he can take a bath. Just make sure the stitches are thoroughly dry once you're out."

It was an amusing sight to watch as Bruna worked on untying the bandages. Every time Gladion stopped eating, Bruna would look up to shoot him a glare. Only then would he continue picking at his food.

Staring at the wound and pressing on it a bit to watch Gladion's reaction, Bruna seemed satisfied with whatever she saw as she nodded.

"Looking good so far." Bruna stood from her crouch, wadding up the old bandages. "You'll have to help him so he doesn't strain himself too much, but as long as there's no soap, a bath should be fine."

"What about washing his hair?"

"Shampoo's all right. A little bit shouldn't hurt. Don't worry either about blood in the water. As long as it's not a lot of blood, seeing some streaks is normal as the body continues to heal."

Hau nodded. That made sense since the body had yet to form a scab over the injury.

"I'll make sure there are some towels in the bathroom and a fresh roll of bandages for you." Bruna looked at Gladion to see how he was faring with eating his breakfast. Gladion had eaten half his food which seemed to satisfy Bruna who took the plate. "I suppose that will have to do. I'd rather you not throw up by forcing yourself to eat all of it."

Gladion stared at his lap, rubbing his hands up and down his legs as if wiping off sweat or warming his hands. "It was good....thank you..."

Bruna smiled at the nervous habit. "I'm glad you liked it." With plate and bandages in hand, Bruna walked to the door. "I'll show you to the bathroom once you two are ready."

"Thanks," Hau said as Bruna left.

With Bruna gone, Hau's brain finally put two and two together on what exactly happened during the conversation. She had implied they would be taking a bath together.

Him and Gladion sharing a tub.

The idea shouldn't have made Hau as nervous as it did. It wasn't like he hadn't seen other guys naked. Public baths weren't that common in Alola, but they existed. It was a way for bonds to be built between communities.

It would be faster to take a bath together, after all. Conserve water and time.

"You all right?"

Hau startled, nearly dropping his plate. He managed to steady the plate so no food dropped on the floor.

Gladion was watching him with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah!" Hau's voice came out a bit higher pitched than he intended. He tried again, clearing his throat. "Yeah. I was just thinking if you're ready, we can go take a bath."

Gladion shrugged one shoulder. "Sure. A bath sounds good."

"G-great!" Hau hopped off the bed. "I'll tell Bruna then!"

Gladion blinked as Hau all but bolted from the room.

That was weird, Gladion thought.

That was weird, right? Gladion wasn't sure if this was normal Hau behavior or not since he couldn't remember.

Shaking his head, Gladion threw off the covers over his legs and swung his legs out of bed. Using the nightstand as support, Gladion pushed himself to his feet.

"Hey, hold on." Hau moved to Gladion's side in a flash, grabbing his left arm and pulling it over his shoulder to support Gladion. "You shouldn't try to move by yourself."

"I can walk by myself," Gladion protested. Despite that, he didn't try to pull away from Hau's grasp.

"I'd rather you not strain yourself," Bruna said from the doorway. "It wouldn't do to rip the stitches."

Gladion didn't protest further, allowing Hau to lead him out of the room.

Bruna took them past the kitchen to a room at the end of the hall. The door was open and inside, a square, Johtoian style bathtub was already filled with steaming water. On the edge of the sink was a roll of bandages and two pairs of clothes.

"They might be a little bit big on you two, but they'll do until we can get a stitcher to come make you clothes that actually fit."

"Thank you very much," Hau said.

Bruna smiled as the two entered the bathroom. "You two take your time, all right? When you're out, let's discuss what we want for lunch."

Hau nodded. He released Gladion as Bruna shut the bathroom door. Gladion supported himself against the sink.

"Can I....?" Hau gestured to Gladion's earrings and boxers. He didn't want to take away Gladion's autonomy by doing everything for him if Gladion felt up for the task.

"Go ahead."

Shoving down the nervousness that was threatening to bubble up again, Hau moved closer to Gladion to take off his earrings. Like Hau had thought, the clasps were magnetic. He almost thought about asking if Gladion would ever pierce his ears then decided against it.

With the earrings set on the counter beside the sink, Hau pushed back the awkwardness of what he was going to do next. He was helping his friend so his friend wouldn’t tear his stitches. Kneeling on one knee, Hau grabbed the legs of Gladion’s boxers.

He tried not to go too fast. He didn’t want to have Gladion lose his balance and fall to the ground, injuring himself worse than he already was. Hau kept his eyes on the ground, hoping that by doing so it would lessen the embarrassment between the both of them.

He stood once Gladion had stepped out of the boxers and offered his arm to help Gladion make his way over to the tub.

Gladion took the arm, allowing Hau to support him. The stitches along his side pulled slightly as he shifted his weight to step into the tub without bending too much.

Hau slowly released Gladion as he lowered himself into the tub. "You got it?"

"Yeah, I got it." Gladion hissed as the hot water stung the stitches. The stinging went away relatively quickly.

Like Bruna had warned, a little bit of blood streaked the water in ribbons of pink. Even though Hau was nervous at the sight, the pink eventually faded.

While Hau worked on getting undressed, Gladion leaned against the back of the tub and closed his eyes as he relaxed.

For some reason, it felt to him as if it had been a long time since he had taken a bath. Perhaps it had.

Hau climbed into the tub and sat down a few feet away from Gladion, sliding down until his chin touched the water. "This feels so great. It feels like it's been years since I've had a bath."

Gladion hummed in response, keeping his eyes closed. He hadn't realized that there were a few aching muscles in his legs and arms until the hot water started to relax them.

Gladion opened his eyes, glancing at Hau. Hau had his hair out of its ponytail and hair clips so it fell to his shoulders. It was familiar. Like he had seen Hau with his hair down somewhere before. Before...he left? Left to go where though?

It was frustrating, having the fringes of memories at the back of his mind yet unable to call upon them. Gladion supposed forcing the memories would have the opposite effect of what he wanted and only leave him with a headache, so he didn't even try.

Hau suddenly sat up straighter with a gasp. "Oh, crap!"

Gladion raised an eyebrow at the abrupt reaction. "What?"

"I just remembered we left our Z-rings at the abandoned house."

Before Gladion could ask what abandoned house, Hau sighed, sliding back into the water.

"I guess they should be all right there. After all, no one knows about it so it's not like they'll be stolen or something."

It was probably for the best that they didn't have the Z-rings as Z-rings had yet to exist. Kekei was still trying to find a way for Z-crystals to be used by humans and Hau wanted to keep the future the same.

Hau looked at Gladion. "Do you want me to help you with washing your hair?"

"I think I can handle it."

"All right. I'll be here if you need me."

Gladion and Hau stayed in the bath until the water began to turn cold. Hau helped Gladion out of the tub then helped dry him. He made sure to be careful around the stitches. With the stitches dry, Hau wrapped new gauze over the area then helped Gladion get dressed. Any embarrassment Hau had before had faded. He was focused on making sure his friend was taken care of with clean bandages and fresh clothes.

The clothes actually fit Gladion well enough. They at least weren't falling off. Once Gladion was dressed, Hau got himself dried and dressed as well.

Both sets of clothes left by Bruna were simple enough; beige shorts and a lightweight button-down yellow shirt built to withstand the Alolan heat. The shirt was decorated with the marks of Tapu Koko.

Gladion and Hau felt much better washing the sweat and grime off from the day before.

"Ah, did you two have a good bath?" Kekei asked with a smile as the two came into the kitchen, Hau supporting Gladion. "You look much more refreshed."

Kekei was washing the dishes from breakfast while Bruna was watching Raichu float around on his tail. Despite his feigned indifference, Khala was also watching Raichu as the Pokémon did a loop de loop. Silvally, Lycanroc and Decidueye were watching from nearby. The moment Lycanroc and Silvally spotted Gladion, they both perked up.

Gladion nodded as his Pokémon approached. "Yes, thank you." He smiled at them, reaching out his free hand to pat both of them on the head. “Hey, you two. Miss me?”

"Ly."

Silvally made a noise suspiciously like a purr then licked Gladion's cheek.

"Come on, I just took a bath," Gladion complained, using the sleeve of his shirt to wipe off Silvally's slobber.

Bruna chuckled as Silvally innocently tilted their head. "Oh, they sure like you."

"I think I've had them the longest." Gladion scratched under Silvally's chin, staring into Silvally's silver eyes. "Something tells me that we went through a lot together."

Silvally stared back at Gladion, but made no noise. Instead, they leaned into his touch, closing their eyes.

"Why don't you sit down and we discuss what we should make for lunch," Kekei suggested, drying off a plate and setting it on the stack to his left.

"Is that all right?" Hau asked, looking towards Bruna who was stroking Raichu's fur, much to the Pokémon's delight.

Bruna nodded. "As long as he doesn't bend down, yes."

Hau helped Gladion over to one of the kitchen chairs, lowering him into the seat. Once Gladion was settled, Hau grabbed a spare chair to pull over so he could sit next to Gladion.

"We were thinking laulau with some fried rice; something simple for Gladion to eat, yet tasty," Kekei said, leaning his back against the countertop as he threw the dish towel over his shoulder. "Bruna learned how to make delicious vegetable fried rice from a Kantonian immigrant."

"That sounds fine by me," Hau said and Gladion nodded.

"Excellent. I'll get started on it once I'm done with the dishes." Kekei grabbed the last plate from the stack of dirty ones. His hand touched something that was decidedly not a plate. He glanced down to see that instead of a plate, he was holding a Pyukumuku.

"Pyuk?" The Pyukumuku appeared just as confused as Kekei was, blinking.

"Yeck!" Kekei hurled the Pyukumuku away from him.

The Pyukumuku smacked against the wall then slid to the ground. It shook its head before shaking a fist at Kekei as it slithered around the corner, disappearing down the hallway leading to the bathroom.

Kekei rubbed the Pyukumuku's slime off on his shirt, shooting a glare at Khala who was slapping the table as he wheezed. "Khala!"

"I see you found one of the Pyukumuku I hid around the house!"

"One of the--?! How many did you hide?!"

"I'll never tell!"

Kekei internally groaned. He felt as if he were going to be finding Pyukumuku for the foreseeable future.

It had been a while since Hau had laulau. The particular laulau Kekei made was a mix of chopped taro leaves, Miltank beef, and salted Magikarp filets all wrapped in ti leaves he had steamed.

