🌙Moon – Chapter 5; hiker david for best pokeau 2020

Read from the start

Characters: Pearl, Hau, Lillie, Kukui, Kiawe

AN:

the shortest chapter so far, mostly filler :p

---

Pearl was still giddy over her win, even after the day had passed. She was sure to text her parents about it, and of course, Lillie. Pearl already told Hau all about her experience once he returned to the hotel, so she felt it was only appropriate to inform her other adventuring buddy as well.

Though, as Pearl would quickly realize, texting Lillie yielded no results. It seemed Lillie hadn’t even seen the texts, as no read receipt showed up. Hau got similar results, so the two concluded something must’ve been interfering. Pearl ended up calling the professor instead, to ask about Lillie and talk about her win.

Kukui told Pearl that Lillie had broken her phone – or more appropriately, Nebby had broken it. He also seemed content to listen to Pearl’s enthusiastic rambling about her adventures, and promised he’d tell Lillie about it.

After her call with Kukui, Pearl decided it’d be best to head back over to Heahea city and get details from the professor on what the next steps on the island trials would be.

While hiking back to the city with Hau, the two discussed the possibilities for the next trial. According to a preliminary internet search, there were two other trials on the island – the fire trial located at Wela Volcano park, and the grass trial located in the Lush jungle. Hau noted he’d prefer to take on the grass trial first, while Pearl said she’d prefer to take on the fire-type trial instead. 

Pearl didn’t necessarily want to split up from her friend, but she knew she’d always have contact with Hau, so she let it go. The two bantered all the way back to the Dimensional Research Lab, and when they arrived, they were surprised to see Lillie was outside in the parking lot with Nebby.

“Alright Nebby! Use… uh… splash?” Lillie said, not realizing Hau and Pearl had arrived.

Nebby didn’t seem to follow her commands, and instead began teleporting around her playfully.

“C’mon Nebs-! At least humor me here!” she spoke in a frustrated tone, before turning around and jumping a bit when she saw Hau and Pearl watching.

“Gah-!! How long were you two watching…?”

Hau snickered a bit, and Pearl responded:

“We just got here! What were you doing, anyways?” she asked, cocking her head to the side a bit.

“Oh… well… it’s kind of embarrassing…”

“Come on, from what I saw it didn’t look too out of the ordinary.”

Lillie mumbled and wrung her hands a little bit.

“Well… da… the professor told me about everything you did! It was really exciting to hear about and I guess…” Lillie’s words started to trail off as she started mumbling even more. 

“…I guess I just wanted to try being a cool trainer like you, Pearl.”

Pearl stared blankly at Lillie for a few seconds before smiling sweetly.

“Oh, haha, I’m not that cool of a trainer!” she chuckled, waving her hand in front of her face. 

“But it’s uh, really flattering that you think that…”

There was an awkward moment of silence between the three as Pearl’s words trailed off. After that, Hau broke it.

“Well, we were here to see the professor to get info on what to do next.” he said in a matter-of-fact tone, propping his hands up behind his head.

“Right! That’s what we were doing. Is the professor here, Lillie?” Pearl asked.

“He’s inside working! But I’m sure he won’t mind a visit from you guys, he talks about you two a lot, after all…”

Lillie retrieved Nebby to her bag and motioned for the two friends to follow her inside the lab. They took the elevator up to the laboratory level, and found Kukui talking with his wife while eating lunch.

Kukui waved at the three and finished chewing before he spoke.

“Oi, champs in the making! Good to see you two after the trial!”

Pearl and Hau waved back and approached the professor to talk more.

Pearl was more than eager to discuss the next steps, but Kukui gestured to her to slow down as he took another bite of his sandwich.

“Woah there! I get you’re excited, but you don’t wanna burn yourself out!” he said, setting down his sub. “Why not take it easy for a little bit? Get to know Heahea, yea?”

Pearl huffed a bit, and ultimately sighed.

“I suppose so… I could always use more training time…”

Suddenly, Kukui’s phone buzzed. He picked it up to look, and with an exclamation of ‘Oh!’, he quickly sent a reply to the text before turning to Lillie.

“Phone’s fixed! Think you can head down there yourself? I was gonna be busy with Burnett after we finished eating.” he said.

Lillie thought for a moment.

“Yeah, I’m sure I’ll be fine!” she said, but Pearl quickly raised her hand to interject.

“Could I come? Maybe we could go shopping!”

Lillie looked a bit shocked and mumbled to herself a bit, before she spoke up, smiling in Pearl’s direction.

“That’d be wonderful!” Lillie then turned to Hau. “Hau, would you want to join?”

“Nah, I’m good. I wanted to look into some of the books here, you guys can have fun on your own!” he replied.

Lillie and Pearl said their goodbyes to the professors and Hau, before heading back out into the humid summer air of Heahea city. Pearl input the address of the store that had fixed Lillie’s phone. It wasn’t a very long walk, as the Dimensional Research Lab was located fairly close to the city’s big shopping center. Still, Pearl and Lillie chattered along the way – Pearl recounting her adventures, and Lillie listening attentively. A couple of times during the walk, Lillie had to wrangle Nebby from inside the bag, as it seemed they wanted out to see Pearl.

