🌙Moon – Chapter 3; Hala

Read from the start

Characters: Pearl, Lillie, Hau, Ilima, Hala, Kukui

AN:

this was orignally gonna be a part of chapter 2 but i split it for length

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As Pearl exited the cavern Ilima was softly clapping for her when she approached.

“Congratulations! That was quite the strategy to use a ghost-type pokemon, if I’ve ever seen one.” he said.

“So, what now?” Pearl asked in reply.

“Well, do you have your trainer’s passport you were given when you signed up? I’ll stamp it for you showing that you’ve cleared Melemele’s trial! Then, you can challenge the Kahuna!”

“Oh, here, lemme get it out of my bag…” Pearl said as she rustled around in her bag, pulling out her trainer’s passport and allowing Ilima to stamp it.

“Who do you mean by Kahuna, again?”

“Oh, I believe you’ve already met him! The Kahuna of Melemele island is Hala, Hau’s grandfather.”

“Ohhh, that makes sense!” Pearl said, tapping her chin.

“Well, thanks Ilima! I’m gonna go ahead and text the professor now and hope his internet is working again for more information.”

“Alright! It was nice meeting you, Pearl. I’ll see you around, I guess!”

Pearl recalled Poppy to its pokeball, and made her way to the Pokemon Center across the way from the trial site to text Kukui about the trial.

>>heya! I completed ilima’s trial!!

>Oh, that’s good news, cuz! I think ol’ Hala’s tied up with battles tonight but I know he’ll definitely be free to battle you tomorrow!

>On that note, you’re on Route 2 and free right now, Right Pearl?

>>mhm, that i am

>Okay, good! Because I have a little favor to ask of you…

>Lillie’s ran into a bit of trouble and she needs someone to help her. Hau’s already at home so I figured you were closer.

>>oh, yea, it’s no problem! where is she?

>She’s in Melemele meadow – I’ll send you the directions but if you go up past Route 3 and follow signs you should be able to find your way there fairly easily!

>>alright, gotcha! i’ll do what i can!!

Pearl exited her messaging app and took a look at the map Kukui had sent – it was another 15 or so minute walk to Melemele meadow, but even then, Pearl worried if she would be able to make it there in time. Still, she went to hike the trail up to Route 3.

She spent the walk worrying about Lillie, as she hadn’t really been told what was wrong and how time-sensitive it was.

Pearl arrived at the stone arch that separated the meadow from the rocky and dusty Route 3 – it seemed like it was connected to the open-ceiling cave system that Verdant Cavern was a part of.

It wasn’t a very large meadow, and Lillie’s pure white outfit stood out like a sore thumb. Pearl called out and waved to Lillie, who turned to Pearl while clutching her bag.

As Pearl approached Lillie, she could see that the girl was obviously shaken, and her bag was unzipped.

“Pearl…! Did the professor tell you I was here?” Lillie asked.

“Yea, he said you were in trouble! What’s up, is… Nebby gone again?” Pearl replied as she peered inside Lillie’s clearly empty bag.

“Oh, it’s awful – they wouldn’t stop fussing so I decided to let them out for just a quick bit, but next thing I know they’re all the way across the field! I didn’t mean for this to happen…”

“Of course you didn’t! Nebby just seems… rambunctious, is all. Do you know where they went?”

Lillie pointed towards the opposite end of the field, and directed Pearl’s eyes to a bush of flowers.

“Nebby got chased by some cutiefly and has been hiding in that flower bush ever since. I’m too scared to go out into the tall flowers without a pokemon… that’s why I hoped you could help.”

“Psh, I can do it no problem! I just need to watch to make sure I don’t step on something, but of course I can grab Nebby for you!”

“Oh, thank you so much! I’m sorry for causing you the trouble…”

“No, no, it’s fine! No need to apologize.”

Pearl carefully stepped down into the bed of yellow flowers and began carefully stepping through them, making sure to look down to the ground and around her for possible pokemon that could be disturbed. 

