Chapter Text
The moment Rain finished his homework, he went to his bed and fell on it. The first week in B-rank was hard: from seeing Vain almost break apart at Ancient Ruins after losing to Maxwell, to having to deal with Emma’s attempt at getting him expelled and another panic attack due to his pyrophobia, the only thing Rain wanted to do is rest. So when he heard a knock at the door, Rain was more than ready to punch whoever was on the other side of the door.
“WHAT?” He yelled when he opened his door, only to see his mentor. “Hello Rain”, Vain said, a small smile on his face (despite the fact he just got yelled at), “There is someone who wants to meet you.” Rain, tired but still wondering who wanted to meet him, followed Vain, with “Friend” following right behind.
The three went to the entrance of the Classroom Tower, and saw the principal talking to a woman, who wore a simple yet beautiful purple dress and wore a Ludicolo Sombrero for a hat. But Rain recognized her on the spot. “M-Mom?” He said, tears forming in his eyes. “Hello my little Droplet”, Jade said, “I have missed you!” Rain sprinted to his mom, who hugged him. “I… I missed you too.” Rain said, crying, before asking: “But why are you here?”
“Did you finish your homework?” the principal asked, and Rain nodded. “Then Mrs. Lapis, I allow you to take your son for the weekend on a vacation.” He says to Jade. “WHAT!?” Rain shouts, both shocked and happy. “I wanted to be a surprise”, Jade said, “But you and I are going to Poni Island in Alola for a mother and son time!” Rain couldn’t help but smile, before hugging his mom once.
“There is just one thing”, the principal said, pointing to “Friend”, “Due to our policy about Pokemons, you’ll only be allowed to leave the Academy with your Starter.” “And I catch anything there?” Rain asked, to which the principal replied: “You'll be allowed to keep them, but I hope you won’t end up abusing this.” “He won’t”, Jade said, a bit angry from the idea Rain will do such a thing. “Well I’ll get to pack my things!” Rain said, going back to his room, with his mom, “Friend” and Vain coming to help.
“So your Rain’s Partner?” Jade says to “Friend” as she pet him, “What a cute Samurott you are!” “Friend” enjoys the petting, clearly taking Rain’s mom to his liking. “Your mom seems… nice” Vain says to Rain, to which he replies: “Yeah, she really is.” “So you're my son’s mentor in this school?” his mom asked, still petting “Friend”. “Yes Mrs. Lapis, I’m his mentor. The name is-” Vain began saying before Jade cut him off: “Please, Vain, you can call me Jade! The principal already told me that my son thinks highly of you, but…”
“Mom please don’t.” Rain pleaded, but Jade continued: “What do you truly think of my son?” There was silence for a moment, as Vain was embarrassed by what was just said. Finally, he answered: “Well Jade, I think Rain is very talented. Not a lot of students can climb from D-rank to B-rank in the matter of fifteen weeks.” Now it was Rain's turn to be embarrassed, his cheeks becoming red as a Cheri Berry.
“I’m glad to hear!” Jade says, as she closes the final bag, “Well Droplet, we got to leave, say goodbye to Vain!” Rain, still red, looks at Vain as he barely manages to say: “See ya next week.” “Have a fun Vacation.” Vain says, “You earned it.”.
“We are almost here, have you finished dressing?” Jade asks Rain from outside the ship’s toilet. “In a minute!” Rain answers as he takes another look at himself. He now wore an undershirt with purple flowers drawn on it, light blue shorts with waves patterns and sunglasses with teardrop shaped lenses. Happy with how he looks, he comes out of the toilet, right as they reach their destination: Seafolk Village in Poni Island, Alola.
“Alola, and welcome to Seafolk Village!” A small woman greets them as they get out of the ship, “I’m Hapu, the island Kahuna. It's nice to meet you! We don’t get tourists often, so I took the liberty of getting you a welcome gift.” She then gave to Rain and Jade a necklace with black stones and a birch symbol of a strange Pokemon.
