🌙Moon – Chapter 15; Finale (but the other half)

Read from the start

Characters: Pearl/Lillie, Emmy/Renee, Aster/Zinnia, Hau, Gladion, Kukui, Acerola

Warnings: recovery from major injury / hospitals

Wordcount: 7,127

Vibe: WE ARE SO BACK

look, the chapter would’ve been 10k words if i didn’t cut it, man

(the full author’s note will be found at the very very end, this time.)

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“Pearl? Pearl? Can you hear me?”

Everything was bright, and there was a ringing. The voice sounded familiar, but Pearl couldn’t quite place it.

“Have you just woken up, Pearl?”

As Pearl’s mind faded back into consciousness a bit more, she realized three things.

The first, being that she was in some kind of white void.

The second, being she couldn’t move.

The third, she could feel something, but only an awful dull-feeling pain.

“Am I…” Pearl started, realizing how dry her own mouth felt as she tried to speak.

“Did I fuck up? Did I… die?”

A silent pause.

“Oh, goodness, no!” the strange voice said, hearty laugh of concern echoing in a seemingly magical way.

A familiar laugh that surely belonged to none other than…

“Aster?” Pearl asked, suddenly perking up a bit.

“Is this some kind of dream, then?”

“Bingo!” Aster smiled.

As Pearl became a bit more lucid, the white void transformed into an open grassy plain. The grass was soft, and intermittently littered with small pink flowers.

Finally, she found she was able to move again.

Pearl sat up to face Aster, and she was in her usual legendary appearance that she’d take on in dreams. Her smile was warm like it usually was towards Pearl, but she did seem to have a tinge on concern in her eyes.

“What… happened, then?”

“Well, I of course don’t know the whole story, but…” Aster started.

“The Kahuna Hapu became worried when you and Lillie didn’t return from that altar. When she made her way there, she met Lillie and that Team Skull man midway… you were out cold, being carried by your pokemon, Poppy.”

“So… we made it out of Ultra Space alright?…What about Skymother?”

“I unfortunately don’t know who Skymother is, or what Ultra Space is, but… yes, you’re in a hospital in Hau’oli city right now.” Aster responded, shaking her head.

“Wait, how long have I been out?!”

“It’s been… 2 days? 48 hours, around that time, I think.” Aster explained.

“Honestly, I’m kind of shocked how fast your parents were able to get here with all the travel lockdowns due to the strange holes in the sky, but I suppose powerful league ties let them pull all kinds of strings.”

“So, ok, ok, hold on! If it’s been two days, why are you just now visiting?”

“The doctor removed your bow and stored it with your belongings, silly. I couldn’t visit without the lunar wing embedded in it. Thankfully, your parents had a spare and brought it when they came.”

“Ooh, I see! Makes enough sense to me.” Pearl nodded.

“But… again, everyone is alright though, right?”

“Lillie is understandably very shaken up, but I think she’ll feel a lot better when you wake up. As for the Team Skull man, Zinnia tells me he’s been… self reflecting because of the experience.”

“Hah! I guess something only as crazy as that could cause someone like him to do that, huh?”

“I guess so!” Aster snickered.

“So, I guess I should actually ask what I came here for, though.”

“What was it?”

“Are you ready to wake up?”

It would seem Pearl wouldn’t be able to answer, because just as she opened her mouth to speak, her eyes shot open.

The sensations of reality rapidly came to Pearl, with the dry mouth and dull pain making themselves much more prominent now that she was awake. She wanted to move, to call out for someone… but her throat hurt, and she could feel she was hooked up to a few monitoring devices.

Thankfully, the sudden jump in Pearl’s heart rate alerted a nurse to come check, who seemed happy to see she’d finally woken up.

The following interactions were a bit of a blur to Pearl, with doctors and nurses coming in to confirm everything was alright, and to explain what had happened.

Whatever had happened, Pearl suffered an impact that fractured two of her ribs and put her in a small coma. They asked if Pearl remembered anything about her ‘hiking accident’… it was confusing to Pearl at first, before the staff mentioned that’s what Lillie told them had happened – and Pearl realized it was likely a needed cover-up story.

