🌙Moon – Chapter 13; nondoomed yuri

Read from the start

Characters: Pearl/Lillie, Hau, Hapu, Wicke, Zinnia

Warnings: none :3

Wordcount: 6,581

Vibe: [to the tune of that one YTP] GAY PEOPLE GAY PEOPLE GAY PEOPLE GAY PEOPLE

good fucking god.

hi, been a while! because of that, this author’s note is a little bit longer than normal.

it’s been… almost one year since the last moon update! wowie!! mostly because i’ve been busy, but also due to waning interest in general. i started moon three and a half years ago, at a time when covid was causing me to reflect on my past and yearn for the teenage years i’d ‘lost’ to mental health issues, trauma, and chronic illness. pearl is, in a way, a version of 15-16 year old me trapped in time. but as i’ve grown older and learned to become more content with the present, i’ve felt a bit of a disconnect for this reason.

but i still think, for the sake of myself three and a half years ago, and for the sake of pearl, that this deserves an ending. this isn’t that, yet. there’s still one chapter left to go, and probably an epilogue, so we’ll see how long it takes – hopefully not another year.

see you on the flip side!

---

“Pearl? Are you awake yet?”

The voice was vaguely familiar sounding, confusing Pearl a bit as she stirred in bed.

She just murmured incomprehensibly, but it seemed like whoever was with Pearl was satisfied with her response.

“When you feel alright, I’ll be waiting outside the room for you.”

What followed was the sound of footsteps walking away and a door opening and closing.

Pearl still felt a little groggy, but tried to will herself awake as best she could. Because last she could remember…

It was overwhelming to think about, to say the least.

With her head still buried in the pillow, Pearl felt around with her hand as she usually would – looking for her phone. But she wasn’t quite sure where she even was.

Her hand found a bedside table and trailed along it, until she could feel a shape that felt like her phone – before promptly knocking it off the side table and onto the floor.

Pearl groaned, and sat up in the bed with a stretch – opening her eyes and finally getting a good look at her surroundings.

The room was a bleached white, with the only splashes of color being gold-tinted metal accents on certain pieces of furniture. There were some art deco style statues, but that was about it for extra decoration.

Pearl reached down the bed to grab her phone from the floor, which was a bit of a challenge due to the bed’s height.

Rubbing her eyes, Pearl unlocked her phone, and her stomach dropped.

Dozens of missed calls and texts from both of her parents, too many for the screen to display all at once. There were a few texts from her extended family as well.

She let out a deep sigh and flopped onto her back, letting herself sink into the bed. Pearl really didn’t want to look at those messages.

It took a few minutes of hyping herself up, but eventually Pearl was able to gather the courage to check through all her messages.

>Pearl, we saw the breaking broadcast on the news. Can you please confirm you’re safe?

>Pearl, I know it’s late at night for you – but please reply as soon as you can.

>Good morning Pearl, if you’re awake now, it’d be appreciated if you could let us know how you’re doing.

>1 missed call.

>1 missed call.

>Pearl, please be safe.

>1 missed call.

Pearl felt a lump in her throat form as she read over the texts – on the news?

While she wanted to be able to promise her mother she was ok, Pearl felt like she was missing a chunk of the story that must’ve developed while she was out.

So, with some more internal pep talks, Pearl hopped out of the bed and made her way over to the door.

She opened it and looked around, only to spot Wicke sitting on a bench in the hallway the door led to. She perked up upon hearing the door open, and turned to Pearl with a warm smile.

“Oh thank goodness! We were all a bit worried about you, Pearl.” she said, standing up and walking closer to Pearl.

“Are you walking alright?”

“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine, I just got a bit of a headache is all.” Pearl said with a shrug.

“What… happened back there anyways? The last thing I remember was there was a lot of light and shaking, until it all stopped and I felt really dizzy…”

“You passed out. We aren’t quite sure why, but I figured it must’ve been because of the amount of stress on your heart rate. But then again, I’m not a doctor… not for humans, at least.” Wicke said with a sigh.

“Ah… so all that… really happened?”

“While I’m not entirely sure what ‘all that’ entails, Hau has filled me in as much as he could about the situation. Currently we’re just trying to collaborate with Interpol as best we can regarding the aftermath of Lusamine’s actions…” Wicke explained.

“The aftermath?” Pearl asked.

“My mom texted me about something airing on the news… it’s… not bad, is it?”