“It is nice to meet you, Hapu!” Jade says as she puts on the necklace, “I’m Jade, and my son will introduce himself. Thank you for the gift!” “The pleasure is mine” Hapu says, before turning to Rain and asking: “And you are?” Rain, still looking at the strange Pokemon symbol on the necklace, says: “Rain, B-rank student from Apple Academy. Excuse me for asking, but who is that Pokemon on the necklace?”
“Ah, that is our island Guardian Deity, Tapu Fini!” Hapu says. “Guardian Deity? As in, the four Pokemon that protect each island in Alola?” Rain asks, to which Hapu answers: “I see you learned a lot in Apple Academy. Yes, you are correct.” Rain just smiled and said: “Oh, I just read a lot of books, that's all”, all the while thinking about the Book of Tales, which had a couple of stories about the Guardian Deities.
“Well, since evening approaches”, Hapu said as she pointed to the sun, the last rays of dusk shine on the sea, “How about dinner? Follow me.” Hapu leads them to a Wailord shaped ship, where there was a restaurant. “The food is on me!” Hapu says as they all sit down. “You’re too kind, Hapu”, Jade said before asking, “But why aren't there many tourists here?”
“You see”, Hapu explained, “Seafolk Village is the only human settlement on Poni Island, minus my house. So there aren’t many people visiting since there is no hotel. Only a few rooms at the Pokemon Center.” “Well, we get to see this place!” Rain said, excited “There are many things we will get to together!” Jade chuckles as she hugs her son, and says: “You always know how to make me smile!”.
The food was soon served, which was noodles. The three ate happily, with Hapu and Jade talking with each other. After they finish the noodles, they are served with Malasada, filled with a purple honey. Rain takes a bite, and a sweet taste enters his mouth, followed by a bit bitter after taste. “What is this honey made of?” Rain asks, to which Hapu answers: “From Purple Nectar, of course!”
“Wait, you mean the nectar that if an Oricorio drinks from, it changes forms?” Rain asks, excitement in his eyes. “Yes! My, you are knowledgeable. This nectar can be used to make this honey, which has a bit of bitter after taste”, Hapu explained, clearly surprised by Rain’s knowledge, “but its main consumers are the Dancing Pokemon, Oricorio!”
Jade laughs and says: “Of course my little dancer knows about a Pokemon who loves dancing!” “MOM!” Rain says, embarrassed.
“Say, Rain…” Hapu began asking, “If you like dancing, would you love to see their performance? Sensu style Oricorio tends to dance during the night, which is now.” Rain couldn’t help but nod. How can he miss such a thing? “Then follow me once more!” Hapu says, paying to the waiter before leading the mother and son into Poni Island.
Poni Meadow is beautiful at night. A stone staircase, created by nature itself, leads down into a field of purple flowers and ponds, from which the moon is reflected. And in the field of flowers danced a bunch of Oricorio, all Sensu style. Rain couldn’t help but be amazed at this sight: each Oricorio moved their fan-like wings in elegance, creating a beautiful dance.
As both Jade and Hapu watched the dance in silence, Rain recalled that he took the hand-fan he used sometime during dances himself with him, and took it out of the bag. He approached silently the flower field, and watched the Oricorio for a while, before joining himself to the dance, mimicking their movements with his fan. This goes on for a while, until he hears the sound of clapping. And when he looks around him, all the Oricorio bow to him, as if thanking him for joining this dance.
“Oh! Thank you for allowing me to join.” Rain thanks the Oricorio back, as they all fly off, beside one. She looks at Rain, as if asking something else. “I guess you wanna come with me?” He asks as he takes out an Ultra Ball. Without hesitation, Oricorio touched the ball’s button and after a few moments, she was captured. “Alright, come on out!” Rain says as he releases his new Pokemon, “I think I’ll call you “Sensu”, that's okay?” “Sensu” nods. “Great, welcome to the team!” Rain happily says.