But… that also only made her more curious as to what happened to Skymother, since Aster would’ve likely noted that she was there if she was.

Pearl was given some time to herself after the initial debriefing with the hospital staff, and while it was a bit boring since she didn’t have her phone, she was also a bit too preoccupied thinking about what happened and what was next.

It didn’t take too long until Pearl’s train of thought was cut off by a set of expected visitors though.

“Pearls… oh goodness.”

Emmy seemed almost teary-eyed at the sight of Pearl awake.

She moved closer for a hug, but quickly realized it’d be awkward due to the tangle of tubes and monitoring devices Pearl was attached to – so grabbing a free hand of Pearl’s was enough.

Emmy was soon followed by Renee, as well as Zinnia and Aster – all of whom looked quite emotional to see Pearl in this situation.

“Oh Pearl…” Renee said, her voice choked up.

“Ever since the news of the anomalies in the sky became global news… we’ve all been so worried about you. I’m so glad this was at least just a hiking mishap…”

Pearl wasn’t aware even her parents didn’t know the truth.

“Actually,” she started to say… but quickly, Zinnia, who was standing behind Emmy and Renee, did a frantic motion for Pearl to stop speaking.

Pearl was confused, but figured Zinnia must’ve had a good reason.

“Hm? What was it?” Renee asked as Pearl’s words trailed off.

“Nothing, sorry… I guess my thoughts must be all scattered, since so much has been happening.”

“That makes sense, hospitals are always… overwhelming.” Emmy replied with an empathetic sigh.

“Have you been feeling any better, though?”

Pearl nodded.

“Yeah! Seeing you has already helped me a lot, I think! Hopefully I can get outta here and wrap up my island challenge now…”

There was a bit of a collective look of concern among Pearl’s family members. They all looked to each other and mumbled, as if deciding who should be the one to speak, before deciding to let Zinnia come forwards.

“Yeah, uh…” Zinnia started, scratching the back of her head.

“You may be here for… a bit. And even after you’re discharged, you’re still gonna have to take it easy for like, at least a month and a half.”

Pearl’s expression became exasperated, and her heart monitor elevated a bit.

“What?! No way! I can’t… I was so close, I can’t stop now!”

“See, I was like that! And now my foot’s all fucked up.” Zinnia replied, shaking her head.

“It’ll suck in the meantime, but once you’re healed properly, you’ll thank yourself.”

“I guess…” Pearl groaned.

“I’d at least like to have my phone though, or else it’s gonna get real boring in here…”

“I think, er, her name was Lillie, right? She was holding your stuff for you, and told Zinnia she’d come by later when she could.” Emmy said with a nod.

And, with an air of impeccable timing, a knock came upon the door for Pearl’s room.

“Heyo, got the call you were awake and drove over as quickly as I could! It’s me Kukui, Lillie’s here too! Mind if we come in?”

“Not at all! My family is here though, so it may be a bit of a tight fit!”

While Kukui casually strolled into the room, Pearl’s bag in hand, he was quickly overtaken by Lillie – who ran directly to Pearl and hugged as tightly as she could with all the tubes and devices in the way.

Pearl was overjoyed to see that Lillie was alright as well, and gave her a small peck on the cheek in return… something that caused a bit of a shocked facial expression in response from Renee and Emmy.

The two let Pearl and Lillie have their moment, before Renee spoke up.

“Sorry, um, Pearl… I really don’t want to butt in, but… Lillie is… is this more of a platonic deal, or…?”

There was a pause, and Pearl’s face flushed red as she realized what her mother was implying.

“I… aughk-! I… she…” Pearl said, tripping over her words to try and form a sentence of the correct words in the right order.

“Er… we… it’s a recent thing! So it’s not a big deal if she didn’t tell you yet.” Lillie said, trying to carry on Pearl’s attempts at words.

“It was, um, just before the hiking trip, anyways.”