The two finally reached the shopping center, and air conditioning and smells of fountain water blasted over them as they entered. It was fairly busy, so Pearl released Poppy from it’s pokeball to act as a sort of ‘beacon’ in case she got separated from Lillie. They found the phone repair booth, and Lillie was able to get her phone back.

“…What now?” Lillie asked, cocking her head towards Pearl.

“We go… shopping? It’s a mall, after all! You don’t have to worry about money, my parents said they’d cover anything I spent in Alola!”

“I’ve never, uh… gone shopping before…” Lillie replied, her tone quiet and almost embarrassed.

“Huh what? Seriously? Well, I guess now’s a great time to have your first shopping spree!”

Lillie still looked a bit confused, but she gladly followed as Pearl grabbed her arm and the two went off to cruise the stores that the complex had to offer.

Lillie seemed fairly reserved when it came to shopping, as opposed to Pearl, who had practically constructed herself a new wardrobe. After some insistence from Pearl, Lillie chose a new outfit, but didn’t actually put it on.

“I’ve never… done this before…” Lillie said, holding her newly selected clothes in the checkout line.

“Done what? You’ve already told me you’ve never gone shopping before.” Pearl replied.

“…Chosen clothes for myself. My mother always chose my outfits…”

Pearl curiously tilted her head. She’d never heard of Lillie’s parents before, she had just assumed Kukui and Burnet acted as her parents, especially considering Lillie almost called Kukui ‘dad’.

“Your mom? What’s she like?” Pearl asked, hoping she wasn’t prying too close.

“Well… she’s…” the rest of Lillie’s words were mumbles, and the two’s conversation was interrupted by the clerk working at the cash register. Given her reaction, Pearl decided it was best to not try and find out more.

The two friends spent the rest of the day shopping, and at the end of the day, alongside new clothes, Pearl and Lillie had stopped by a bakery and gotten some sweets; as well as buying matching Hello Skitty and Cutie Clefairy plushies as a symbol of friendship.

Upon returning to the lab, Pearl was able to convince Kukui to sign her up for the next trial, as the next opening was a couple of weeks away, anyways.

For those following weeks, Pearl spent it with a mix of training, hanging out with Hau and Lillie, and exploring the city. She had the freedom to do whatever she wanted, so Pearl definitely made sure to take advantage of that. She also still made sure to keep in touch with her family, updating them on her adventures.

—

>Pearlllll

>Pearlllllllllllllllllllllllllll

>>what is it hau -_____- i just woke up

>Guess what today is 👀

>>wh

>>SHIT YOURE RIGHT

>>SORRY GTG ILY

—

Pearl slammed down her phone and haphazardly flailed out of bed. Today was the day of her second trial on Akala! She had stayed up late the night previously out of anxious excitement, yet had totally forgotten when she woke up.

She got dressed and ready, and headed out of the hotel to catch a bus to Wela Volcano Park. 

Once Pearl arrived, she started her trek up the hiking trail, and let out Azul to walk with her – as she figured he’d be particularly helpful during the coming battles. While Pearl had to mostly carry Azul, she didn’t mind. 

Pearl and Azul battled their way up the trail, to eventually reach the ever-so-familiar gates that marked the entrance to the trial grounds. Standing just outside of them was a young man with fiery brown hair, practicing that appeared to be dance moves with an Alolan marowak.

Pearl called out to him, and he stopped, and turned around to wave.

“Hey! You must be the next challenger, right?” he said, shooing his marowak away in the direction of the trial gate. “Your name’s, uh… Pearl, right? I’m Kiawe!”

Kiawe extended his hand to Pearl, and she happily shook it.

“Yep, that’s me! Nice to meet you! So, should we get started?” Pearl asked.

“A fiery spirit! I like it! C’mon, if you’re ready, follow me!” Kiawe exclaimed, waving his arm in the direction his marowak had just run off to.

Pearl eagerly followed Kiawe up the hill beyond the gate, and once they reached the top, the two came upon a stage, where three marowak were waiting.

“This trial… is a test of your memory! My pokemon here will show you two versions of a dance… and it’s up to you to remember which one dances differently! Sound alright?”

“Yep! I’m ready!” Pearl said as she set Azul back down on the dusty earth. 

Pearl took a seat on a nearby rock and watched as the marowak performed…

The pokemon did coordinated spins, jumps, and tossed around their flaming bone clubs. Pearl made sure to clap after the first performance, and after the second, she was prompted by Kiawe to choose which marowak had moved differently.

“The one on the right side,” Pearl said. “It turned to the left, not the right.”

“Correct! Now, marowak, come battle with Pearl as you make your exit from the stage!” Kiawe shouted, and as he did, the ride-side marowak ran towards Pearl and Azul.

Pearl and Azul quickly got into a battle stance, and Pearl called out her first attack.