Hau blew on the piping hot laulau before taking a bite. It scalded his tongue, but laulau was best eaten while hot. "This is amazing!"

Gladion hummed in agreement, though he seemed to be focusing on the vegetable fried rice rather than the laulau. “Fried rice is good.”

"It's much better when Bruna makes it, trust me," Kekei said with a chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. "I appreciate the compliment though."

"You give yourself so little credit, ku'uipo," Bruna said, setting a hand on Kekei's. "Your food is just as good if not better than mine."

"E ku'u alola," Kekei cooed, grabbing Bruna's hand in his other one so he could kiss her knuckles.

"You two are disgustingly sweet," Khala muttered, though his voice was fond and teasing. "Can't believe you have to do that right in front of my laulau."

Hau laughed as Kekei's immediate response was to kiss Bruna on the lips.

Kekei grinned when he heard Khala's fake gagging noises. If Khala could continuously prank him, then he could at least annoy Khala with his and Bruna’s relationship.

A knock at the front door caused Kekei to pull away from Bruna. Everyone looked towards the door as if expecting the visitor to let themselves in.

"Are you expecting anyone?" Gladion asked as Silvally stood from their position at the front of his feet.

Raichu and the other Pokémon also had their attention focused on the door. They weren't growling which Gladion took as a good sign.

"Probably one of the citizens coming to see Khala about the whole wormhole in the sky." Kekei stood from his seat and made his way to the door to open it.

Standing at the threshold was an eighteen year old wearing a kimono. Woven from the silk of Wurmple, the kimono was perfect for Alola’s daily heat. It was dyed red, purple, and yellow to mimic an Ariados. Long pink hair was braided and tossed over his left shoulder with a set of Johtoian hair needles between the braids; the needles were made from the tusks of Walrein and dyed to look like Butterfree wings.

Kekei recognized the teenager as Luan, the Captain that Khala had chosen for the Trials. Luan was a recent Johtoian immigrant who spoke excellent Alolan. Luan’s ability to command bug types had caught Khala’s eye when searching for potential Captain candidates for Melemele.

"Oh.” Kekei gave a bow. “Hello, Luan."

"Konnichiwa, Professor Kekei." Luan gave a mild bow in return. When he straightened, his sky blue eyes searched past Kekei’s shoulder. "I'd like to speak with Kahuna Khala about a concerning matter.”

"Of course." Kekei stepped to the side to allow Luan inside. He shut the door behind Luan. "Khala, it's for you."

"Captain Luan." Khala stood from his chair as Luan stepped closer. "What do I owe this pleasure?"

"There is a strange...monster rampaging in the forest near Verdant Cavern. It’s frightening my poor little Golisopod.”

Chapter Text

“Rai?” Raichu purred, tilting his head as Luan continued to stare at him.

After his announcement about the monster, Khala led Luan to the table where he took one of the spare seats. Khala stood by the wall to Kekei and Bruna's bedroom. Hau stood near the countertops, leaving the last two seats at the table for Kekei and Bruna. Silvally and Lycanroc stood on either side of Gladion, wary of Luan.

Decidueye had taken to roosting on the railing of Khala's loft, hooting softly in his sleep. Raichu had been zooming around for attention, but had stopped once he had noticed Luan staring at him.

Luan looked at Hau. “Is this Raichu yours?”

“Oh." Hau blinked when he realized Luan was speaking to him then nodded. "Yeah.”

“What an interesting Raichu.” Luan rested his chin on the back of his left hand, returning his attention to Raichu. “Not like the Kantonian ones I’ve seen. They certainly don’t float.”

Hau chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. “Oh, really?”

He didn’t want to tell Luan that Raichu was actually an Alolan Raichu from the future. Bruna, Khala, and Kekei already knew, but Hau wanted as few people as possible to find out he and Gladion weren’t from that time period.

“Can we get back to the matter at hand?” Khala asked impatiently. “You said something about a rampaging monster?”

"Ah, yes, the monster." Luan's attitude shifted as he looked away from Raichu, focusing his attention on Khala. "I spotted it this morning during my daily routine of washing Golisopod's scales. It came from nowhere, bursting through the treeline before I had time to react." Luan gave a dramatic sigh, fanning his face with his hand. "Thankfully, my sweet Golisopod swooped in and carried me off before the monster could attack. I came here immediately to alert you of the situation, dear Khala. As Kahuna, your duty is to protect the island and its people."

"I know what my job is," Khala snapped, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall. "You don't have to be so dramatic. Of course I'm going to take care of whatever is in that forest."

"That's my Khala." With a smile, Luan stood from his chair. "I'll show you where I last saw the beast."

Khala pushed off the wall, following Luan to the door. "I'll be back. Keep an eye on those two until I return."

"It's not like we're going to leave," Gladion muttered, scratching Silvally under the chin. "Right, Hau?"

"I want to help," Hau said, stepping forward.

"No, it's far too dangerous for children," Khala said, looking over his shoulder with a look that reminded Hau of when Hala was ready to take on a challenger. "Stay here with Kekei and Bruna."

"I want to help," Hau repeated. "I won't be a burden or anything. Promise!"

"Oh, let him come," Luan said before Khala could continue to argue with Hau. "He's not going to back down. Might as well let him do what he wants."

With a sigh, Khala pinched the bridge of his nose. He did not want to be responsible if the kid was killed, but even he knew when he was beaten. "Okay, fine."

"Yes!" Hau returned Raichu and Decidueye to their Poké balls. "You won't regret this."

"Whoa, wait, let me come too." Gladion pushed himself out of his chair, keeping one hand on the table.

Silvally pushed up against Gladion to support him when he almost collapsed.

"Ly!" Lycanroc moved forward to help Gladion as well, arms held out to grab him in case he fell.

"You're in no shape to travel, young man," Bruna said, taking Gladion by the arm and guiding him back into the chair. "You'll be a liability out in the field."

Gladion stared at Bruna before he glanced past her to look at Hau. "But..."

"I'll be all right!" Hau smiled. He went over to Gladion, bending a bit so he could bump his forehead against Gladion's. The motion was natural for Hau who found head butting his friends was a way to show his affection and a way to certify the promise of his words. He usually avoided headbutting Guzma as Guzma's counter headbutt was like being hit by a rampaging Tauros; an aggressive headbutt, but Hau knew he meant well when he returned the headbutt or even initiated one. "I'll be back before dinner."

Gladion closed his eyes at the feeling of Hau's forehead pressed against his before he pulled away. A small feeling in him complained, whining at the short touch between them. "All right. You better come back or I'll eat your food too."

Hau chuckled. He highly doubted Gladion would eat two servings of food, but the threat was good enough for Hau to know Gladion was serious. "Aye, aye."

"While they're gone, we can make a surprise dinner for their return," Kekei said as Hau followed Khala and Luan outside. "Something special for their victory against the beast of Melemele."

Gladion watched the three leave until the door close. Once they were gone from his sight, he looked at Kekei. "A special dinner?"

Kekei nodded. "Do you know of anything your friend likes?"

Gladion frowned, considering the request. Something that Hau would like.

Bruna lightly swatted Kekei's arm as she sat beside him. "He can't remember that sort of thing."

"Ah, right..." Kekei rubbed the back of his neck, abashed at forgetting about Gladion's amnesia. "Well, how about we just--"

"Well, actually," Gladion interrupted, looking at Kekei and Bruna, "I think I may know something."

Luan led Khala and Hau down the dirt road, taking them towards the nearby forest.

Hau recognized the area where Kekei had first found him and Gladion. He hadn't realized they had dropped so close to Verdant Cavern. Of course from Luan's description alone, he should have realized that was the area they were going to; there was a forest surrounding the cavern. It was small enough that maps didn't have a name for it, but a lot of locals just called it Verdant Forest because of its proximity to Verdant Cavern.

The forest itself held a lot of bug type Pokémon as well as grass types. There were even Rattata, Spearow, and Lillipup. Hau recalled Verdant Forest was one of Mallow's favorite spots beside the Lush Jungle to gather berries, nuts, mushrooms, and medicinal herbs.

Glancing over his shoulder, Hau stared at Kekei's house as it started to get smaller the further they walked. Now that he got a good look at the house, he could see it was positioned right on the beach southeast of where Hau'oli City would be. The outskirts of Hau'oli City was close to not only Iki Town, but Route 1 as well. He and Gladion had landed near the lower half of Route 3, near the end of Route 2.

Hau hadn't realized they were so close to Iki Town, but it made sense. Khala must have been an Iki Town resident who just decided to stay with Kekei and Bruna for whatever reason. It wasn't his business to ask Khala about why he stayed with Kekei and Bruna; perhaps it was a similar situation or Kekei and Khala were childhood friends. The two seemed close and despite the exasperation of Khala's pranks, Kekei took good care of Khala.

Luan, still leading them towards Verdant Forest, entered Iki Town which sat to the north of Route 1.

Still a small, sleepy place with less than ten homes. Iki Town had always been on the smaller side with few residents, never cracking 20. Near the forest that led to one of Tapu Koko's shrines was a larger house: the Kahuna's house.

Few people were outside. Some were weaving baskets and others were hanging clothes to dry. They stopped what they were doing to watch the three walking through. A few bowed upon seeing Khala and he inclined his head in return.

So, Khala was from Iki Town. The people knew him and respected him. He had been chosen by Tapu Koko after all.

The familiar coconut leaf thatch roofs of Iki Town made Hau homesick. He and Gladion had fallen in a time unfamiliar to them and Hau was certain Lillie and the others were worried sick about where they could have gone to. There was no way to even get a letter to them to say they were all right.

Slowing to a stop, Hau looked to his left to where Hau'oli would be.

Iki Town was on a higher elevation, allowing Hau to get a better look at Hau'oli City--no, it was called Hau'oli Town during that time because it was smaller. Still, Hau wanted to visit at one point to see what all had changed. From his vantage point, all he could see were a few buildings. Smaller than the city it would grow into.

"You sure act like you're not from Alola."

Hau jolted at Luan's voice, turning to see that he and Khala had stopped to watch Hau. "Oh, ah..."

How could he explain that seeing everything was like seeing things in a different light without seeming suspicious?

"That's because he's not from this time period," Khala said. "He's from the future."

Luan raised an eyebrow as Hau smacked his face.