“Getting a girlfriend and then promptly sustaining a major injury… if that ain’t on brand for this family at this point!” Emmy said with a chuckle.

Renee approached Lillie, who seemed a bit nervous, with a smile.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you, then! You seem like such a nice girl, after all.” she said, offering a handshake to Lillie.

Lillie took it, albeit a bit awkwardly.

“Shucks, that’s sweet.” Kukui said with a grin, before turning to Emmy.

“Name’s Kukui! I’m a local pokemon professor here, and, uh… Lillie’s… dad?”

Kukui turned over to Lillie briefly, to check if she had any opposition to his wording – and though she seemed a bit shocked by it, she happily nodded in approval.

“Oh, nice! Was wondering when I’d get to meet ‘ya!” Emmy replied, shaking Kukui’s hand.

“Really, I gotta thank you! Because this is the kind of thing Pearl’s always dreamed of doing, and you were able to set it into motion!”

“No worries, if anything, I should be thanking you two for having such a wonderful daughter! It’s always heartwarming to see trainers grow alongside each other, especially with Pearl and her friends.” Kukui smiled.

“Oh! Right! I wanted to ask something while I was here, Pearl!”

“Hm? What was it?”

“Do you remember when I talked to you about the Pokemon League in progress of being built here?” Kukui asked.

“Of course, yea! Why, what about it?”

“Well, Kahuna Hapu figured she’d give you her honorary island challenge stamp anyways after everything… which means… you’re done!” Kukui said, doing an excited pointing gesture.

“And thaaaat means… you’re right up there on the list for the first few challengers of Alola’s new League! …Well, in a few months, when it’s open, at least.”

Pearl wasn’t quite sure what to feel.

She was excited and happy, yes, but she quickly recalled the conflicted feelings she had when told about the league earlier.

She knew Hau, and probably Gladion would want to challenge the league too. And having to climb over them to get to the top… it was an idea that still didn’t sit well with her.

“Oh! But… what about Hau? And Gladion?” Pearl asked, as it was on the forefront of her mind.

“Well, they were signed up as well, of course! Though again, the opening is still in a few months, so I figure if you three wanted to decide anything amongst yourselves, you’ll have the time.” Kukui said with a nod.

“I see…” Pearl said with a bit of a mumble.

“Well, if it’s in a few months, I’ll hopefully be all healed by then.”

“That’s the spirit!” Kukui nodded.

Suddenly, another knock on the door – this time from a nurse.

“Uhm, excuse me… visiting hours are ending in about 5 minutes.” they said.

Upon getting acknowledgment from everyone visiting, the nurse walked off.

“Well…” Emmy started, walking back over to Pearl to put her hand on her shoulder.

“It’s good to see you with your pep back, Pearls.”

“And who knows, maybe I can get something done so you’re out of here soone-” Renee started, before she was cut off by Zinnia bapping her on the back of the head.

Everyone waved as they went off, the evening sunlight shining through the curtains of Pearl’s room.

There was silence, but after a few seconds, Pearl heard the clapping of flip flops running to her room.

A nurse called out, and Zinnia responded as she entered Pearl’s room again.

“Chill out! I forgot my phone!”

Pearl looked behind her to make sure she wasn’t being watched, then approached Pearl closely, speaking to her in Draconid.

“Your parents, nor Aster… none of them can know what really happened, ok? If they knew… you’d have them all watching your every move for the rest of time. It’s not their fault, just… it’d bring up too many bad memories of the past for them.”

Pearl looked a bit shocked, but gave Zinnia a genuine look and a nod.

Zinnia gave a thumbs up in return, before quickly running back out of the room.

It was a bit of an unbearable four days, but Pearl was quickly discharged once it was confirmed her fractures would heal on their own if she rested. The doctor’s orders were rather close to Zinnia’s prediction, being ‘no strenuous activity or heavy lifting’ for two months.

So, while Pearl was forced to do more resting than she was used to, she was glad that things were mostly getting back to normal now. Upon her discharge, she was greeted by Kukui, Lillie, Hau, and Gladion, all of whom seemed to be quite excited that she was alright.