“It’s… something. We can talk about it later – right now, I figure your friends are waiting to see you.” Wicke said with a sigh.

“Here, follow me – they’re outside.”

Pearl nodded, and went to follow Wicke through the halls to the mansion’s exit.

The lighting was very uniform throughout the building, with the whole interior retaining the bleached white appearance of the bedroom Pearl had slept in.

Because of the uniform lighting, the transition from inside to outside was a bit jarring as the sunlight blinded Pearl for a few seconds, before…

“Pearl!!”

Pearl rubbed her eyes a bit to adjust to the light, but was unable to get a full look before she was hit with a running hug from Lillie.

“I’m so glad you’re alright…”

Pearl’s vision came back into focus, and she closed the hug – noticing that Lillie looked a bit different.

The two friends held each other for a few more moments, before Pearl let go – the curiosity as to Lillie’s new outfit pulling at her.

As Lillie stepped back, Pearl was able to get a better look – Lillie was wearing the clothing they had bought on an earlier shopping trip together – a baby blue and white sailor outfit with a pink backpack. Her hair was also done up differently, as it was in a high ponytail style.

It was a bit jarring to see because Lillie had always dressed the same way since Pearl had met her, but this new look was… nice.

Lillie did a little hop in place and smiled at Pearl.

“So? How’s my new powered-up look like?” she said giddily.

“It’s amazing! I remember you said you’d never chosen clothes for yourself, but I think this suits you really well!” Pearl replied.

“The hair is nice too!”

“Thank you! Hau did it up this morning while we were talking about everything.”

Prompted by that, Hau waved from where he was leaning on the side of the mansion.

“I’m just so glad you’re both okay!” Pearl said with a sigh and a smile.

“But… what did happen, anyways?”

Pearl’s question prompted looks of uncertainty from both Lillie and Hau, before Wicke chimed up.

“Well, how about we head inside and discuss that?”

While Wicke’s voice was of its usual calm tone, Lillie and Hau exchanged concerned glances that worried Pearl.

Still, Pearl nodded, and the friends followed Wicke back inside.

The story was, as Wicke explained…

When Lusamine opened the wormhole the night before, she also caused multiple wormholes to open across Alola. From these wormholes, strange creatures had begun to emerge – these creatures were from another dimension altogether, called ‘Ultra Space’. The Aether Foundation had been studying these creatures, dubbed ‘Ultra Beasts’.

In the short time since these wormholes had opened, the various ultra beasts had been generally causing stress and panic among the Alolan islands, and all eyes were on the Aether foundation. While Nanu was able to assure Pearl and Hau were left out of the story, it would be for the best if the friends ceased their involvement.

While Pearl understood the explanation, she still had plenty more questions.

Unfortunately, Wicke was called off by what sounded like a very official-sounding phone call – but she promised the friends that they’d have their water taxi expenses covered.

The friends waved her off, and Pearl waited for Wicke to leave before taking a big breath in.

“So… what about Nebby?” Pearl asked.

“Lusamine wanted them so bad… but I don’t recall seeing them last night at all. Did she take them through the wormhole with her?”

Hau just looked confused, while Lillie thought for a second – before lighting up and taking her backpack off, propping it in front of her and unzipping it.

“Thank goodness she didn’t, but… look here.” Lillie said, gesturing for Pearl to look into the bag.

Inside Lillie’s backpack was the ringed creature Pearl caught a glimpse of earlier.

Now that she was capable of getting a closer look, it suddenly came together.

This was Nebby.

“What… happened to them?” Pearl asked as she examined Nebby’s new form.

“I have no idea… they were normal looking when they got shoved in that weird container, but now…” Lillie said, before letting out a deep sigh.

“I’m not sure what to do.”

“Well, it does kinda look like Nebby is resting.” Hau chimed in.

Lillie just gave him a blankly shocked expression.

“…What?”

“Well, yea, look!” he replied, pointing to Nebby’s expression.

“This totally looks a bit like Pearl whenever she’s conked out, hah!”

Pearl wanted to bonk Hau on the head, but her motions were interrupted by Lillie jumping up suddenly.

“That’s it!!”

“What’s it?” Hau asked, confused.

“I didn’t see it that way, Hau, but… it all makes sense now!”

“Is… it a good thing or a bad thing?”

“Well… a bit of both, I suppose. Let me explain!” Lillie said, taking a deep breath.