He had been hoping to keep the whole 'from the future' thing a secret from other people, but Khala was just like his grandpa: blunt and not one to beat around the bush.

"You expect me to believe such a fantastical tale?" Luan scoffed. "From the future....hah."

"Oh, come on. Haven't you heard about the hole in the sky?" Khala gestured to Hau. "That's where he and his friend fell from."

Luan gave Hau the side eye, looking him up and down as if trying to figure out if there was something distinct about Hau to prove Khala's words. "You know, now that you mention it...the night the hole is said to have appeared, Golisopod did act strangely."

Golisopod again. Hau wondered if it was indeed the same Golisopod he and Gladion had run into. He was starting to suspect it was.

Luan didn't say anything else as they walked into the forest.

The forest itself was deathly silent. The silence made Hau uncomfortable. Usually the forest was filled with the calls of bird Pokémon or the chittering of bug and grass Pokémon. Something had scared them all off. Something like the monster Luan had seen.

"Right over this way," Luan said, pushing aside some brush as they came into a clearing.

The monster Luan had seen was easy to spot the moment they emerged; it was larger than a Guzzlord. Monster was the only word to describe what Hau saw before him.

Completely black, the creature had several protrusions from its body. Each one seemed to have a mind of its own, undulating wildly. Four of the tentacles supported its body. Every step the beast took caused the grass around it to turn brown and shrivel, thin wisps of smoke rising up. The bulbous head was completely transparent, revealing what appeared to be a brain or a heart. Strange, thick fluid dripped down the body and coated the tentacles. Every droplet sizzled when it hit the ground, creating a patch of burned grass.

"Is that...a Pokémon?" Khala asked, staring at the beast before them as it released an eerie cry.

The cry sounded almost like a wail of pain. The sound made Hau's heart ache. Whatever this creature was, it was in pain and its pain was driving it into a blind rampage.

"I believe it might be," Luan said. "However, it is definitely not like any Pokémon I've ever seen."

If it wasn't a Pokémon, Hau couldn't imagine what exactly it was. The thing didn't look like any Ultra Beast he had seen before and if it was a new species, it was a danger to everyone and not just to Melemele. They had to take care of it no matter what.

Upon seeing the three humans, the beast shifted its weight and between its tentacles was a single eyeball that locked onto them. The creature released another scream, tentacles flailing wildly. Some hit the trees around it, knocking them down.

"We'll have to fight it," Hau said, taking out Raichu's Poké ball. "I think we can beat it in battle and if it is a Pokémon, capture it to stop its rampage."

Khala nodded, pulling out a Poké ball of his own. "I can't agree more. If it's left to wander, it could decimate Melemele."

Luan sighed, pulling out a Great Ball from the depths of his kimono. "I suppose I will pitch in as well. If only to give my sweet Golisopod peace of mind."

All three of them tossed up their Poké balls, releasing the Pokémon inside.

Raichu's cheeks sparked as he stared down the monster before them.

Khala's Hariyama didn't seem deterred by the monster's size or eerie cries. "Yama!" Hariyama slapped his hands together before stomping his feet, pumping himself up for battle.

Luan's Heracross turned to look at Luan, wings fluttering nervously between her elytra.

"It's all right, my dear," Luan said with a smile. "You can do this."

The monster lashed a tentacle towards the Pokémon.

"Hariyama, Detect!" Khala ordered.

Hariyama leaped in front of Raichu and Heracross. His eyes glowed light blue as he raised his arms up. The tentacle made contact with Hariyama's hands. For a moment, Hariyama struggled to keep tentacle from crushing him with its strength. Shifting his weight, Hariyama shoved the beast's tentacle back with a powerful yell.

The monster stumbled from the shove, its tentacles parting enough to expose the eye.

Hau wondered if the eye was its weak point, like in a video game. The tentacles seemed to keep it covered most of the time as if it were a weak point. He decided to test the theory.

"Raichu, Quick Attack the eye!"

"Heracross, follow with an Aerial Ace."

"Rai!" Raichu zipped forward.

Heracross flew behind Raichu, horn glowing white.

The eye locked onto the two Pokémon approaching it. As a tentacle was raised to attack, Raichu started darting side to side. The tentacle hesitated, eye struggling to keep track of Raichu's movements.

Raichu darted further to the side, the eye following him.

With the eye’s attention on Raichu, Heracross rammed into it with her horn.

The monster screeched at the attack, tentacle dropping as it staggered to the side.

Raichu slammed into the other side of the eye, causing the monster to stagger again.

With a furious cry, the beast smashed a tentacle into a nearby tree.

"Oh, I think we made it angrier," Luan said, staring at the monster as it lashed out at the trees surrounding it in a blind rage.

Raising a tentacle above its head, the monster brought it down where Hau, Khala, and Luan were standing.

"Rai!" Raichu's eyes glowed blue.

A blue outline surrounded the three humans and Raichu used the Psychic to move them out of the tentacle's range. The tentacle slammed into the ground.

"Nice save, Raichu!" Hau said as Raichu set him, Khala, and Luan down a few feet away.

Raichu grinned, cheeks sparking at the praise. "Rai rai!"

Releasing another screech, the beast raised a tentacle. The tip of it began to glow purple.

"Is that Poison Jab?" Luan asked, recognizing the poison type move.

"So it is a Pokémon!" Khala said. "Never seen a Pokémon like this before."

It couldn't have been a Pokémon or an Ultra Beast, Hau knew that. Perhaps it was a new species of Ultra Beast, though. One never before seen.

Sweeping out the poison coated tentacle, the beast hit all three Pokémon, sending them crashing into the forest.

"Raichu!" Hau called.

After a few tense moments, Raichu and the other two Pokémon emerged from the forest. They were covered in minor scratches, but otherwise seemed okay from the attack.

Raichu shook his head before giving a thumbs up. "Rai!"

While Hariyama and Raichu had missed the effects of Poison Jab, it seemed Heracross wasn’t so lucky.

Heracross flinched as the poison attacked her system. She opened her eyes as a red aura flared to life around her body. "Crsss!" Heracross raised her arms above her head with a cry, wings fluttering.

"Oh, look at that," Luan said with a smile. "You've activated my dear Hearacross' Guts ability."

The Guts ability raised the attack of the Pokémon if they were afflicted with a status condition, like poison.

"Let's hit it with a Throat Chop, Heracross."

"Crss!" Heracross launched herself forward, the aura surrounding her flaring higher as her horn began to glow purple.

"Let's make it easier to hit!" Khala called, swinging an arm out. "Hariyama, Seismic Toss! Fling it into the air!"

"Hari!" Hariyama charged forward, grabbing the nearest tentacle. Using his sheer strength, Hariyama spun around, swinging the beast with him. After two rotations, Hariyama flung the beast up into the air. "Yama!"

"Raichu, help out with a Focus Blast!"

Raichu nodded, floating closer to the airborne monster. "Rairai!"

Forming a yellow ball of energy between his paws, Raichu launched it towards the beast, striking it in the side.

Heracross slammed her horn into the monster's head, sending it back towards the ground.

Hariyama launched himself into the air and grabbed one of the tentacles, gripping it tightly before flipping once. Using the momentum on the downswing, Hariyama smashed the monster into the ground.

The resounding crash shook the trees and ground. Bird Pokémon scattered into the air with frightened squawks.

For several tense moments, the monster didn't move.

"Do you think we beat it?" Hau asked, watching the monster for any signs of fight left in it.

The monster’s mass shifted. Its tentacles undulated before straightening stiff as metal rods. They slammed down onto the ground, burying themselves into the earth.

"Something tells me not quite," Luan said as the monster raised itself on its tentacles with a ferocious cry.

"It sure doesn't know when to give up, does it?" Khala muttered.

Spikes protruded from the beast's tentacles, glowing white before launching themselves towards Hariyama, Raichu, and Heracross.

"Detect!"

"Psychic!"

"Brick Break!"

While Hariyama used Detect to avoid the spikes, Raichu used Psychic to stop the spikes aimed towards him. Using the energy, he sent the spikes back towards the monster.

Heracross' hands glowed and she used sharp, accurate punches to knock the spikes from the air.

Judging by the way the monster was swaying where it stood, it was weak.

Hau's mind calculated quickly what they could do to try and end the battle as quickly as possible.

What would Gladion do? He'd go full steam. With the enemy in the weakened state, he'd attack, attack, attack. Luan's Heracross was slowly being drained of energy by the poison in her system. With the Guts ability active, her attack power was raised. Perhaps they could use that to their advantage to take down the monster.

"I have an idea," Hau said.

"Oh?" Luan hummed, raising an eyebrow as Khala looked at him.

"What's the plan?" Khala asked.

"Attack. Don't give it a chance to counterattack."

"Going all out, huh?" Khala grinned, rolling his shoulders back. "That, I can do. Hariyama, Heavy Slam!"

"Yama!" Hariyama leaped into the air as a silvery glow outlined his body. He flipped once before slamming straight down on the monster's cranium.

The monster staggered back from the attack.

"Raichu, Quick Attack!"

"Chuuu!" Raichu darted forward, body outlined in white streaks. He crashed into the monster's side, causing it to stagger once again.

"Hit from the other side with an Aerial Ace, Heracross."

Heracross launched herself at the monster's other side, driving her horn into the sensitive flesh.

"Now give it a good Brick Break uppercut, darling."

"Crsss!" Lowering her glowing fist, Heracross thrust it up, connecting with the monster's underside and sending it into the air. "Hera!!"

Hau grinned. Their strategy was working. The monster had no time to counter their attacks. "Now, while it's in the air, hit it with a Thunderbolt!"

"Rai!" Electricity sparked from Raichu's cheeks before releasing in a jolt of lightning that struck the monster head on.

The monster squealed as the electricity surged through its body.

"Finish it with a Close Combat, Hariyama!"

"Yama!" Hariyama launched himself into the air and began to repeatedly punch the monster at rapid-fire speed. He landed one, final powerful punch, sending the monster crashing to the ground below.

"Do you think that did it?" Khala asked.

The monster remained still, electricity sparking from its body. The only noise from it were soft, painful squeaks.

Luan nodded, satisfied that the monster wasn't getting up anytime soon. "I believe the monster has been taken care of."

"Great job, Raichu!" Hau high fived Raichu's paw when the electric mouse floated closer to him. "You deserve a good rest after that."