Unlike with her parents, everyone in the group was already aware of the truth of what happened that day.

Hau found it completely unbelievable, thinking the idea of Pearl being a real-life magical girl was ‘the coolest thing ever’. Gladion seemed to have known there was something particularly special with Nebby and their true power, while Kukui seemed happy enough it meant his wife’s research was getting a lot more grant opportunities.

When the subject of what happened to Skymother came up, Lillie explained that she was able to safely get everyone out of the Ultra Deep Sea, of course – but that she had used up all her power that was granted to her by the altar, and would soon return to the form of Cosmog, with no memory of what had just occurred.

Lillie found it quite sad, but said that Skymother was grateful for Pearl’s bravery and call to action.

Hearing their name mentioned, Nebby burst out of Lillie’s bag – they seemed happy to see that Pearl was alright, too.

Before dropping Hau off at his home that day, Pearl made sure to ask what his opinions on the league were.

He told her that he was a bit conflicted, just like Pearl was, but that he’d figure something out sooner or later – and was excited anyways for whenever he could have an all-out battle with Pearl again.

In the following two months, Pearl managed to get a trainer’s lease on an apartment in Malie city, which Lillie moved into with her – the proximity to Malie’s library making her studies easier.

Pearl, on the other hand, was keen to regularly visit the observatory.

She reconnected with Molayne, and would consistently come back to continue studying the events involving the meteor that was destroyed in 2005. While Molayne admitted that there wasn’t much that wasn’t highly classified, he helped where he could.

Pearl was also able to connect a bit deeper with Acerola, who’d also been helping Lillie with her studies. Acerola figured that since Lillie was aware of Pearl’s legendary role now, she could let her cat out of the bag to her, too.

While Lillie was rightfully shocked still, she took it in stride – as it made a lot of things about Acerola suddenly make sense.

In no time at all it seemed, the two months of recovery swiftly went by, and Pearl was doing better than ever… just in time for the League’s opening.

Acerola had hinted to it a bit, but Pearl would soon find out why – as Acerola had been chosen to be one of the league’s new Elite 4 members. Pearl soon found out from Hau that his grandfather Hala was recruited to the role as well.

The night before the League was set to have its grand opening, Pearl received a text from Hau, after she thought their conversation had ended for the night.

> Hey, Pearl? Are you still up?

>> yea whats up?

> It’s kind of a loaded promise, but… I’ve been thinking a lot

> And I wanted to let you know… no matter what the result of our inevitable battle is tomorrow

> Don’t feel bad about it, OK?

> No matter what happens I know what I’m going to do with myself I think

> So let’s just have fun when it happens 😊

>> ofcourse!!!

>> goodnight :3 im excited

Pearl arrived at the gondola station in Tapu Village the next day, before the sun had come up, as was requested. There was already a small crowd of people waiting, and upon noticing her bow, Pearl spotted a few familiar faces that found her.

“Pearl!! Hi!” Hau shouted, running out of the crowd to give Pearl a hug.

“Better not squeeze too tight though, huh?”

Pearl laughed in response.

“Hey, I’m off the hook now!”

“Yea, pretty cool timing on part of the construction workers up there, haha!” Hau said.

From behind, Gladion could be soon approaching at a slower pace. For once, he had a rare smile on his face.

“Oh, hey Gladion!” Pearl called out with a wave.

“Hey.” he said in his usual reserved manner.

“Assume you’re here for the same reason we are, huh?”

“I mean, why else would I come out here?”

“Dunno. Maybe you felt like it? Your motivations have always been an enigma to me.” Gladion chuckled.

“Fair!” Pearl nodded in response.

“Did we know when they were gonna start letting people up?”

“Dunno.” Hau said, stretching and yawning a bit.

“Assumed they just wanted the ‘important people’ to get there before the crazy crowds started building.”

“But there’s already sort of a crowd already, huh?” Pearl replied, gesturing towards the small group.

There was a bit of a pause, before Gladion spoke up.

“So why don’t we give them a bit of a show?”