It took Pearl a couple of minutes to creep her way through the flowers, but she was able to make it to the other side of the field without angering any of the small pokemon that lived among the flowers.

She crouched down and looked into the bush where Nebby was supposedly hiding, and Nebby carefully came out of the bush.

This was the first time Pearl had gotten a real good look at Nebby’s face, and as she examined it, she only became more perplexed.

They didn’t look like anything of this world – their body seemed to look like it contained the cosmos itself and their eyes seemed to shine as bright as stars. She couldn’t wonder any longer – Pearl had to know what Nebby was.

Pearl was able to scoop up Nebby, as they didn’t seem to protest, and she focused her mind on the other side of the field. She channeled all her energy into focusing on a singular area, right next to Lillie. Then, she let go, and poof! She was on the other side of the meadow without having to painstakingly navigate back.

…Wait. 

Lillie was there. Pearl had let the thought of getting to the other side more quickly overshadow the fact that nobody was supposed to know about her powers. 

Shit; Pearl thought.

Pearl’s mind was racing with what to say to Lillie, and she didn’t want to open her eyes to face her. But before she should say anything, Lillie spoke.

“Oh Nebby…!! You’re telling me you could’ve teleported back this entire time?! That’s it, you’re going in the bag and you’re NOT coming out until we get home!” Lillie said, grabbing the creature and placing it gently in her bag and zipping it up.

“Wait… what?” Pearl said in astonishment, confused as to Lillie’s reaction. She had expected something more along the lines of Lillie freaking out.

“I’m sorry Pearl, that must’ve felt weird – Nebby can teleport short distances and take others with them, they’ve done it with me before but they’re very finicky about it…”

“I… wuh… yeah. I guess that’s… what happened.” Pearl replied, trying her best to feign confusion – Lillie must’ve thought it was Nebby that teleported the both of them, not Pearl.

“You okay, Pearl? You sound disoriented.”

“Yeah, I’m… fine.” Pearl sighed. It felt like she had just dodged a bullet.

“Hey, can I ask you something?”

Lillie looked at Pearl strangely.

“What is it? I was planning on heading back home, so we can walk and talk.”

“Sure, that sounds good, I needed to talk to the professor anyways!”

So, the two of them began their hike down the mountain to Professor Kukui’s house. There, Pearl straightforwardly asked Lillie about Nebby – what they were and where they were from. The question caused Lillie to tense up a bit, like it had the last time, and she didn’t necessarily give a straightforward answer.

She had told Pearl not to tell anyone, and confirmed Pearl’s suspicions; that Nebby was indeed an extraterrestrial, though Lillie wouldn’t disclose where they were from, saying that she didn’t know. Lillie also said that she didn’t quite know what Nebby was, either, she just knew that they weren’t a pokemon.

The two moved on in terms of conversation and chatted all the way down the mountain, until they eventually reached the professor’s house. Kukui greeted them from the kitchen, where he was making dinner. He asked if Pearl would like to stay for dinner, which she politely declined.

Pearl remembered to ask Kukui about what to do next, and he told Pearl that if she was ready, she’d be able to challenge Hala in Iki town tomorrow evening. Pearl enthusiastically agreed, and the date was set.

When Pearl got home that day, she was exhausted – but in a good way. It was quite the eventful day, and there was more coming tomorrow, so she made sure to get to bed at a decent time, but not before texting her parents goodnight.

In the morning, Pearl slept in quite a bit. She didn’t really have any plans for the day, so she made sure to take the time to relax. She had only really stirred to respond to a couple of texts from her parents. 

Suddenly, Pearl heard the text tone that indicated a message from Hau. She groggily picked it up to read the message.

>Gm Pearl ^^

>>gooooooooooooooooood morning i’m like half asleep right now

>Oh I get that I just woke up too lol

>I was wondering if you wanted to come over today! I was maybe gonna invite Lillie too we could hang and watch some WSLFS !!