"Raichu!" Raichu grinned as Hau returned him to his Poké ball.

"You did such a good job, darling," Luan cooed, rubbing Heracross' cheeks. "I'll give you a nice Pecha berry later, okay?"

"Crss." Heracross nodded as Luan returned her to her Great Ball.

"Great form, Hariyama," Khala said, slapping Hariyama's hand in a high-five.

Hariyama nodded. "Yama."

Khala recalled Hariyama to his Poké ball.

The monster's body pulsed then began to glow white.

"What's it doing now?" Luan muttered. "We cannot afford more fighting."

With the glow, it was hard to tell exactly what was happening, but to Hau it seemed as if the monster's body was growing slightly smaller.

"It almost looks like it's evolving," Hau said, "but...backwards."

The monster's body split into two pieces. One was larger than the other. As the glow faded, Hau saw an oversized Mareanie laying on the ground and floating above it, an abnormally large Nihilego.

"What was that?" Khala asked as the Nihilego floated off, staggering slightly in its flight.

A Nihilego? Hau wondered, frowning. It was larger than other Nihilego he had seen before. Larger than a Totem. It almost reminded him of the giant Golisopod he and Gladion had seen.

"Hey, over here!" Luan called. He was kneeling where the beast had collapsed. "I found another Pokémon."

Khala and Hau went over to see what Pokémon Luan had found. Shivering on the ground was an enormous Mareanie, farther from the beach than Hau had seen before. Usually any Mareanie not found near the ocean or beach was sick or someone's partner.

"An Alpha Mareanie," Khala said. "Poor thing."

Looking between the large Mareanie and where the Nihilego had fled, the pieces started to fall together for Hau on what exactly they had faced. His brain whirled with the implications of what he was thinking. Hau was well aware of what Nihilego could do. They could attach and fuse to humans to feed on them and force them to do things against their will. Any human unfortunate enough to get into that situation, should they survive the encounter, would become soaked in the toxins Nihilego secreted. Lusamine was one such person who survived the fusion with a Nihilego, yet became incapacitated by its toxins due to how long she had been exposed to them.

Humans and Pokémon were vastly different species though. While a Nihilego had been documented fusing with a human, Hau had never heard of it happening with a Pokémon. Ultra Beasts were still being studied, of course. It still wasn't certain whether they were indeed an alien species or some kind of Pokémon that evolved to fit their environment. Now they had to deal with Nihilego fusing with Pokémon to create rampaging monsters.

Hau was certain this wouldn't be the last time he would encounter such a beast. Nihilego were rarely seen in groups of one. That large Nihilego–the Alpha–surely had comrades from the same nest somewhere on Alola.

How had the Nihilego arrived in Alola in the first place? The only way was through an Ultra Wormhole–

Oh, Arceus… Hau thought, recalling the Nihilego that had floated past him and Gladion in Ultra Space. Had they somehow followed them through the Wormhole? If that was the case, then the beast was their fault. Even if the Nihilego arriving in Alola had been inadvertent, they were still there and they were angry. Possessing Pokémon and twisting them into unrecognizable beasts…this was not going to be the last one.

"Hey, hey, it's okay." Khala knelt beside the Mareanie as it flinched away from him. "I just want to make sure you're alright, okay?"

“Reee….” Mareanie looked between Khala, Luan, and Hau warily. Its skin looked paler than normal. Hau could tell the Mareanie was dehydrated and malnourished from time it had spent attached to the Nihilego. It was highly likely the Nihilego absorbed the majority of Mareanie's nutrients to support its bulk.

Khala smiled, holding out a hand. He was not going to force Mareanie to come with him if it didn't want to. "Bruna can help you. She'll give you all the delicious food you could ever imagine. I'm sure we can find some Corsola horns scattered on the beach."

That made Mareanie perk up. Corsola were their favorite food, after all. "Reanie!"

Khala chuckled as Mareanie leaped onto his shoulder and perched there. "Excellent. Let's head back then."

"Looks like Bruna is getting more work thrust upon her," Luan murmured, watching Khala rub Mareanie's cheek. "First, the injured boy from the future and now an injured Mareanie."

"Oh, she loves it," Khala said, waving a hand. “She wants to be a Pokemon Professor in the future and this gives her hands-on experience helping injured Pokémon.”

“She doesn’t want to keep being a medic and historian?” Hau asked, tilting his head.

“Oh, she does. She also wants to be a Professor.”

“That…sounds like a lot.”

A Pokémon Professor, medic, and historian. Her drive and ambition aligned well with Professor Burnet who also studied a lot of different fields from the phenomenon of the Wormholes to the Interdream Zone. Hau could see the resemblance between them.

"What about Kekei?" Hau asked. "He's studying the Z-crystals, right? Does he ever want to study anything else?"

Khala hummed as he thought about it, still rubbing Mareanie's cheek, much to the Pokémon's delight. "He's never mentioned it to me. He's always been fascinated by the phenomena some wild Pokémon exhibit when holding a naturally formed Z-crystal. He's been trying to figure out a way for humans to do the same thing with their partner Pokémon, but so far, all of his experiments have ended in failure."

If only he knew that they needed a Z-ring to access the Z-crystal's potential, Hau thought, but said nothing. Kekei was brilliant and he was certain to discover a way to use the Z-crystals.

"What kind of experiments has he tried?"

Luan snorted at the question and Hau wondered if Luan was aware of some of Kekei's attempts.

"Well, the most recent one was him taking an unrefined Rock-type Z-crystal," Khala explained. "He tied it around the neck of a Rockruff that comes around for free food. A lot of the wild Pokémon simply hold the Z-crystal or have it somewhere attached to their bodies, whether that's in their thick fur or even melded to a horn. He mimicked that as much as possible. With the crystal around Rockruff's neck, he tried to use one of the special rock moves he had seen a Gigalith do; he's dubbed these strong attacks Z-moves."

Hau was actually impressed that Kekei had already gotten that far in research concerning Z-crystals and their abilities. "How many of the Z-moves has Kekei seen?"

"Let's see..." Khala counted on his fingers as he thought about it. "I'd say about...five? I'm sure there are as many Z-crystals as Pokémon types since it only seems natural. He's only found that impure rock Z-crystal and a polished water Z-crystal obtained from a friendly Politoed."

Hau knew from experience Politoed were extremely happy go lucky and friendly Pokémon. Always willing to lend a paw in one way or another, be it Pokémon or human.

One Alolan summer had been twice as hotter than normal, causing an outbreak of heat stroke among the population of fire and grass type Pokémon who were unable to properly escape the heat. A horde of Politoed came out to cool down the overheated Pokémon with spritzes of cool water. The entire week the heat wave lasted, it was not unusual to come across two or three Politoed in the street or along the sides of the road, helping to cool down collapsed and exhausted Pokémon.

"So, how did that experiment with the rock Z-move fail?" Hau asked, trying to keep his mind on the topic of conversation.

Before Khala could answer, Luan said, "It blew up in his face."

"Huh?"

Khala sighed. "He called out the move that he had labeled the rock Z-move as--Continental Crush. The Rockruff was actually able to get the move halfway completed before the boulder shattered, sending rock shards everywhere. He's lucky no one was nearby or someone could have gotten hurt."

Hau blinked, startling at what Khala had said. "Wait, he named the Z-moves?"

"He's named the ones that he's seen so far, yes," Khala said with a nod. "Let's see....Continental Crush, Breakneck Blitz, Hydro Vortex, Savage Spin-Out, and Inferno Overdrive. Rock, normal, water, bug, and fire."

"Wow. That's...amazing."

Hau knew that the history of Z-moves and crystals were largely shrouded in mystery. The power of the crystals was theorized to be obtained from the leaking energy of Ultra Wormholes.

To use the crystals themselves, both Pokémon and trainer had to not only be in sync, but the trainer had to transfer their powered up aura to their Pokémon to activate the latent power. That power was suspected to be a residual residue left over by Necrozoma, the Blinding One, who shed all of their light upon the islands of Alola, granting the people long hours of sunlight.

He had always thought the Z-moves had been named by Professor Kukui, who's specific area of expertise was Pokémon moves. Then again...Hau wasn't surprised. It seemed studying the moves of Pokémon ran in the family. He was certain that Kekei even let himself get hit by certain moves to see what he could learn about them.

Luan breathed in with a hum as they approached Kekei's house. "Something smells good."

"Reeanie," Mareanie agreed as Khala opened the door.

"We're home," Khala announced, shutting the door behind him once Luan and Hau had stepped inside.

From the smell alone, it seemed dinner was going to be luau stew with chopped taro leaves, beef chunks, and rice.

While Bruna worked on the luau stew itself, Kekei was beside her, fluffing the rice.

Gladion was still sitting at one of the chairs by the kitchen table. Silvally was lying on top of Gladion's feet while Lycanroc crouched by Gladion's side, enjoying some neck scratches. Upon seeing Hau, Gladion perked up. Lycanroc and Silvally removed themselves from Gladion's side to sniff at Hau, as if checking that he was okay.

Kekei grinned in Khala's direction. "Glad to see you back in one piece!"

"Did you take care of the monster?" Bruna asked, not taking her attention off the stew in front of her.

"Of course we did," Khala said with an offended huff. "The monster was actually this Mareanie fused with some kind of...jellyfish thing."

Bruna looked at the Mareanie as Khala set it on the table before going closer to the Mareanie to look at it. "Aw, poor little thing."

Mareanie stared at Bruna before tilting its head. "Rea?"

"Do you think you could help it feel better?" Hau asked. "It took quite a beating while we were fighting."

"I believe I have some medicines that can help its injuries." Bruna nodded before reaching out to rub Mareanie's cheek. "I'm sure you're hungry, too, aren't you, little one?"

Enjoying the attention, Mareanie squealed, closing its eyes and leaning into the touch.

"Well, I'm glad it all worked out." With Bruna busy giving attention to Mareanie, Kekei took over the cooking, making sure it didn't burn. "Your 'little' Golisopod can be set at ease that a monster is not going to hurt it."

Luan sniffed, sliding his hands into the sleeves of his kimono. "I should get going. Golisopod is probably hungry and I always feed him his favorite food around this time."

"Oh, before you go, Luan," Bruna said, straightening with Mareanie on her shoulder. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Hm." Luan considered the request for a moment before he nodded. "I suppose I do owe you one for helping me."