“Aww yeah, you get it, man!” Hau cheered, seeing Gladion pull out a pokeball.

“Gladion and I have been training a lot while you were out, Pearl, and I think we’ve learned a bunch of each other, yea? So I’m excited to show you all kinds of new tricks!”

“Ooh, really? Alright, you’re totally on!” Pearl said, determination in her voice.

“…Wait, both of you? Against me? That… doesn’t seem fair, does it?”

Gladion chuckled.

“Dunno, aren’t you always at some kind of disadvantage? You literally only use three pokemon… and yet, you’ve always pulled through.”

“Hmm… that… is fair, I guess.” Pearl hummed in response.

“Alright! Challenge accepted!”

Pearl shuffled around in her bag, and called forwards both Azul and Cherry.

Gladion gave a sly smirk.

“Alright, but I hope you’re ready for a trick of my own, as well!”

The crowd began to notice the trio preparing for battle, and shifted over to watch them instead.

Gladion called out a weavile, while Hau sent out a komala.

Since weavile was such a fast pokemon, it was only natural that it’d hit first – the ice shard barely scraping Azul, but hitting hard on Cherry. Still, Pearl held her ground – and figured weavile would be easy enough for Azul to take down next, considering its dark typing and general status as a ‘glass cannon’ type of pokemon.

Pearl called for Azul to use dazzling gleam, and as she has partially anticipated, the weavile quickly went down. The komala took the hit, but due to its perpetually sleepy expression, Pearl couldn’t quite tell how much damage the attack had done.

Still, she didn’t let up her barrage – and called for Cherry to use leech life on the komala before Gladion sent out his next pokemon, so Cherry would recover some battle energy.

To her surprise, the leech life seemed to be enough for the komala to go down!

“Geez, and you were complaining about the two of us against you being unfair, haha!” Hau teased, recalling his downed pokemon and sending out his incineroar.

Pearl just responded with a playful blehh gesture, and as she saw Gladion send out a lucario, decided it may be for the best to use this as her chance to switch Cherry out to Poppy.

Compared to Azul and Poppy, lucario and incineroar were both quite fast – but Pearl had her plan in place. While the two opposing pokemon’s hits landed relatively hard, Azul and Poppy were both quite good defensively.

“Hit ‘em back twice as hard!” Pearl cried out with a pose – as she’d realized the audience had started to grow larger as the sun was starting to come up.

Naturally, Azul’s focus was on incineroar – but sparkling aria was a move that ended up hitting lucario as well. Incineroar also wasn’t exceptional when it came to defense, and Azul was a hard hitter – and the hit managed to down it, as Pearl cheered her pokemon on.

Poppy, on the other hand, hit lucario with acrobatics – and while its steel typing took off some of the attack’s edge, Pearl could tell it was in a pinch.

As Hau sent out his final pokemon – an Alolan raichu, Pearl called for Azul to use aqua jet – hitting the lucario before it could hit him.

The ever-growing crowd roared, and Pearl was a bit too busy gloating to be attentive to her pokemon… an opening which led to a retaliation from Hau’s raichu in the form of a thunderbolt, which was able to down Azul.

Still, Pearl stood her ground, and sent out Cherry. Hau’s raichu was at a disadvantage with Poppy being on the field, but she was uncertain what Gladion’s last pokemon would be… she hadn’t seen his Type-Null with him, after all…

“Alright! Time for the trump card… come on out, silvally!”

Gladion sent out his pokemon, and the crowd roared once again – especially given the sight of a strange pokemon nobody seemed to be able to recognize.

“…Silvally? What type of pokemon is that?” Pearl said, cocking her head.

“Hah, wouldn’t you like to know!” Gladion laughed.

“…It’s my friend type-null, but we figured out how to remove the limiting brace from them! Now they’re happier and more ready to show off than ever!”

“Ooh, I see!” Pearl exclaimed in awe.

“Well, silvally, I’ll be glad to show you your first real taste of a battle!”

Pearl examined the chimera pokemon, and noted how its fins, which had been grey upon seeing it prior as type-null, were now green.