“When I was looking at the archives in Malie’s library with Acerola, she showed me some more information that could give insight about Nebby… Of how a mysterious and powerful being would sometimes visit in ancient times.”

“Mm? I figured divines partying around was kind of par for the course in terms of mythology.” Pearl piped up, still looking over at Nebby.

“No, but, get this! This wasn’t a normal one, or even one from this world! The being was called Lunala, and…”

“Wait, I remember this!” Pearl perked up at the mention of the name Lunala.

“A powerful being who broke through holes in the sky… like… the one Lusamine made…!”

“Exactly, Pearl!” Lillie exclaimed, jumping up in a burst of energy.

“It was said in some of the being’s final ancient interactions, they were worried about ‘using too much power’ and ‘going supernova’…”

“So, like a star, huh?” Hau said.

“I guess… when a star uses too much energy, it collapses and makes a new star! At least that’s what I remember from science class. Maybe Nebby is a weird star creature!”

“Yes, that’s what I was thinking! A loose ball of gas comes together into a super-condensed bundle, before becoming something big and powerful!” Lillie replied, a big smile on her face as she grabbed Hau’s shoulder.

“That just leaves one last question, then, I guess.” Pearl said, her gaze now intensely focusing on Nebby.

“How on earth are we going to find the last push of energy to make that burst happen?”

While the three friends wanted to probe into the situation at hand more, they were admittedly at a standstill due to Nanu’s orders to further stay out of things.

Left without much of a choice, the friends opted to continue their adventure in spite of everything going on – and next on the island challenge circuit was the island of Poni.

Poni was the least populated of the islands, with the majority of its residents not even residing on land – the town-like harbor of Seafolk Village letting people park their boats permanently and build a community.

The wilds of Poni were considered to be ‘untamed’, and while they were common training grounds, the natural environment was otherwise untouched.

It was an exciting precedent to both Pearl and Hau, who had both been craving a training environment of the sort for a while after so many city outskirts in a row.

Hau was quick to run off into the Poni Wilds to test his mettle, and while Pearl was eager to follow, it seemed like Lillie wanted to check out the harbor village a bit – so Pearl decided to stay back with her for a while.

Lillie had thought the village may be a good location for leads, because there was a large, ancient altar to an old god located deeper inland, though her searches were fruitless. She was frustrated, especially because she didn’t have any pokemon to accompany her for the difficult hike to the altar.

Without skipping a beat, Pearl offered to accompany Lillie and protect her with her team. Lillie was overjoyed, but Pearl had noticed that ever since that night at the Aether foundation, Lillie seemed more confident, yes – but she also seemed like she was holding something in. Pearl assumed it must’ve just been complicated feelings regarding her mother, so she didn’t press on it.

There were practically no signs of human interference beyond the harbor village, aside from a natural road only visible because it was worn down by countless trainers over time. And when there’s no human interference…

“Uh oh.” Pearl muttered, staring at her phone – which she had been using as a map.

“What is it? Did someone text you something?” Lillie asked, lightly concerned, but not worried.

“No, it’s, uh…” Pearl groaned as she swiped up rapidly on her phone to attempt to refresh the map, to no avail.

“There’s no service out here.”

“That’s… not good. I told you – we should’ve grabbed a map back in Seafolk village!”

“They were like five whole dollars, AND it’s windy today! I would’ve just spent the money for the thing to blow away!”

Lillie giggled a bit.

“Well, at least we’re not lost – it’s just been a straight road.” she said, before glancing around.

“…Until now, I guess.”

It would appear that the two friends arrived at a crossroad section, partially divided by a rotting fence. Neither of them had any idea which way to do, and stood in silence.

Pearl squinted a bit, and noticed something partially obscured behind the bush.

“Oh, I think someone’s there! Maybe we can ask if they have any idea where to go.”

“That sounds like a plan! If, uh, you’re alright doing the talking.”

Pearl smiled and nodded towards Lillie, and grabbed her hand as they walked over to the figure.

However, once they were no longer partially obscured, the two stopped dead in their tracks.

It was Plumeria, accompanied by two Team Skull grunts.

Alerted by the sound of Pearl and Lillie’s gasps and footsteps, the grunts quickly stood up and shifted into a battle stance – only for Plumeria to motion for them to stand down.

“Not what we’re here for. Save your energy.”

“But sis…! These losers are the reason that the boss is gone to who knows where! Let’s make ‘em pay!”