Bruna smiled. "Thank you very much, Luan." She left, heading towards the washing room before returning with Gladion's destroyed clothes. "Do you think you could mend these?"

Luan hummed, staring at the clothes and the slash in the side. He nodded. "Seems simple enough. I'll also stitch together some proper clothes for those two so they're not constantly wearing Kekei's hand-me-downs."

Kekei chuckled at the jab. "Fair enough. The clothes are a little big on them."

"Bruna, if you have the rest of the clothes they arrived in, those will help me make measurements for their new clothes."

"Of course." Bruna went to get the clothes.

"Thank you for your help," Hau said, sitting in a chair beside Gladion. "You don't have to do that."

Luan stared at Hau for a few seconds before looking away. "I don't like leaving debts. And I owe you a debt for assisting in taking down that monster."

Bruna returned with the rest of Hau and Gladion's clothes. "Here you go."

"Thank you. I'll be taking my leave now." With clothes in hand, Luan made his way to the front door, opening it. He looked over his shoulder, staring at Khala. "Khala."

With a nod, Khala followed Luan to the porch, shutting the door behind him so their conversation wasn't heard. "I already know what you're going to say, Luan."

"I'll say it anyway. You need to get the Kahuna together to have a discussion about what to do with those boys."

"We can't just abandon them," Khala protested. "I know Kekei and Bruna wouldn't allow it."

"They're the reason that monster came into existence."

Khala huffed, crossing his arms. "You don't know that. It could be a coincidence."

"One hell of a coincidence, Khala. Call the meeting." Luan descended the stairs, walking back towards his Trial location. "If you don't, I may start spreading rumors about what came out of that rip in the sky over Melemele."

Luan didn't need to threaten him. Khala knew Luan would never go through with it. Still, it had been a while since the Kahuna had all gathered in one spot. It was highly likely that the other islands had caught wind of the hole in the sky above Melemele.

With a frustrated sigh, Khala rubbed his face. He'd wait until everyone was asleep before drafting three letters to be sent out to the other Kahunas. For now he was too hungry to concentrate.

Khala went back inside the house. "Is dinner ready?"

"Yeah, yeah, it's almost ready," Kekei said, bowls lined on the countertop as he worked on spooning the rice first.

Bruna was looking the Mareanie's injuries over, rubbing on some salve over the worst injuries.

As Kekei grabbed one of the bowls so he could start bringing them over to the table, his hand hit something soft and squishy. He looked down to see that he had grabbed a Pyukumuku.

Kekei yelped, flinging the Pyukumuku into the farthest room. "Arceus dammit!"

Khala cackled as Kekei rubbed his hand on his shirt to wipe off the slime.

Kekei shot him a withering glare. "I'm glad you find it funny!"

Later that night, once he was certain everyone else was already asleep, Khala sat at a small desk in the loft room he was borrowing from Kekei and Bruna, working on the letters. He had drafted up three letters saying the same thing: the Kahuna needed to meet up and where the meet up would take place.

With the papers completed and rolled up, Khala slid down the ladder leading to the loft and went onto the front porch. Putting his fingers in his mouth, Khala released a sharp whistle.

Almost immediately, a Pom-Pom Oricorio flew over to Khala, landing on the porch railing. “Ori?”

Khala held out the rolled up letters to the Oricorio. "Deliver these to the Kahuna of Akala, Ula'Ula and Poni islands, okay?"

"Cori!" the Oricorio nodded, taking the papers in its beak before flying off.

Khala watched the Oricorio disappear into the shadows of the night before he went back inside the house so he could get some sleep.

Chapter Text

Hau hummed, running his fingers through Gladion's hair to prevent it from becoming tangled before he began to carefully part it, separating it so he could braid it. Gladion had said that the Ponyta-tail was annoying and wanted something else that didn't come loose as often. His long hair frustrated him, both when brushing out tangles and when bathing.

He didn't blame Gladion. Long hair wasn't for everyone, but Gladion looked nice with long hair. When Lillie had first told him Gladion was growing his hair out, he had been concerned. Wouldn't the longer hair remind him of his mother? Hau didn't want the hair to keep bad memories in the forefront of Gladion's mind. Apparently Gladion didn't have the same sentiment as Hau; he had grown it out as a show of changing who he had been. Lillie had her own metamorphosis from hesitant trainer to someone who was strong and outspoken. Growing out his hair was Gladion's metamorphosis. An unusual choice, Hau admitted, but not one he was against. He was used to fixing long hair in one way or another thanks to his cousins and his mom.

Hau was slowly getting used to the idea of bathing with Gladion, who still required a little help to and from places. He was getting stronger though and more insistent that he could at the very least walk to the bathroom on his own. Hau hovered by him after his first attempt almost opened his stitches when he tripped over his own feet.

Still, Hau wanted to give Gladion as much autonomy as possible. It was obvious that Gladion was becoming stricken with cabin fever cooped up in the house with little to do and both Hau and Bruna fussing over him. Even to Hau it was obvious Gladion was wishing his wound would hurry up and heal.

Hau finished the braid and tossed it over Gladion's shoulder so he could get a better look. "What do you think?"

"That's great." Gladion rubbed the edges of the braid, careful not to ruin it. "I didn't know you were good with hairstyles."

Hau went back to drying his own hair so he could get it back into its usual style. "Well, I had a lot of practice with my cousins."

Gladion watched Hau as he clipped his hair in the usual style. The steam from their bath was slowly dissipating as they sat on the edge of the bathtub, making the air chilly. "Was it scary?"

"Huh?" Hau stopped what he was doing, tilting his head at Gladion. "What?"

In the corner of the room, Silvally raised their head from their paws, staring at the two boys silently. Decidueye, Lycanroc, and Raichu were all huddled beside the chimeric Pokémon, in various stages of dozing off. The steam and warmth of the bathroom made staying awake near impossible.

 All the Pokémon had followed them into the bathroom to keep an eye on them. Raichu was a bit faster than Hau in terms of reflexes, so Hau was grateful for his partner being there in case Gladion fell again.

"Fighting the monster," Gladion clarified. "Was it scary?"

"Oh."

Right, fighting the mutated Mareanie had only happened yesterday, huh. It felt like it had been longer than that to Hau, who had been exhausted after the fight.

"I guess it kind of was?" Hau rubbed the back of his neck. "It's not like I have any experience fighting actual monsters."

Though, if Hau thought about it, he could have been lying. He didn't consider Ultra Beasts monsters, but...

Gladion frowned, rubbing the braid hard enough to almost pull it apart. "I should have been there to help."

He was still on about that, huh? Hau didn't blame him. If he were in Gladion's shoes, he would have been just as frustrated. The helplessness of being unable to join in the fray because he was injured.

"Hey." Hau grabbed Gladion's hand to get him to stop ruining the braid. "It's all right. You need to heal and that's more important than fighting a beast." Hau frowned, pulling his hand away and setting it in his lap. "Besides, I don't think that will be the last one seen."

Gladion raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Hau hesitated.

Raichu, sensing his trainer's distress, hovered closer to Hau. "Chuu." He lowered himself so his chin could rest in Hau's lap. He was rewarded with an absent scratch on the top of his head.

Hau hadn't even told Bruna or Kekei about what he had been thinking after seeing the Nihilego. He knew their response would be that it hadn't been on purpose or that it was coincidence.

"I think...we did this."

"Us?" Gladion repeated in a skeptical voice. Then he said, "You mean the Wormhole."

"When we were inside the Wormhole trying to leave, we came across an angry nest of Nihilego. I didn't even think about them coming through the same Wormhole we came out of, but..."

That was the answer, right? It had to be the answer. The Nihilego were there because they had been thrown out of the Wormhole. That night was still a blur for Hau; he couldn't even recall if he had seen the Nihilego leaving the Wormhole after they had landed on the ground.

"There were a lot of them and I didn't even know Nihilego could do that to Pokémon. I mean, I knew they could fuse with humans, but not with Pokémon and not on that scale. That poor Mareanie..."

The Mareanie was doing much better than yesterday, but it was still suffering through the aftershocks of its fusion with the Nihilego. It was almost ironic that a poison type Pokémon, resistant to other poisons, was suffering through the Nihilego's stronger neurotoxin. Hau knew there wasn't a cure for the neurotoxin and even after happily feeding on Pecha berries with every meal, the Mareanie still had trouble getting around most of the time. Instead of walking, it had taken up residence on Khala's shoulder.

"There were more than one. They're bound to fuse with other Pokémon in their anger. What if they get the Tapu?"

Hau shuddered to imagine what sort of fusion would result from a Nihilego and one of the Tapu. The Mareanie fusion had been a challenge on its own. To add a strong Pokémon like the Tapu... 

"Hey." Gladion grabbed Hau's hands. Hau was gripping his hands so hard the knuckles were turning white. He could tell that Hau was becoming panicked by the way he had started babbling about the Nihilego. "You don't know that. That fusion could have been a fluke."

"But the Nihilego..."

"It was a weird one, right? Larger than you've seen before? Perhaps that one is special."

Hau wasn't sure about that, but he appreciated Gladion trying to calm him down. There wasn't any use in worrying about a potential outcome. He'd make himself sick considering all the possibilities of what could happen if more of the Nihilego fusions showed up.

His stress was causing stress in the Pokémon.

Silvally had gotten to their feet, but had yet to make a move to come closer. Hau wasn't their trainer, so they didn't feel the need to comfort Hau. They were more wary that Hau would somehow hurt Gladion; of course Hau would never hurt Gladion.

Decidueye and Lycanroc were both staring at Hau. Decidueye's feathers were raised, prepared for a battle. Lycanroc had his ears perked, muscles tense.

Raichu stared up at Hau with doleful eyes, concerned for his trainer's wellbeing. "Raii...?"

Heaving a sigh, Hau forced all of his swirling thoughts to the back of his mind. It wouldn't do for him to needlessly stress himself or the Pokémon out. "Right. Yeah, sorry."

Satisfied, Gladion gave a nod as he released Hau's hands. "We'll just have to take things as they come. For now, though, it smells like breakfast is ready."

Bruna had started breakfast as they were making their way to the bathroom to take a bath. She had planned out a traditional Johtoian style breakfast with steamed rice, grilled filets of Finneon, omelet rolls made from Pikipek eggs, and Oran berry tea pressed from the berry tree leaves. Judging from the smell and the sound of plates clattering, breakfast was finished.