In Pearl’s mind, she could only associate the color green with grass types, so she made her plan of action.

The first priority though, was to take out Hau’s raichu… a shadow ball from Poppy was able to be a decent enough hit, but wasn’t enough to knock it out.

Next, Pearl sent Cherry forwards to try and check silvally’s type, using leech life – a move that would also be able to heal her a bit, too. To Pearl’s excitement and relief, the move seemed to hit as hard as she wanted it to, confirming that silvally must’ve been a grass type.

The two opposing pokemon seemed to be set on taking Poppy out next, knowing how bulky it was. With a thunderbolt from raichu and a finishing crunch from silvally, Poppy was down… but not before its ability of aftermath did a number on silvally in the process.

It was two against one, but Pearl was determined to not give up. Raichu was already weakened, so she sent Cherry to use leech life again to continue restoring her own energy – and knock raichu out.

But Pearl was still a bit worried… she knew Cherry wasn’t very bulky, and silvally looked really strong.

Silvally charged in for x-scissor, and though Pearl was terrified it’d be enough to one-shot Cherry, Cherry shocked Pearl and the crowed by elegantly dodging the attack.

The crowd, now bigger than ever, uproared again – and with a new confidence, she commanded to land the finishing move of leech life on silvally.

The crowd went wild, Gladion withdrew his pokemon, and Pearl ran over to hug Cherry, who was chittering excitedly.

She was basking in the win, until she remembered…

“Woahh, good one!” Hau said, clapping as he approached Pearl.

“You know, I kind of had a feeling you’d manage to pull through and be victorious, haha!”

Even though Hau looked overjoyed, Pearl’s expression facing him was more one of concern.

“You’re… not sad? Or angry?” Pearl asked.

“What? Of course not, that was loads of fun!” Hau replied with a smile, softly bonking Pearl on the head with a pokeball.

“I told you not to feel bad about it!”

“I know, I just… I don’t like the feeling of climbing over you and Gladion to get to the top, and…”

“Hey, relax.” Galdion said.

“You’re not ‘climbing over’ anything.”

“I’m… not?”

“Yeah, it’s ok! Remember how I told you I’d been thinking a lot when I texted you last night?”

Pearl nodded in response.

“Well, I was kind of reflecting on our journey and the things we’ve seen and done, and then my old man got called up to take a role as an Elite 4 member… and I think I don’t exactly want to be Alola’s first champion anymore.” Hau explained.

“Wait, really?!”

Hau nodded.

“The Pokemon League is cool and all, but you know what’d be cooler? Working among the people of Alola! And you know what truly Alolan role just opened up now that my grandpa is doing league stuff?”

Pearl was thinking to the possibilities of what Hau meant, but the silence seemed to be a bit too long for Hau’s liking.

“…I was planning on becoming Melemele island’s Kahuna!”

“Ohhh!! That… that makes a lot of sense! I’m sure you’ll be amazing at it, Hau!” Pearl gleamed.

“What about you Gladion, you’re not upset, are you?”

Gladion shook his head.

“I mean, if I were to be brutally honest, I’m a bit frustrated. But I’d probably be more frustrated in the long run if I did become champion, because… I did just technically inherit the entire Aether Foundation, so I have THAT to deal with now. One responsibility is enough, I think.”

“Oh, wow! The whole thing?” Pearl replied in awe.

“Yep! Though, Wicke has been really helpful, I’m glad she’s still kindhearted despite how deep the corruption my mother caused had ran.”

Suddenly, a loudspeaker called out.

“Gondola traffic is now open for Pokemon League challengers! Please come to the gondola station with your trainer’s passport!”

There was a pause between the three friends.

“Well, I guess this is where we part ways, for now.” Gladion nodded.

“We’ll be cheering you on from the sidelines, Pearl – because if anyone can become the first champion of Alola, it’s you.”

Hau and Pearl nodded, and had a group hug – one that even Gladion joined in on.