The battle was short, as Pearl had been training a lot beforehand. After it was knocked out of battle, the marowak tiredly trudged to sit on a rock by Kiawe, who gave it a pat on the head.

The next dance continued – it was the same dance, just with 2 marowak instead of 3. At the very end of the second dance, a blonde hiker jumped out from behind the stage.

“HOO-YAH!” he yelled, catching Pearl completely off-guard. Before she could say anything about the hiker, Kiawe continued as normal, though it was evident he was trying to hide a laugh.

“So! What’s different about this dance?” he said, a silly smile on his face.

It took Pearl a second to realize it was a joke.

“Ohhhh!” she exclaimed. “It’d have to be the hiker!”

“Yes!! Now go, my hiker!” Kiawe shouted once more, and that was the hiker’s cue to send out his pokemon – a magmar.

The battle went about as smoothly as the battle with the marowak, with Pearl swiftly defeating it with Azul’s water-type moves. The hiker recalled his fainted pokemon and scratched the back of his head.

“Wow, kid’s strong!” he said, before walking over to sit on a rock by Kiawe.

“Thanks David!” Kiawe said with a laugh, before turning to Pearl with a serious expression. “So, you ready for the last dance?”

“Yes!!” Pearl exclaimed, bouncing her leg in anticipation.

So, the final dance began. As with the previous dances, it was the same – until the very end of the second variation. A toxicly sweet-smelling stench wafted through the area, and a hissing noise could be heard from behind the stage.

Pinching his nose shut, Kiawe tried to speak as best he could through the smell.

“Alright…! What’s, ack, different about this dance?”

“The-” Pearl began to say, but before she could finish, a massive salazzle hopped out from behind the stage.

“Too early! But good job!” Kiawe said to the pokemon, who looked a bit embarrassed. He motioned for the salazzle to go forwards, and it reared towards Pearl. 

Once again, Pearl and Azul got into their battle stances, and the battle with the totem pokemon began.

“Azul, bubble beam!” Pearl shouted.

But the salazzle was slick, and managed to hit Azul with toxic first. Pearl knew she had to knock out the salazzle fast before the poison damage became too much. Pearl sifted around in her bag, but couldn’t find an antidote.

“Damnit!” she said under her breath, realizing she hadn’t considered the opposing pokemon would be a dual fire-poison type. She had to think fast – and her first instinct was to just keep using bubble beam, as it was Azul’s strongest move.

Pearl got the salazzle to about half health before it called out a salandit from the surrounding volcano. Pearl however, didn’t break a sweat. With just an aqua jet, Azul was able to one-shot the weaker male pokemon and focus on the salazzle more. It quickly became evident to Pearl that the salazze didn’t have any non-fire type attack move, so it wasn’t doing much damage to Azul.

It was getting down to the line – poison was whittling away at Azul, but Salazzle was about one hit away from fainting. Confidently, Pearl called out for Azul to use aqua jet, and before the salazzle could attack, Azul jetted towards it in a burst of water, knocking it out.

Pearl gained a huge smile and excitedly scampered towards Azul to give him a victory hug, but as she did, Azul finally succumbed to the poison and fainted. Pearl’s enthusiasm quickly turned to panic, but Kiawe swooped in.

“Whup, here we go! This should heal ‘em up!” he said, handing Pearl a revive and a few potions.

Though Pearl almost seemed like she was about to cry, she quickly perked up.

“Thank you-!” she said, healing Azul back up as fast as she could. Once Azul was perky again, Pearl made sure to give him a big, proper victory hug.

“No problem! You’ve got a strong pokemon on your hands, that was a fun battle to watch – right David?” Kiawe said as he turned to the hiker. David smiled and gave a silent thumbs up to Pearl as he healed the marowak sitting next to him. “Here, take out your trainer’s passport so I can stamp it to signify your win!”

Pearl nodded, and quickly located her passport from her bag. Kiawe took out an orange-red stamp, and placed a stamp right next to the blue one she had gotten from Lana’s trial. 

“Oh, looks like you have one trial left! I should call Mallow and make arrangements, then…” Kiawe said, nodding and taking out his phone.

“Mallow? Are they another trial captain?” Pearl asked.

“You’re sharp – just as sharp as you were during the trial! She is indeed – the grass-type trial captain!” Kiawe paused and stared at his phone for a second. “Can I have your phone number? The way this final trial will work is a bit different, so I’ll need your contact info directly.”

Pearl gave Kiawe her contact information, and waved goodbye to him and David as she left the trial grounds. The sun was beginning to set over the island, and Pearl looked out the window of the bus back to Heahea in awe at the shimmering sea. 

Suddenly, she got a text – from Lillie!

>Hello Pearl! Are you done with the trial?

>>yea!! went great :DDD what’s up?

>Oh wonderful! You’ll have to tell me about it when you next visit the lab.

>I wanted to ask something of you.

>>yea? what is it?

>It’s a long journey to the final trial ground. Can you please take me with you?

>>of course!!

Next Chapter