“Guz went missing because he’s a dumbass who’s into middle-aged women too much. This isn’t what we’re here for.”

The two grunts seemed baffled, staring blankly at Plumeria – while Plumeria simply shot a glare at Pearl and Lillie.

“Don’t try and pick any unnecessary fights. After all that… it’s the last thing I want.” Plumeria said with a sigh.

“…Right. Blondie.”

“You… mean me?” Lillie responded, cocking her head.

“Sorry about that night. I wasn’t… thinking clearly.” Plumeria said, her voice sounding… genuine, for once. Then, she cupped her hands around her mouth, and yelled to the distance.

“You happy? I said sorry! I meant it!”

Pearl and Lillie were confused, but Lillie was the first to think to turn around – quickly spotting the person that Plumeria must’ve been calling out to approaching.

“Good enough for me!”

While Pearl hadn’t looked herself, the voice alone practically knocked the wind out of Pearl.

Unmistakably, it had to be…

“ZINNIA?! Wh… what on earth are you doing here?!”

Zinnia let out a stifled laugh, and Lillie just looked completely confused.

“Do you two… know each other?”

Pearl stuttered over her words, still in shocked disbelief – meanwhile, Zinnia gave Lillie a smile, and offered a handshake.

“I suppose we do! Name’s Zinnia, I’m Pearl’s aunt!”

Slowly, Lillie took the handshake, until the dots finally connected in her head, and she perked up.

“Ohhhh!! I know who you are!” she exclaimed.

“Pearl mentions you a lot! It’s so nice to finally meet you!”

“It’s nice to meet you too, because Pearl certainly talks about you a lot, too, haha!”

“…What?” Lillie responded abruptly, suddenly flustered.

Zinnia just laughed it off again per usual, and put a hand on the shoulder of a still-dumbfounded Pearl.

“Sorry for springing on you like this, Pearls! I was meaning to meet with Plumes anyways, but saw you two were in the area and thought it’d be a fun surprise!”

“You guys… know each other?” Pearl asked, rapidly looking between Plumeria and Zinnia in confusion.

“Cat’s out of the bag now.” Plumeria said with a sigh.

“Mhm.” Zinnia nodded along in response.

“I guess it was coincidental at first, but when word of what you were doing spread throughout Po Town, I wanted to stick around. Because if I caught wind anyone had hurt you…”

“Awh, geez, you didn’t have to worry that much! I got things pretty handled, I’d like to think!” Pearl replied.

“Yeah, you do! You’ve been doing such a good job out there that I’ve never had any reason to meet up with you until now.” Zinnia said back to Pearl with a proud smile.

“But… man. Never knew the big boss too well, but I didn’t think he’d be that out of sorts. And now I’m trying to help Plumes clean up after him.”

“That’s good to hear! Pearl is pretty amazing in battle.” Lillie said, breaking her silence.

“But, uhm, I did have a question.”

“Yeah? What is it, shoot.” Zinnia replied.

“…Why are you all the way out here? …If that’s ok to ask. It just… seems like this is an odd meeting spot, is all.”

“You can go ahead and tell ‘em. Annoying as my team finds these two, we really could use any help we can get.” Plumeria said with a sigh.

Zinnia nodded, and proceeded to explain:

Team Skull’s boss, Guzma, has vanished into the Ultra Wormhole along with Lusamine that night. And despite his wrongdoings, many of Team Skull’s members were immensely worried for him, and wanted to see him return safely – or at least get closure as to his final fate.

However, things like dimension-breaking wormholes and deep history of the divine aren’t something in the everyday knowledge base… well, for most people, at least.

While Zinnia wasn’t as well versed in the mythos of Alola as she was of her homelands, she did know she could use her positional role as Lorekeeper as an authority to request cooperation from someone in a similar role for Alola’s native faith.

Though there wasn’t much Zinnia could do past that, as she had no idea where or what the being of legend was.

And suddenly, Lillie’s eyes lit up.

“That’s… perfect.”

“What?” Zinnia said in response, cocking her head.

“I… think that’d be the key me and Pearl are missing! Look here!” Lillie said excitedly, quickly moving to open her bag and show Nebby’s resting form to Zinnia.

“Oi! That certainly does look like some kind of sleeping god, if I had to make an educated guess.”

