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Alola’s heat is no joke, especially around these parts, Selene thought to herself.
Kanto never got this hot, especially not this early in the day!
Selene had just made it up to Wela Volcano Park as the scorching hot sun hung in the sky above her. At the peak of the mountain was Trial Captain Kiawe, who had offered to help Lillie train with Torracat.
By the time Selene made it to the top of the mountain after her long hike up, it was already late morning. Lillie and Kiawe must’ve been taking a break from their training, because they were both sitting comfortably on a few rocks with some cool, packed lunches. Selene was relieved to see that she wasn’t interrupting a battle, or anything. Selene was also relieved to see they had cold food with them.
“Alola!” Lillie called out as she waved her only free hand in the air to Selene, using her other hand to keep her lunch away from a few curiously hungry Salandit.
“Nice of you to join us, Selene!” Kiawe exclaimed, a smile in his voice. Selene rushed over to her friends and extended a hand out to Nebby, who was floating idly beside Lillie. Almost instantly, Nebby’s shape shifted from its typical appearance of a Cosmog into the Beastly Devourer of the Sun, Solgaleo, in order to press its blazing, celestial fur into Selene’s palm. Selene responded by simply patting the guardian's head as one of its ears twitched contently.
“Alola, you two..!” Selene replied, turning only her head to face her friends as Solgaleo - or Nebby - forced its head back into the girl's palm whenever she tried to pull it away. Otherworldly beast or not, Nebby was still just a big, attention-seeking cat with some extra warm fur in this forme.
Nebby was just an attention-seeking cat in any forme, though.
“How’re you adjusting to the summer weather?” Kiawe playfully asked Selene as she fanned herself with the collar of her shirt.
“This isn’t the first summer I’ve spent in this region, y’know,” Selene huffed back. “I’ve just gotta get used to the sun being up at this time again and going to bed when the moon rises..!”
Lillie couldn’t help but chuckle. She joined Selene in patting Nebby’s silky fur, which made it quickly shift back into its much more compact Cosmog forme in order to cheerfully flutter around its trainer.
Once both of Selene’s hands were finally free, thanks to Lillies interference and Nebby’s incredibly short attention span, she took a seat on an empty rock positioned around her friends.
“How’s training with Torracat been, Lils? She getting any closer to evolving, ya think?” Selene asked.
“I’m..not entirely sure,” Lillie softly replied, looking up at Nebby as she spoke.
“Well, the two of ‘em are definitely getting stronger, I can tell you that much,” Kiawe chimed in.
“I think we’ll be seeing Lillie whip out a proper Z-Move with Torracat pretty soon. They’ve already got a strong enough bond, Torracat just has to buff up a bit more to be able to maintain a Z-Move’s power, and I think evolving will be the final step towards that.”
Selene nodded enthusiastically in agreement, while Lillie herself only sheepishly smiled at her friend's praising remarks and fidgeted with the unused Z-Ring clamped to her wrist.
Lillie had been back in Alola for about 6 months now. She returned from Kanto, where she did plenty of training, with a proper team this time. She managed to get through seven of the eight gym’s sprinkled around Kanto, gained the courage to take on her home region's island challenge, and had already passed the first four trials. And yet, she still felt unprepared.
Lillie didn’t think she was capable of getting here. She never once envisioned herself raising pokemon, especially not pokemon that she’d be battling with. Lillie was used to following the path her mother led her by. Lillie was used to being scared.
Lillie was used to being dependent.
So now, with the Island Challenge amulet clipped to her bag, four Z-Crystals in her possession, and the Melemele Trial Completion stamp given to her by Kahuna Hala himself, why was she still so uncertain about everything? She had already taken all of these steps forward, but success felt unnatural. She wasn’t sure if the kinds of accomplishments under her name actually belonged there. She wasn’t sure if the Z-Ring around her wrist belonged there.
She wasn’t sure if she herself belonged there.
Lillies mind began to wander at an alarming rate as her ears drowned out the conversation between her friends.
Lillie clenched her fists and rested them on her lap. Her hands were sweaty, possibly due to the heat, or the overwhelming feeling of anxiety that began to rush through her body. Lillie kept her head down and her eyes shut tight. Lillie-
“Hey, I know!” Selene suddenly exclaimed, quickly grabbing Lillie’s clenched palms from her lap and holding them in her own hands.
Selene’s simple action seemed to snap Lillie right back into reality. Her hands quickly unfolded, allowing for Selene to hold them properly as she spoke.
There was this specific glimmer of determination in Selene’s eyes that Lillie always noticed whenever the two of them would be speaking face to face. A glimmer that Lillie could only describe as something similar to the night sky. She normally felt her heart jolt whenever the two of them made eye contact, but it felt as if it would rip out of her chest whenever Selene had that special look in her eyes.
Even with her heart pounding in her chest, Lillie relaxed. The anxiety that she previously felt swarmed by had been washed away like the sand on one of Alola’s many shores. The girl did have to make an effort to actually listen to the words Selene was saying, though, rather than simply gaze at her the whole time.
“We should have a battle, me and you!” Selene said, squeezing Lillie’s hands in excitement.
Selene let go of the girl’s hands in order to unzip the bag that sat on her hip and fetch out a Pokeball. “Decidueye versus Torracat,”
“You’ll even have the type advantage for this one, so you better make use of it, Lils!” Selene laughed as she turned to close her bag. Lillie hadn’t responded before Selene could chime back in.
“Wait, I’m getting ahead of myself,” Selene realized, looking back up to face Lillie.
“Do you and Torracat want to battle? Are you guys both in the proper condition for it?”
Lillie paused, the three of them sitting in silence. Both Selene and Kiawe glanced over at her, anticipating her answer. Was Lillie in the proper condition for this?
Would I even have a chance against Selene, Alola’s one and only Champion? - Lillie thought to herself, before quickly disregarding her doubts.
No, I ’m not battling Champion Selene. I’m battling my best friend, Selene. She wouldn’t of asked me to battle if she thought I couldn’t handle it, and I know that.
She wouldn’t ask me to battle if she didn’t have faith in me.
“Okay!” Lillie suddenly exclaimed after a moment of silence. Her sudden response caught her friends off guard, and might have made Kiawe jump a bit, but the two of them couldn’t hide their excitement.
“That’s what I’m talking about, Lillie!” Kiawe replied, giving her a firm pat on the back.
Selene beamed a smile at Lillie, which she proudly returned.
The three of them each got up from their seats. Kiawe made his way to the sidelines of the battle area, which was simply the Totem’s Den, as the girls hurried up to their positions. Each of the girls took a side of the platform and held on tightly to the Pokeball's in their hands.
“You’ve got this, Lillie! Show her what you’ve learnt!” Kiawe shouted from beside the platform. Lillie gave him an understanding nod.
Selene swung her arm into the air, pitching her Pokeball forward onto the platform.
“Go, Decidueye! You’ve got this, buddy!” She exclaimed afterwards.
Lillie smiled, clutching the ball in her hands and holding the clasp in the middle under her finger.
Lillie released the ball's clasp and sent it flying ahead.
“Okay, Torracat,”
“We can do this - together!”