They had been sitting in the bathroom for who knew how long, talking with each other. It seemed Bruna was also thinking the same thing.

"Come on, boys!" Bruna called from the kitchen. "Food's going to get cold!"

"Or Khala will eat it all!" Kekei added, resulting in a "Hey!" from the Kahuna.

"Come on, you guys have food too!"

At that, the Pokémon perked up. They all looked at Gladion and Hau, as if waiting on permission to leave.

"All right, go on." Gladion waved a hand. "We're coming."

Lycanroc and Decidueye were the first to leave. Silvally and Raichu stayed behind to help Hau.

Silvally went to Gladion's other side as Hau pulled him to his feet, ready to support Gladion if he needed it.

"Good boy," Gladion said, rubbing Silvally's crest.

Silvally closed their eyes at the petting, leaning their head into Gladion's hand.

Raichu hovered directly in front of Hau and Gladion, floating backward. Hau could tell by the extra waves of psychic energy rippling off Raichu’s body, that Raichu was prepared to catch Gladion if he even looked like he was about to trip.

"Really, Raichu, I have him."

Gladion, however, didn't seem to mind having three support systems around him. "Let them be. This makes them happy, right, Silvally?"

Silvally rubbed his head against Gladion's hip in response.

Out in the kitchen, the table was set up with bowls of rice and plates with the glazed Finneon filets and omelet rolls. A kettle with five tea cups sat in the middle. Kekei had managed to find a spare chair so the table could support the extra company.

Off to the side were five bowls for the Pokémon. The Pokémon food consisted of various chopped berries Bruna made by hand. It seemed Lycanroc was a picky eater, taking out the berries he didn't like and putting them in Decidueye's bowl. The owl Pokémon was more than pleased to have the extra berries to munch on. Mareanie was already finished with her breakfast and was once again perched in her usual spot on Khala's shoulder. Despite having eaten, Khala was feeding her pieces of his fish and omelet.

Upon seeing the food, Raichu abandoned his post as Gladion defense, zipping over and dropping to the floor. Using psychic energies, he was able to pinpoint his favorite berries: Cheri, Sitrus, and Wepear. Honestly, Hau couldn't understand Raichu's penchant for spicy and bitter berries. Raichu's nature was bold which should have meant he liked sour more than spicy or bitter. Even as a Pichu, he had been adamant about which specific berries he liked to the point he would shock Hau if he got it wrong. Thankfully, with evolving, Raichu had grown out of that habit.

"There you two are," Kekei said, looking up from washing a skillet. "We were wondering if you'd fallen asleep in there."

"Oh, no." Hau flushed as he helped Gladion into one of the chairs at the table. Had they really been in the bathroom that long? "I was just braiding his hair."

Bruna cooed when she noticed Gladion's new hairstyle while Khala raised an amused eyebrow. "It looks great."

Once Gladion was sitting down, Silvally left his side to start eating with the other Pokémon.

Bruna started pouring the tea as Gladion started on the glazed filets.

Since the breakfast was Johtoian style, it meant they were using chopsticks instead of forks and knives. Gladion appeared to be using the chopsticks well enough, treating them as scissors to slice the filets before picking them up.

Gladion smiled, slicing another section of the filet. "Wow, this is good."

Hau was pleased to see Gladion eating more. When Gladion hadn't eaten much the first time he was offered food, Hau had been concerned. Eating would give Gladion the strength he needed to heal. If he didn't eat...

It wasn't a secret that Hau knew about Gladion's living arrangements. While they had been dealing with the Trials and the Aether Foundation, Elio had been the one to let slip that Gladion was living in a motel. Hau had wondered where Gladion was living ever since he had learned Lillie and Gladion were siblings and Gladion had run away from home. He had been relieved to hear that at the very least Gladion wasn't living in some cave. Still, it cost money to live in the motel and even if he was the enforcer for Team Skull at that point, Hau had doubted it paid enough to subsist on. Perhaps enough to make sure the motel's costs were taken care of, but what about food?

Hau had taken it upon himself to watch over Gladion, to make sure he was eating well. He kept it a secret from everyone, especially Elio who would insist on coming and sometimes, Elio wasn't the quietest of people. Hau knew if Gladion found out they were keeping tabs on him, he would either find a different motel or he'd become defensive and tell them he was all right on his own. Gladion was definitely not all right on his own. Whatever money he made from Team Skull was quickly burned by the cost of the motel. More often than not, Hau saw Gladion contemplating whether to use what money remained on food for himself or his Pokémon. He chose the latter the majority of the time.

From how he acted around his sister, Hau had already known that his first impression of Gladion--snippish, short-tempered, and a loner--had been wrong. He was protective of his sister, well-spoken when one got him on a topic he could talk about in length, and cared a lot about his Pokémon; so much so that he was willing to skip meals so they would have food. Sometimes, Lycanroc shared his food with Gladion. That caused a chain reaction and the rest of Gladion's team would offer some of their food to their trainer. The expression on Gladion's face at his Pokémon's selflessness was priceless.

Pokémon food was edible to humans, of course. The nutritional value was something to be desired as it was specially formulated for Pokémon in mind. With infrequent meals and food that was less than healthy, it was a wonder Gladion wasn't more underweight than he already had been.

Before the showdown with Lusamine, Hau had almost considered asking Gladion why he just didn't return home. He had been gone from home for two years; surely whatever fight he had would have blown over. Only in the depths of the Aether Foundation, in the underground labs, did he get his answer as to why Gladion remained far, far away from his family and the Aether Foundation.

"Me and Null. We're more alike than we might look. We're both what we were made to be. I was like an ornament to my mother; wearing whatever she told me to wear, acting however she wanted me to act. Null was crafted just as carefully."

That was the reason he had run away: to protect Null and to sever ties with his controlling mother. Even if he had to sacrifice his relationship with Lillie. Though, Lillie hadn't held any sort of grudge against her brother as she had done the same thing with Nebbie: run away to protect something that couldn't protect itself. Their similar motives were what drew them together rather than tore them apart.

They were both brave. Hau wouldn't have been able to do what they did. Sacrifice what they had to sacrifice. Now, though, it was different. He was going to do whatever it took to defend Gladion while he was healing.

"Hey, you okay?"

Hau startled out of his musings when someone touched his shoulder, not realizing he had been thinking so long. He hadn't touched his food yet. Khala and the others were looking at him in concern. Gladion had put his hand on Hau's shoulder to get his attention.

"O-oh, yeah, I'm fine!" Hau smiled, grabbing the bowl of rice and starting to shovel it into his mouth with gusto.

Bruna watched as Hau grabbed a rolled omelet. "You know, Hau. I have to drop by for a few errands in Hau'oli Town. Would you like to join me?"

"Wh--me?" Hau asked around a mouthful of food. He quickly swallowed, remembering Hala's teachings about table manners. "Uh, sure, I guess. I'd be glad to help."

"I'd like to come, too," Gladion said.

It hadn't been that long, but he was already getting the fringes of cabin fever. It was boring just being shuttled between a chair, the bathroom or the bed.

Bruna hesitated. Though Gladion looked determined, she knew he wasn't back to full strength yet. "You're still healing. I'd rather not risk--"

"Letting him lay around the house won't help him heal any faster," Kekei put in, taking a sip of tea. "I think getting some fresh air would do the lad good. He'd perk right up like a Sudowoodo being hit by a Water Gun, yeah?"

Gladion nodded. "I won't slow you down."

It wasn't that Bruna was concerned about Gladion slowing her down; she was just heading into town to pick up more food and that didn't take long. It was that walking a long distance was bound to strain him and his stitches. Hau'oli Town was still a decent walk. Gladion could be transported on a Mudsdale's back, but Bruna was concerned the swaying motion would hinder the healing or pop the stitches completely. Silvally looked large enough to support Gladion on their back, but with Silvally being an extremely rare Pokémon, it would cause more attention towards them than she would like.

Hau appeared to get Bruna's train of thought and looked at Gladion. "Oh, the walk would be pretty long. Do you think you could walk that far?"

Gladion could walk on his own well enough. He was still recovering though and found it difficult to walk far on his own without some kind of support or finding himself in need of breaks when his side ached. Walking on unsteady terrain for an extended period of time even with Hau there to support him was a new challenge.

As that realization dawned on him, Gladion hesitated. He wanted out of the house desperately. That was outweighed by the concern of injuring himself more, requiring more bedrest and thus, more boredom.

"Oh, for Arceus' sake," Khala muttered, taking out a Poké ball. He opened to release a Mienshao. "Here, use Mienshao to support him."

"Shao shao," Mienshao purred, giving a nod.

Hau looked between the Mienshao as it introduced itself to Raichu and the others and Khala with huge, awed eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Of course." Khala waved a hand to dismiss any potential thanks he was about to receive. "I've got my own things to do today and she isn't required, so, feel free."

Gladion shook Mienshao's paw when she held it out in greeting, smiling at the Pokémon before looking at Khala. "Thank you, Mister Khala."

"Ugh, please don't call me mister." Khala grimaced, raising his tea cup to his face to hide his embarrassment. "Makes me sound old."

"I'll get the dishes." Kekei stood from his seat, starting to gather the empty rice bowls and plates.

Bruna smiled as Kekei picked up her plates. She reached up, setting a hand around Kekei's neck to pull him down so she could kiss his cheek. "Aw, thanks, my little Hondew."

Khala groaned at their love display. "Can you not do that while I'm drinking my tea?"

Kekei responded by pressing his lips against Bruna's before making his way into the kitchen to start washing the dishes. His bare foot stepped on something pointy and squishy.

"Kekei!" Bruna gasped when Kekei crashed to the floor, dropping the dishes he was holding. They clattered to the ground, scattering the remaining food. "Are you all right?"

"Ugh, yeah, I think so." He'd just have more of a bruised pride than a bruised body in the morning.

Rubbing the back of his head, Kekei looked to see what he had slipped on. Sitting right by his feet was a Pyukumuku.

The Pyukumuku squeaked at him, shaking a fist.

Kekei sighed, dropping his head on the floor. He really hated Pyukumuku.

Khala smirked vindictively, watching the Pyukumuku start to nibble the leftovers off the floor. Mareanie was snickering on his shoulder. "And that makes me feel young."

Bruna sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Khala's Pyukumuku prank had been funny at first, but now it was turning into a danger. One she didn't want to be around. "All right, boys. Let's head out."