“That’s what we were thinking! And if there was some way to… ‘unlock’ their dormant power…”

“Ok, ok, I’m picking up what you’re puttin’ down! You two seem like you’ve done quite a bit of research about all this, huh?”

“Well, it’s mostly been Lillie – she’s been super dedicated about it while I’ve been training, it’s pretty cool!” Pearl interjected.

Lillie quickly became visible flustered as Pearl beamed, a scene that elicited a snicker from Zinnia.

“Well, it’d only be right for me to help you two out. Family is family, after all!”

Plumeria seemed relieved that things seemed to now be handled without her, admitting she was feeling too stressed to feel like she could properly help. With her blessings, Pearl, Lillie, and Zinnia headed off towards the east.

After some more walking, the three came across what seemed to be an odd sight for this far from Seafolk Village – a small ranch, nestled among ancient, ruined walls. In the ranch’s fenced in area, a mudsdale could be seen being brushed by a short woman – a woman Pearl was able to recognize.

The three approached the fence, their footsteps in the dry grass alerting the mudsdale and trainer to their presence – and it would seem that the duo remembered Pearl and Lillie as well.

“Oh, well howdy! Long time no see, kiddos!” Hapu said with a smile.

“Hi!! I told you we’d make it here eventually!” Pearl said back energetically.

Hapu tucked away her brush and gave her mudsdale a hearty pat to indicate she was done, and the mudsdale in turn trotted to the edge of the fence to enthusiastically greet Pearl and Lillie.

“Now, who might this be? Never seen her before.” Hapu asked, gesturing to Zinnia.

“Oh! That’s my-” Pearl began to say, though she was cut off by Zinnia.

“My name is Zinnia! I’m the Draconid Lorekeeper from Hoenn.” she said formally.

“…And Pearl’s aunt.”

“Oh-! Well, you coulda given me a warning I was having such an esteemed visitor, hah!” Hapu said with a chuckle.

“Oh please, I’m anything but!”

“Nonsense, I’m well familiar with your folk – the partnerships between us and the Draconid people go way back! It’s an honor to meet someone like you.”

Zinnia got a bit flustered as she usually did with flattery, but took it in stride.

Hapu let her mudsdale sniff and interact with Pearl and Lillie for a bit, before speaking up again.

“But I ‘suppose Hoenn’s a long ways off, and there’s been scary things happening recently… it wouldn’t be naive of me to assume that those are connected to why you’re here?”

Zinnia simply gave a nod.

“Let’s go inside to talk, then.”

Once inside, Hapu recounted what the past 48 hours had been like – bravely fighting off varieties of odd, otherworldly-looking creatures that suddenly appeared out of holes in the sky. She mentioned how this only happened long, long ago – when the sky god Lunala was still said to be seen.

But seeing it happen firsthand… something about it felt off. These visitors seemed intelligent, and they were incredibly powerful. But with no means for communication, the tone was hostile, and holding them off was difficult.

Pearl and Lillie then shared their side – detailing the night that Lusamine captured Nebby and Lillie, and how she used Nebby’s power to open these wormholes, causing Nebby to go dormant.

“…And we were looking for a way to try and… trigger a supernova with Nebby, if that makes any sense?” Lillie said, wrapping up the explanation.

Hapu nodded.

“I see. Now, this ‘Nebby’… are they with you? What do they look like?”

Pearl saw some hesitation in Lillie’s eyes, and briefly whispered to her.

“If Hapu sees Zinnia as someone she respects and trusts, I think we can trust her with this too. She sounds like she knows a lot that could help…”

Lillie nodded, and opened her bag to reveal Nebby, still dormant.

Hapu leaned over to take a look, before abruptly gasping and jolting back in shock.

“There’s… no way…” she muttered. Quickly though, Hapu collected herself.

“So you weren’t bluffin’, huh? I mean, not like I thought you were, but…”

“Do you recognize them at all?” Lillie asked, intrigued by Hapu’s reaction.

“Recognize them? This lil fella you’ve been calling ‘Nebby’… this is the dormant form of Lunala themselves, Cosmeom.”

“So…” Pearl started, though her words trailed off into nothing.

Thankfully, Lillie picked up soon after, breaking the short silence.

“So… my research pointers were right!” Lillie exclaimed, doing an excited gesture with her hands.

“You do seem like a smart cookie, Lillie! It sure is a good thing that you were able to give this fella a safe place…” Hapu said with a smile.