>>oooh sounds good! lemme get ready to go first!! i’ll be there in like an hour probs

>Alright!! I’ll be waiting 😀

Pearl got dressed and said goodbye to Melba for the day, and she was off. Once outside, Pearl released Poppy and Azul from their pokeballs to join her on the short walk to Hau’s house. This was the first time Poppy and Azul had met, and Azul seemed quite curious about this new friend.

They seemed to chatter with each other for a bit, before Azul playfully jumped along with Poppy. Pearl was glad to see her pokemon had hit it off so quickly.

She scooped up Azul under her arm and grabbed Poppy by the strings and made her way towards Iki town and Hau’s house.

Once Pearl arrived, she was greeted by Hala, who seemed happy to see her pokemon as well as her. He asked Pearl if she was ready for their battle that evening, to which Pearl gave an enthusiastic reply of ‘yes’. She asked if it’d be alright if Poppy and Azul came inside the house with her, and Hala just laughed and told her ‘of course’.

Once inside, Hala yelled down the hall to Hau that Pearl had arrived. He poked his head out of his room and waved to Pearl. She walked down the hall and joined Hau in his room, where he had a set of VHS tapes and an old CRT TV prepped and ready.

Lillie arrived around 15 minutes later, and Hau popped the VHS for ‘With Sweet Love from Strawberries’ into the TV’s VHS slot.

The three watched the old shoujo anime for hours, and Lillie would end up getting surprisingly into it. Pearl was glad the three had something they could share with each other, and was happy to see Lillie open up a bit.

They got through the first season until a knock fell upon Hau’s bedroom door – it was Hala.

“Hey you three, just here to let you know it’s about a 15-minute warning until Pearl and I were going to head to the town center to battle. Hau, Lillie, you’re welcome to come and watch if you want.” he said in his usual calm and reassuring voice.

“Heck yea! Can we go now, if that’s alright?” Pearl replied as she jolted up from the bed she was sitting on.

“Ho ho, I like your energy. Sure thing, I have a bunch of battles to get through tonight as a part of the festival, so it never hurts to get started early.”

With that, the Hau turned off the TV and got ready to go, as did Lillie. Hau’s house was right next to the town’s center square, so it was barely a walk to get there.

Hau and Lillie sat down on the temporary bleachers that had been set up on one side of the raised battle platform in the town’s center, and Pearl followed Hala up onto the platform, where they stood at opposite sides of each other.

A crowd of bystanders began to form around the wooden platform, all watching to see what the outcome of the battle would be.

“Let me say this, Pearl… the progress you’ve made along with Hau in these very few days is astounding. The two of you will surely grow into exceptional trainers – let me serve as your first major challenge on your journey!” Hala said, and as he finished speaking, he pounded his feet on the platform. Then, he raised his voice, as he was speaking out to the crowd;

“I am Hala, the Kahuna of Melemele island! I’m renowned as a fighting-type specialist, and nothing fires me up like a good battle with the fiery youth of this island! So, to everyone here, please give Pearl your most warm welcome as she steps on this stage!”

Pearl was unfamiliar with this amount of attention, but just as the night she had battled Hau had gone, she was exhilarated by the energy of the situation. With her pokemon still out by her side, Pearl untangled Poppy’s strings from her hand and sent it forwards onto the battlefield.

Hala smirked.

“A flying-ghost type is a clever choice! Let’s see where the winds of battle take us!” he shouted, as to lift his voice above the noises of the crowd.

“My friend mankey, let this be the start of a glorious battle!”

After he spoke, Hala sent out a mankey, who was jumping around to its own beat.

Pearl called out to Poppy, instructing it to use gust on her opponent. In response, Hala told his mankey to use focus energy. But it was to no avail, as Poppy’s next gust attack was a critical hit and knocked out his mankey.

“Yes!!” Pearl yelled out as Hala recalled the fainted pokemon into its pokeball.