"Yes, ma'am!" Hau said, standing from his chair. He returned Decidueye and Raichu to their Poké balls.

Gladion copied him, returning Silvally and Lycanroc. He stared at the Poké balls in his hands for a few moments, feeling a little guilty for putting them back after they had been free for so long.

"You are free to leave them here, if you wish," Bruna offered.

Gladion smiled at that but shook his head. "Something tells me if I did that, they'd just follow me."

Bruna hummed, grabbing a small satchel from the countertop; the satchel mostly held money and a few medicinal herbs. She didn't doubt that. It seemed the two Pokémon were extremely protective of Gladion.

"Mien!" Mienshao held out her paw as Gladion stood.

Gladion took the paw. It wasn't weird at all to have to use a Pokémon for support. It was better than feeling like he was taking advantage of Hau who supported him through a lot.

"Try to stay out of trouble," Bruna said, opening the front door. She cast a glance back at Kekei and Khala. "Both of you."

Kekei had gotten off the floor and picked up the dropped plates to begin washing them. He was steadfastly ignoring the Pyukumuku attempting to climb his leg to finish off the scraps.

"Have fun shopping!" Khala called, waving as the front door shut.

"Reanie!"

Walking to Hau'oli Town was closer than Gladion expected. Having Mienshao keep him steady while he walked helped.

The town was huge. Small shops, houses, and inns lined the streets; each of the buildings were made the traditional Alolan style with thatch roofs and wooden facades. People milled about, going about their day. Few looked at them, too wrapped up in their own dealings to be interested in two teens, a Pokemon, and a medic.

"Why don't you two go try some of the malasadas at the Combee Sweets bakery?" Bruna suggested, taking out some Pokédollars from her satchel and handing it to Hau. "It shouldn't take me long to get my shopping done."

"You guys have malasadas?!" Hau asked in excitement.

Bruna chuckled. "You thought we didn't?"

"I figured they were more recent!" Hau bounced on his feet before he grabbed Gladion's arm, beginning to drag him over to the bakery. "Come on!"

"Ow, ow..."

Hau immediately let go as if Gladion had bit him. Gladion was flinching, holding his side. In his excitement, Hau had forgotten Gladion couldn't move as fast. "Oh, sorry!"

"Shaao..." Mienshao gave Hau the stink eye as she let Gladion support himself on her arm.

"It's okay." Gladion waved a hand. The movement had just pulled his stitches, causing pain.

Hau rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed that he had almost reinjured Gladion. "Guess I got too excited."

"Really, it's fine. Let's check out these malasadas."

Together, they went to the shop Bruna had pointed out. Combee Sweets was a small shop that sold all sorts of treats aside from malasada. They had recently begun crafting Kantonian, Galarian, and Kalosian treats, all taken from recipes offered by immigrants or visitors to Alola. Combee Sweets mostly offered outdoor dining, but there were five tables inside the shop for those who wished to stay out of Alola's heat.

Hau breathed in as he, Gladion, and Mienshao entered the shop. "It smells so good in here."

"Welcome to Combee Sweets!" a woman behind the front counter greeted, flashing a smile. A female Combee hovered right beside her shoulder. "We use the sweet nectar from Combee in our sweet recipes!"

"Combee bee!" Combee flitted side to side, pleased to be of assistance.

"So, what would you two boys like?"

Hau stared at all the treats laid out behind the glass counter. Berry tarts, beignets, scones, dorayaki, potato mochi, and the Alolan favorite, malasadas.

 He was almost tempted to get something other than a malasada. After a bit of contemplation, he pointed to one of the malasadas.

"Oran berry malasada!"

"Excellent choice." the woman nodded, opening the case doors to grab the treat. "What about you?"

"Oh, uh..."

Gladion hesitated. There were a lot of choices and he wasn't even sure which one he would like. The malasada were thankfully divided into different flavor categories which made choosing a little easier. He was pretty sure sweet was the way to go.

"Mago berry malasada."

Hau tried not to smile at the choice. It was the same one Gladion had gotten after their day at the beach. Gladion had never seemed like a sweets kind of guy, but now Hau was certain Gladion had a heavy sweet tooth.

"How about your Pokémon?"

Gladion glanced down at Mienshao. "Which one do you want, Mienshao?"

"Shao?" Mienshao asked, tilting her head.

"You can have a malasada, too, for helping out!" Hau said with a grin.

"Yeah, go on and pick one," Gladion encouraged.

"Mien..." Mienshao stared at the malasadas before pointing to one. Belue berry malasada. "Shao shao."

Hau had heard of Belue berries. They were originally grown in Hoenn before being exported to Kanto, Sinnoh, and Kalos. Despite their delicious appearance, they were awfully sour and one of the most sour berries in the world.

"Are you sure?" Hau asked. "That one is really sour."

Mienshao nodded firmly. "Mienshao."

"All right."

Just the thought of sinking his teeth into something that sour made his mouth ache. He was open minded to trying all of the malasada flavors, but even he drew the line at really, really sour ones.

Packing each of the warm malasada in separate wrappings of coconut leaves, the woman smiled as Hau handed her the money for the treats. "Thank you stopping by!"

"Bee Combee!" Combee called.

Hau, Gladion, and Mienshao left the shop and found a table to sit at.

It was probably for the best that they waited there for a bit until Bruna returned. It also gave them a chance to eat their treat.

Hau handed Gladion's malasada to him before giving Mienshao hers.

"Shao!" Mienshao happily bit into her malasada, tail waving. "Mien!"

Hau chuckled as he continued watching Mienshao devour her treat, not at all bothered by the teeth rattling sour berry filling. "Wow, you really like that, huh?"

"Shao shao!"

Hau took a huge bite of his malasada. It wasnt fresh out of the oven, but it was still delicious and warm. "Feels like we haven't had a malasada in forever!"

"Didn't we just have some after the beach?" Gladion muttered, taking another bite of his malasada, absently licking filling off the corner of his mouth. He reached up, rubbing his temples when he felt a stab of pain. "Mm..."

"You okay?" Hau asked, setting his malasada down and fixing Gladion with a concerned expression. "Do you have a headache?"

"It's fine." Gladion smiled, though it still didn’t quite reach his eyes.

The pain had been brief and had only occurred when he had mentioned the beach; as if a memory had been trying to resurface before giving up. The beach had been important, that much Gladion knew. He decided it was best to shake off the feeling of deja vu, focusing on taking another bite of his malasada.

“The malasada is really good. I can see why you like them.”

Hau frowned as Gladion continued eating the malasada. He knew that it wasn’t fine and something was bothering Gladion, but knew it was better to not push the subject. If Gladion didn’t want to talk about it, he didn’t want to talk about it.

“Hey, you got some…” Leaning across the table, Hau used the back of his hand to brush off some sugar particles stuck to Gladion’s cheek.

It was the same thing Gladion had done to him the first time he had seen Hau devour a malasada. He couldn’t believe Hau had such “atrocious eating behavior” as Gladion had put it. In hindsight, it had been amusing to see how frustrated Gladion was at other people’s table manners, though his sights zeroed in on Hau more often than not. It wasn’t Hau’s fault Gladion ate rarely and when he did, he still had the habit drilled into him on proper etiquette.

Gladion flinched back at the touch, startled more than rejecting Hau’s touch. He used his hand to wipe off any of the sugar Hau had missed. “Oh, sorry.”

Realizing he had done something that might have been seen the wrong way, Hau flushed and quickly sat back in his seat. Thankfully, no one walking past them had taken any notice. Modern day Alola may have been accepting of same sex partnerships, but back then it was a rare sight and those who did come out as gay were discriminated against both in taxes and by their own community.

Mienshao was staring at them, eyes flicking between the two, smirking like she had a secret.

“What?” Hau asked. “What are you looking at?”

“Shao.” Mienshao went back to eating her malasada, still pinning the two with a secretive stare.

Before Hau could continue interrogating Mienshao, Bruna walked up, a basket filled with various fruits, vegetables, and herbs in her arms. “Enjoying your malasadas, boys?”

"Oh, yes, thank you very much for letting us get some!" Hau said quickly.

Bruna smiled. "Well, if you're ready to head home, let's go."

Hau opened the front door so Bruna could walk inside. Her arms were full carrying the basket of ingredients.

Bruna smiled at the boy's kindness then looked around to make sure that the kitchen wasn't in any further disarray since she, Hau and Gladion left. The kitchen was practically sparkling with how clean Kekei had gotten it.

Kekei was sitting at the table, staring at the Pyukumuku he had slipped on earlier. He appeared to be studying its ability to use its own guts to form a fist for defense and offense.

Khala and his new Mareanie friend were nowhere in sight.

"Did Khala leave already?" Bruna asked, setting down the basket on the countertops. "I hope he'll be back by dinner."

"He said he would be," was Kekei's distracted response, not looking away from the Pyukumuku. "Can you use your insides to make different signs?"

Pyukumuku nodded with a happy chirp, shifting its fist into a thumbs up.

"You're studying the Pyukumuku you slipped on?" Gladion asked, raising an eyebrow as he sat at the table.

"I figure I may as well since we have an unknown amount taking up residence in our house."

"Shaaaoo...." Mienshao looked around for Khala. She didn't know where he had gone. She had never parted from her trainer's side for so long.

"Aw, it's okay, Mienshao!" Hau said, patting Mienshao's head. "You can play with Decidueye and the others while you wait for your trainer to come back!"

Mienshao blinked, tilting her head. "Shao?"

Hau tossed up Raichu and Decidueye's Poké balls to release them. "Come on, you guys!"

Gladion released Silvally and Lycanroc so they, too, could play with Mienshao.

"Rai rai!" Raichu circled Mienshao before tapping her nose, instigating a game of tag.

"Be careful not to destroy the house, please!" Bruna called as the Pokémon bolted from Mienshao. She sighed, shaking her head with an amused smile when the Pokémon all cried out in response. Something was still bound to get broken.

Having put away everything but the ingredients for that night's dinner, Bruna washed her hands and directed over her shoulder, "All right, let me have a look at your wound. I want to make sure that there aren't early signs of infection."

Gladion blinked as he realized she was speaking to him. "Oh, sure. No problem."

While Bruna dried her hands, Gladion carefully pulled off his shirt.