“You say this woman named Lusamine… she managed to abuse the poor little thing’s power, didn’t she?”

Lillie fell quiet. It was still a sore subject, after all, and the wound was fresh.

“I don’t know as much about it, but…” Pearl started, hoping to ease the tension that the question brought.

“Yea, I think. She seemed to be obsessed with those weird creatures that came out of the wormholes, so much so that she went through one herself, and now…”

Hapu simply sighed.

“Then if the culprit escaped, the only way to stop this madness with the otherworldly creatures…” Hapu said, pausing.

“Alright. I think I’ve heard enough to decide.”

“Mm? You were making a decision?” Zinnia asked.

“I guess I sort of assumed it by putting the pieces together, y’all must want my formal permission as Kahuna to retrieve the enshrined flutes that are said to be able to restore energy to Cosmeom, right?”

There was a pause from the three visitors, who stared at Hapu blankly.

“I… didn’t know that was a thing.” Pearl said.

“But… if you can do that… we’d really appreciate it?”

“Consider it done then, sugarcube! I guess even if I got ahead of myself, it seems you kids care about Cosmeom… er, Nebby a whole lot.” Hapu said with a smile.

“If the god of the skies is to come awake for anyone, I reckon it’d be you two.”

With the permission granted, Hapu proceeded to offer lunch and transportation to Pearl and Lillie – saying it was the least she could do.

The idea was that if the legend about the flutes was true, when played on the ancient altar at the center of the island, they’d cause a chain energy reaction and allow Lunala to reform. And with Lunala back, the wormholes that had opened would be able to be closed, for the safety of Alola and for the creatures that were getting lost there.

It was 30 minutes by boat to the unassumingly named Exeggutor Island. Midway through the trip, the weather began to get stormy – which Hapu said was just par for the course, given how Alolan exeggutor can affect weather. It was for that reason the island was chosen to house the flutes, as the stormy seas would turn away most.

Despite being a ground-type specialist, Hapu was able to control the boat quite masterfully through the storm, and eventually, they arrived.

Neither Pearl nor Lillie had grabbed a jacket, as neither of them expected it to rain. Pearl was quick to hop out of the boat’s covered area and into the rain without hesitation, but Lillie idled behind.

“Hey, don’t worry! A little rain never hurt anybody!” Pearl said with a smile, reaching out her hand to Lillie.

Lillie smiled back, and took Pearl’s hand happily.

Besides signage stating that entry to the island was forbidden without permission from the Kahuna, and some sparse pathing markers, the island seemed just about as untouched as the rest of Poni. The key difference here, however, was the many Alolan exeggutor dancing about, their wild lashing causing the storm.

“They’re really harmless, go ahead an’ follow the markers!” Hapu called out from the boat.

The friends nodded, and went to follow the path, hand in hand.

“Pearl, uhm… I’m not sure if this is a bad time, but… since we’re finally alone, I…”

Lillie’s words trailed into nothing as Pearl kept leading the two along the path.

“What’s up?” Pearl said, looking back to Lillie without breaking her stride.

“I just… have had a lot of thought. About you, ever since we met.”

“I could say the same, haha! It’s so nice having such a close friend like you, Lillie.”

“Right, I just… mm.”

“Is something wrong?”

“I promised myself… that after that night, I’d be a confident, renewed me… but this is still so hard…”

“Well, nothing’s instant! I could wait forever if you needed me to for you, Lillie!”

The two finally reached a long set of stairs, unable to see the top through the weather – which was now simply a mist, as the storm had seemed to reduce during their walk and conversation.

Pearl took the first step on the stairs, but Lillie tugged at her.

“Pearl… when we get to the top of the stairs, I’ll gather my courage and tell you, ok?”

“Sounds good to me!” Pearl responded, her smile beaming.

Hand in hand, the two ascended the stairs. And, as promised, once they reached the top, Pearl turned to Lillie with a look of expectation.

Lillie paused, and took a long, deep breath.

“Pearl!! I love you!” she shouted with confidence, the power of it alone almost seeming to clear away the heavy mist.

“Will… you go out with me?”

It took a second for what Lillie said to fully register with Pearl – but once it did, her cheeks promptly flushed deep red.

She was silent, as she didn’t quite know what to say.

“…That was too forward, I’m so-” Lillie started, but Pearl finally gathered her thoughts enough and interjected.