“That was a good one, kid! I’m afraid my next pokemon is a bit under-equipped to handle a ghost type…”

As the words left his mouth, Hala sent out a small makuhita. It tried to use fake out on Poppy, but the attack didn’t do anything.

This must be like the rattata!; Pearl thought, as she instructed her pokemon to use gust once more. It took a bit to wear through its HP, but the makuhita eventually went down after getting a few sand attacks in.

Without a word, Hala sent out his last pokemon with a glint in his eye – crabrawler. 

Pearl went and stuck to her strategy of using gust over and over, but after her first attack, the crabrawler hit her with the unexpected – a dark-type attack, pursuit. Given crabrawler’s physical strength and the move’s type advantage, Poppy was knocked out easily.

Pearl stood back in shock, as she wasn’t expecting the attack, but didn’t let it get to her – after all, this was Hala’s last pokemon, and Pearl was down to her final pokemon as well. It was truly a one on one now, and Pearl was as determined as ever.

She recalled Poppy into its pokeball and sent Azul forwards, who had previously been watching from behind Pearl.

“Hit ‘em hard and hit em fast, let’s go with aqua jet!” she cried out, raising her voice enough for Azul to hear over the crowd.

Hala and his crabrawler switched their stance, and he called for crabrawler to use power-up punch. It didn’t do much, but Pearl knew it would be devastating if she allowed it to build up power and didn’t knock it out soon.

It had gotten to the nitty-gritty of the battle – both parties were on their last legs. But Azul was faster than crabrawler, and with one final aqua jet, the opposing pokemon fell to the ground and was recalled into its pokeball.

Pearl cheered and lifted Azul up in her arm and swirled him around in victory. Hala grinned and walked towards Pearl, outstretching his hand to shake hers.

“Congratulations Pearl! You’ve cleared your very first island! How do you feel?” he said, a smile still on his face.

“I feel… amazing! That was a super good battle!” Pearl replied, heartily shaking Hala’s hand.

Cheers echoed from around the platform, and Pearl was able to spot Hau and Lillie all the way back in the bleachers – the two were standing cheering for her. Pearl couldn’t help but get a little teary-eyed from the emotion of the situation.

Hala requested Pearl get out her trainer’s passport to stamp it, which Pearl enthusiastically did so. It was a large stamp that took up the entire passport page, and Pearl couldn’t stop staring at it in pride. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that the totem figure the stamp depicted looked… familiar.

Pearl shook the feeling for the moment and exited off the platform, where she was greeted by Hau and Lillie. Hau gave Pearl a big hug, while Lillie stood by with a smile on her face. The professor also approached Pearl, and he seemed pleased as well.

“Grats, Pearl! That was really close, but you made it! I guess that makes two of us that’ve beaten grandpa, now!” Hau said in delight.

“Yeah cuz, that was a pretty enthralling battle!” Kukui chimed in.

“Ha, thanks! So, Kukui, what’s next?” Pearl asked the professor.

“Settle down there! The next island for your journey would be Akala island, but why don’t you take a bit of a break? I’m sure your pokemon would appreciate it!”

“Awh, alright. But I guess they kind of deserve it, right Azul?” Pearl said as she looked down to her pokemon, but her expression shifted to that of worry once she saw that her pokemon was seemingly in pain.

“Azul…?”

Pearl reached out to her pokemon, but before she could, she jolted back as Azul began to glow.

Her expression of worry quickly turned to fascination when she realized what Azul was doing – Azul was evolving! 

After being consumed in light for a few seconds, the light slowly faded, and there Azul was – no longer a popplio, but a brionne.

Pearl dove to the ground and gave Azul a big hug in his new changed form. The battle must’ve been enough for Azul to evolve; she thought.

But Azul was still tired from the battle, so Pearl recalled him back into his pokeball to let him rest.

She spent the rest of the day chatting with Hau and Lillie some before heading back home and collapsing into bed.

Today was a good day.

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