Hau tried not to hover over him like a protective Blaziken watching its chicks. Gladion could handle getting undressed by himself without Hau's interference.

It was a good thing Bruna was checking on his injury. His bandages needed to be changed anyway.

Kneeling by Gladion, Bruna began to unwrap the gauze around his midsection, being careful at any parts that tried to catch on the stitches.

Kekei looked up from poking the Pyukumuku he was studying with his pencil. His expression turned grave at the sight of the old scars on Gladion's body. Apparently, he was getting the wrong idea about where they had come from.

Bruna had yet to mention them either and Hau knew why; it wasn't their business to ask about his scars. Gladion didn't remember anyway and if he did, it was still on him if he wanted to tell the story.

Making sure that none of the thread was beginning to fray and the skin wasn't becoming infected, Bruna nodded with what she was seeing. "Hm. Not bad."

"It's healing all right?" Hau asked, relieved by the news. The last thing he wanted was for Gladion to come down with a nasty infection.

"For now. As long as we check on it regularly, we should be able to catch any early signs of infection and nip it in the bud."

"That's great," Hau said, relieved as Bruna wrapped fresh gauze around Gladion's waist. "Thank you."

Bruna chuckled, standing and returning to the kitchen so she could unload the basket of ingredients. "I've told you before that you don't have to thank us."

"If me or Bruna were injured, we'd hope someone would do the same for us," Kekei said, looking up from his study of the Pyukumuku.

It was holding his pencil in its fist, waving it around wildly. Apparently, the assignment of seeing if it could write was failing.

"Now that that's done," Bruna said, "what do you all want for dinner?"

"Anything is fine by me," Gladion responded with a shrug as he leaned back in his chair. Walking to and from Hau'oli Town had taken all of his energy.

Hau hummed, thinking. He wasn't sure how many foreign recipes Bruna knew since the immigrants from Hisui, Kanto, Galar, and even Johto were recent. She seemed to know a bit, though, so it wouldn't hurt to ask. "Do you know how to make Kantonian Katsu?"

"The breaded Piloswine cutlets?" Bruna asked, her expression lighting up at the mention of Kanto's comfort food.

While Kanto didn't have wild Swinub or Piloswine, Johto did. Since the two were next door to each other, it was commonplace for the two regions to import and export between each other before exporting to other regions. Piloswine mostly had thick, fatty meat due to the climate it hailed from, but skilled artisans were able to trim off the unnecessary fat while leaving as much meat as possible. Some people used the leftover fat as fuel for lanterns or even medicine for cuts.

Hau nodded, pulling out the chair next to Gladion so he could sit down.

"We haven't had that in quite a while," Kekei said, turning his attention to Bruna as the Pyukumuku grew bored of his study and hopped off the table. "I think Khala would appreciate coming back to that."

"I think we still have a few cutlets left in the ice box. Let's see." Bruna went to the ice box, opening it to rifle through the stored meats. She pulled out a brown package wrapped in twine. "Ah, right here."

Setting the meat on the counter to thaw out, Bruna looked at Hau. "Would you like to help me make dinner, Hau?"

Hau brightened at the offer, hopping to his feet. "Yes, ma'am!"

Kekei chuckled, watching Hau dart into the kitchen to help Bruna with the katsu breading. "Your friend sure likes to help people, huh?"

"Oh." Gladion looked at Kekei when he realized he was being talked to. He glanced back to the kitchen where Bruna and Hau were animatedly talking about something while they worked. "Yeah, I guess he does."

"You got a good one. People like him are extremely loyal as a partner."

Gladion looked at Kekei again, not sure what he meant by partner. "Huh?"

Kekei shook his head, smiling. He waved a hand. "Don't mind me. Just thinking out loud."

Khala hummed, feeding some nuts he had gathered to Mareanie. She was more than happy to use her sharp teeth to crack the shells and get at the soft insides. Listening to the waves crashing on the shore and the distant cries of Wingull was soothing.

 "The blazing sun sinks to meet the seam of sea and horizon and the moon's comforting light shines upon Alola's crystal shores..."

"Got a new friend, I see."

Khala looked up, pausing in his singing to see a male with short silver hair approaching. “Alola, Nashi.”

Nashi was the Kahuna of Ula'ula. He was also the only police officer hired by the King for the island. Crime was rare on the Alolan islands and as such, only four police officers existed, one per island. Nashi was the closest in age to Khala. Both of them were right in the middle between all the Kahuna. Not the youngest and not the oldest.

Wearing black trousers and a red short-sleeved shirt, Nashi had traded out his Alolan sandals for Johtoian hiyori geta, claiming they were more comfortable. He had cut the two wooden teeth shorter to allow better traction in the sand. Despite not having any use for it, Nashi wore a raw Z-crystal around his neck. He had discovered it while helping Johtoian immigrants clear land for the building of Po Town right next to the police station. It was dark and shiny.

"Surprised to see you arriving first."

Nashi shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Got nothing better to do today."

With little crime, there wasn’t much for Nashi to do except to help out the Johtoian immigrants who were building the small Johtoian town or take a nap.

"Uh-huh."

While Khala didn't doubt that, it usually took a lot to even get Nashi to consider leaving Ula'ula. He still wondered what Tapu Bulu was thinking when they chose Nashi as a Kahuna. It wasn't that Nashi wasn't a bad Kahuna. Quite the opposite, he cared a lot about the people on Ula'ula and the larger whole of Alola. It was just that Nashi was quite...lackadaisical in his approach.

Mareanie hopped down from Khala's shoulder as Nashi crouched down, approaching him.

Nashi held out his hand for Mareanie to sniff, glancing at Khala. "The others should be here soon."

"What's this, Nashi, here before us?" a feminine voice asked with a small laugh. "The world must be ending."

Approaching the two older men was a woman with dark skin. Her black hair reached to her shoulders. Bracelets and anklets made from various polished gems and rocks adorned her wrists and ankles. Wrapped around her waist was a thigh length pink skirt decorated with red and white hibiscus. A protective marking of Tapu Fini was embroidered on the front of her pink midriff top.

"Hey, Mayla," Khala greeted.

Mayla was the youngest of the four Kahuna, at just fifteen years of age. The previous Kahuna had passed unexpectedly a few years ago and almost immediately, Tapu Fini had chosen Mayla as the replacement. Nearly everyone on Akala had been concerned about the Tapu's choice, fearing that such a young girl couldn't possibly take up the mantle. Mayla proved all the naysayers wrong. She was a strong, dependable Kahuna. Not only that, but she was deft with her hands and became one of the island's most prominent crafters, making jewelry out of Alola's natural stones and using Apricorns to make Poké balls. Working with Kekei, she hoped to somehow figure out a way to polish unrefined Z-crystals to be usable by humans.

"All of you are acting like I'm some kind of hermit," Nashi huffed, rubbing under Mareanie's chin.

"Aren't you?" Mayla teased, grinning at Nashi.

Nashi shot her an unamused glare.

"All right, all of you stop fighting."

“We weren’t fighting,” Mayla defended as a woman with thick black hair pulled into two braids walked up to them.

Doubtful, the woman raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest. “Uh-huh.”

At forty years, Lélia was the oldest of them. She ran a Miltank dairy farm on Poni Island; the Miltank were not only used for their meat, but also for their delicious milk which Lélia made into cheese, cream, and was even working on a way to freeze the milk into creamy custard. Mudsdale were used as transportation of goods across the small island. For inter-island transportation, she used Kaki's Charizard.

With muscular arms due to daily life running a farm, Lélia had the strength to suplex a Tauros. Khala had yet to test the theory, but he had seen her pick up a Miltank and set it on one shoulder like it was nothing. She wore clothes suitable for working on a farm; thick pale slacks made from the tougher fiber of Mareep fleece and a sleeveless purple shirt. Judging from the fresh stains of dirt and grass, Lélia had just finished the first of her many daily chores.

With the other Kahuna there, Khala could officially start their meeting. "I'm sure you're all aware of why I called you here."

"We'd be daft not to," Nashi said, sitting down so Mareanie could crawl into his lap. "It has to do with that wormhole that appeared over Melemele, right?"

Khala nodded. "It does. Apparently, a strange creature came through the hole as well as two teenagers."

"People came out of that thing?" Lélia asked, raising a shocked eyebrow. "Are you sure they're human?"

"Oh, come on," Nashi scoffed with a roll of his eyes. "They're not aliens."

"What else could they be?"

"They're as human as we are," Khala said, interrupting the potential argument before it could start. "They're not what the meeting is about. The meeting is about the creature who came through the hole. One of them...." Khala sighed, shaking his head. Even he still wasn't sure what exactly he had seen. "It's hard to describe, but it seemed to corrupt this poor Mareanie."

All eyes went to the Mareanie sitting in Nashi's lap, the man not seeming to mind the weight or size of the Pokémon. It was enjoying the attention Nashi was giving it.

"What do you mean it corrupted Mareanie?" Mayla asked.

"It turned it into a monster."

A hushed silence fell over the four Kahuna.

"And this happened shortly after those teenagers arrived?" Lélia spoke up.

Khala nodded. "But I don't think they had anything to do with its arrival."

"What are you talking about?" Nashi asked. "It's a hell of a coincidence this creature showed up shortly after those two arrived, don't you think?"

"Well, it does seem to be a huge coincidence, but those boys didn't come here of their own free will."

"I agree with Khala," Lélia said, looking at Nashi. "The Mistress of the Moon and Master of the Sun must have brought them here for a reason that we're not aware of yet."

Mayla nodded, clinking her bracelets together with her fingers. "I think we should wait and see if these boys truly are a danger. The arrival of the beast shortly after them could, in fact, be coincidence. It could also be a portend to something more dangerous. We just don't know yet; it's too early to say."

Nashi took a deep breath before he let his anger get the better of him. Getting angry wasn't going to get them anywhere.

"What do you think, Khala?" Nashi asked, looking at Khala. Despite his penchant for mischief, Khala had a good head on his shoulders. "You've been around these two boys for the longest. What do you think it means?"

Khala considered it. Everything he had witnessed between the monstrous Mareanie and the teens who Bruna and Kekei had practically adopted as their own. "I think that they're lost teenagers who don't have a clue as to why they were brought here, specifically at this point in time. They don't even know how to return home. I don't think they were sent here randomly. There has to be a reasoning behind it. I believe they were sent here to prevent something awful from happening to Alola."

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