“No, please don’t apologize!! Of course, I would love to!!” Pearl beamed back, the emotion in her voice almost matching that of Lillie’s initial confession.

“In all honesty, I… kind of feel bad I didn’t say anything sooner myself, haha!”

With that, Lillie’s face also grew quite red, and she started to mumble and trip over what she was trying to say in a flustered blur.

Hands together, the two enjoyed the moment – and with the mist gone, a bright rainbow could be seen over the now clear horizon of the island.

“Let’s… let’s fix this all… together, ok?” Lillie said, breaking the silent moment as she turned towards the now visible altar in front of the two.

Pearl nodded, and as she thought it was now appropriate, leaned and gave Lillie a quick peck on the cheek before moving to collect the flutes – but noticed by the tug of Lillie’s arm that she wasn’t moving.

Properly turning to see, Pearl just giggled with a big smile seeing how Lillie was frozen in a blush.

“You… you just… you…!” was all she could mumble, obviously struggling to process what had just happened.

It was adorable, but Pearl needed to get what she was here for before she forgot. She quickly tucked the flutes safely in her bag, and Lillie and herself made their way back down to Hapu’s boat.

As Hapu saw the two approaching, she gave a wave.

“Well, I guess that’s one of a way to firsthand see how exeggutor calm down when there’s positive energy around them! You two completely stopped their storm – what on earth did you do?”

Pearl simply waved, her smile wide – while Lillie, who was in hand, also had a large smile all over her face, even if it was in her naturally more restrained way.

“Stuff! Things!” Pearl said, as she and Lillie hopped onto the boat.

It took a few seconds, but Hapu was able to piece together context clues to have a rough enough idea of what happened to respond.

“Alright! Homeward bound it is, then!” she said with a wink and a smirk.

After arriving back on Poni, everyone decided to call it a night, and start on their way to the fabled altar in the morning.

Pearl was up bright and early, and Lillie was as well – she didn’t seem to mind getting ready when Pearl seemed raring to go too.

Hapu met the two in the lobby in the inn they were staying at, and offered to give them a ride to the Great Poni Canyon.

It was definitely faster than walking, but Lillie and Pearl found they had to hold on to each other tightly with how bumpy of a ride mudsdale way – though, it’s not like either of them minded that.

“Alright! Here’s as far as I’m willing to getcha!” Hapu said, as her mudsdale came to a stop.

“Wait… what do you mean ‘willing’?” Pearl asked in confusion.

“Well, you see… the altar is technically a real sacred location for us. Especially with outsiders, it’s only customary for those who wish to enter prove themselves in the canyon, and by facing the totem pokemon that calls it home.”

“I see, that makes enough sense for me!” Pearl said, an air of confidence in her voice.

“So it’s kind of like a trial?”

“I suppose, if you put it that way! I don’t think you’ll have any issue with it though, Pearl – ‘specially after hearing what auntie Zinnia had to say about you and your family, whew!”

Pearl smiled, and hopped off mudsdale with Lillie. The two thanked Hapu as she galloped off, and went to face the canyon together.

“I stocked up on a bunch of healing items, so if you ever need a boost just let me know!” Lillie said confidently.

“Let’s get Nebby back to normal!”

The trail was long and winding, but because Pearl and Lillie were together, it seemed like a breeze. Midway, the two stopped to have lunch that they had packed, and were bothered by a few wild Jangmo-o who seemed interested in a bite.

They seemed young, and were irresistibly cute – so the two gave them some scraps and played for a little while before continuing.

But after that, both Pearl and Lillie couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease… like they were being watched now.

The feeling grew stronger and stronger, until finally, upon reaching the last dark and narrow section in their way to the altar…

“Uhm… Pearl?”

“What is it?”

“You feel it too, right?” Lillie mumbled, gesturing towards the dark section.

“…I think there may be someone waiting for you there, I’ll… stay behind.”

Pearl gave an understanding nod, and released Azul from his pokeball to accompany her into the narrow stretch.

It was quiet… too quiet. The narrow walls on the canyon alley meant Pearl could loudly hear her own footsteps and… freeze.

That’s not the sound of my breath.

The glaring felt like it was boring into her soul at this point, and it was unbearable.

“AUGHHHH!! Just come out and fight me alright, ya dumb totem!!”

Pearl’s shout echoed throughout the alley, until it didn’t – and then there was dead silence… but only for a moment.

Suddenly, the alley was filled with a violent, echoed clanging sound, and Pearl flinched as she rushed to cover her ears. When the dust and sound cleared, she could see a massive kommo-o awaiting her, ready for battle.

Quickly, Pearl jumped into a stance of her own, and Azul came forwards as well. And while Azul had never been the fastest on land, he didn’t need to move much to quickly call forth a moonblast on Pearl’s command.

And before the kommo-o could even attack, just one moonblast was enough to down it. It seemed embarrassed, almost, but had no choice but to retreat – fearing what a second hit could do.

Pearl stood idly by in utter shock and awe, and the silence of the alley was soon filled with Lillie’s running footsteps.

“Pearl! Pearl! I saw the big dragon scamper away like a terrified rattata! What did you DO?!”

“I… guess I really underestimated how much a combo weakness to a fairy-type would effect this.” Pearl replied, still completely baffled.

Azul looked incredibly proud of himself for scaring off such a large and imposing pokemon in a single blow, and Pearl made sure to reward him with plenty of treats before recalling him into his pokeball, as she looked ahead.

“This is it, huh?” she muttered, gazing towards the light outside the alley.

“No matter what happens, Pearl… I know we’re gonna make this all right.” Lillie said with a reassuring nod.

Together the two stepped out of the alley and into the light – to be greeted with an impressive amount of stairs.

“…Oh, fuck me.” Pearl groaned.

Lillie still seemed shocked about Pearl’s habit for harsh language, but she also groaned along – because both of them were already exhausted from the walk there, a mountain of stairs just felt like a cruel punishment.

“Screw this, we’re doing this the easy way.” Pearl said, shuffling through her bag.

She released Poppy, and it seemed that Poppy quickly got the memo as well – shifting its arms to form a sort of seat.

“Hop on! If Azul’s strength says anything, I’m sure Poppy can carry both of us!”

Lillie nodded, and though it was a bit of a squeeze, the two were able to fit on the ‘seat’ Poppy made with its arms.

Then, up they went, as the two were finally able to rest their legs for a bit as Poppy ascended the height of the stairs effortlessly.

Once the actual altar came into view, Pearl’s eyes went wide.

Towering over it all was a massive stone moondial, and on the ground level was an elaborate courtyard – complete with water features, a plaza, and two raised platforms with symbols of the sun and moon.

Gently, Poppy lowered itself to a level in the courtyard where Pearl and Lillie could get on the ground safely.

Pearl thanked Poppy with a treat, and recalled it to its pokeball after it was done snacking.

Hapu had told them that both flutes had to be played on certain platforms – which Pearl could only assumed were the ones noted with the symbols.

Pearl tried to argue that she had no idea how to play any instrument, let alone the flute – but Hapu seemed insistent that it’d work out.

After rummaging in her bag, Pearl took out both flutes – one with a sun motif, and one with a moon motif. She handed the moon flute to Lillie, and the two gave a mutually understanding nod as they moved to their positions.

Though the distance between the platforms was too far for spoken communication, Pearl counted down on her fingers to Lillie, as to give a visual cue.

On one, the two blew into the flutes… which, as though it was magic, started to seemingly play themselves.

Pearl reeled back in shock, but it would seem the flute kept playing – and in fact, was floating in the air.

The air shifted around the courtyard, but it wasn’t wind – rather, it seemed like an otherworldly force was tugging at everything to come towards the center plaza. And though Pearl and Lillie were easily able to withstand this force, Lillie’s bag began violently tugging in the direction of the plaza.

Lillie tried to grab it back, but her attempts were fruitless – was the bag flew through the air to the plaza.

Then, a glorious shower of light covered the altar, temporary blinding Pearl and Lillie.

It took a few seconds for their vision to return, but when it did, there was a large, bright shining column in the center of the plaza.

With curious hesitation, Pearl and Lillie joined hands and approached the plaza. Once close, the light started to fade, and the two were in shock – as what seemed to be a large human hand reached out to them from the light.

Pearl was frozen, but it seemed like the hand was almost… calling to Lillie.

Slowly, she lifted her hand, and placed hers in the palm of the one reaching out.

Then, in a burst of shimmering light, the column fully cleared – revealing an impossibly tall woman with a flowing white dress, and hair that looked as though it contained galaxies.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you like this, Lillie.” the woman said with a warm smile.

“We have met, but not like this. You may simply refer to me as the Skymother.”

Next Chapter