Pearl then waved as she ran off towards the gondolas – as nervous as she was, it was too late for her to back down now, especially now that her friends were rooting for her more than ever.

The gondola ride was quiet and long, and Pearl enjoyed watching the sun rise from the aerial mountain view. It was hard to not let her nerves get to her, knowing how much was at stake… so she briefly released Poppy to hold their ‘arm’ for a bit of comfort for a while.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, the gondola docked at the mountain’s peak, and Pearl recalled Poppy and got off – only to be greeted by a surprising cold.

She’d had her favorite pink sweater stashed away for so long due to how tropical Alola was, that she didn’t quite stop to consider that a mountain this high would be chilly.

Pearl made a quick detour to one of the station’s bathrooms, so she could take her sweater out of her pocket space without anyone watching.

Making her way outside, the path to the league’s entrance was lined with excited onlookers – it was definitely nerve-wracking to have that many eyes on her, but Pearl tried to take it in stride. At the very least, the building embedded into the mountain ahead was gorgeous – with large blue-colored crystals jutting out of the rock and catching the light beautifully.

There were cheers as Pearl made her way down the path, and after a small hill, Pearl could eventually see Professor Kukui up ahead waiting for her.

He gave Pearl a smiling wave, and to Pearl’s confusion, he seemed to be just fine in his shirtless labcoat getup.

Once Pearl was close enough, Kukui readjusted his glasses and crossed his arms.

“Alright Pearl! Glad you could make it – are you ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be!” Pearl said with a nod.

Kukui nodded in return, and led Pearl through the large doors of the building. Inside, the two were greeted by a large chamber with five doors that were dug out into the mountain – crystals shining wonderfully still.

“Alright! So, I guess I should ask… your mom’s a League bigwig, right? How much do I have to explain about how this works?” Kukui asked.

“Well…” Pearl started, thinking.

“I know that… I have to defeat each member of the Elite 4. And I can’t stop until I’ve either defeated them all, or until I give up or lose. On top of basic league battling rules, of course.”

“You got it, kiddo!” Kukui replied with a smile.

“If you press the button at the center of each of the doors, it’ll open. Just don’t try opening the door in the center until you’re done, because that’s the final chamber and it’ll just open when you’ve defeated all four!”

Pearl gave a determined nod.

“Alright! I got it, I think.”

“See you on the other side, cousin!”

Pearl nodded, and decided to start counter-clockwise.

Hala, the Kahuna of Melemele island!

The battle went even more swiftly than it had on their first meeting – Azul and Poppy were truly forces to be reckoned with.

Pearl Told Hala about Hau’s dream, and he gave a hearty laugh – saying he was surprised how much Hau had grown.

Olivia, the Kahuna of Akala island!

Olivia and Pearl chatted about what they’d done since last meeting – the battle itself was essentially a sweep in Pearl’s favor with the combined power of Azul and Cherry.

Acerola, who was taking the place of Nanu!

Pearl had wondered why Acerola was even there in the first place, but figured it’d be like Nanu to reject an offer to join the Pokemon League.

Acerola’s drifblim and Poppy enjoyed playing around a bit too much, slowing down the battle – but Pearl eventually emerged victorious. Acerola asked if Pearl would let her be her secretary if she became champion, to which Pearl said… she’d think about it.

Kahili, the resort heiress!

…Pearl was fully expecting to see Hapu as the final Elite 4 member, so she was a bit shocked to see whoever this was in her place. Kahili seemed nice enough though, and explained that she was a qualifying former trialgoer asked to take Hapu’s place – as Hapu believed her priorities were in her role as Kahuna.

Kahili was the toughest of the four, in part due to pearl’s lack of aggressive type advantage. Still, Pearl’s enthusiasm rubbed off on her pokemon, which led to them giving their all and pulling through.

At this point, Pearl was a bit exhausted… but knew she was so, so close. As she exited Kahili’s chamber, she noticed that as Kukui mentioned, the door to the centermost chamber was open.

She went through the door, only to be greeted by a sizeable amount of stairs. Pearl just groaned, and released Poppy from its pokeball to carry her up – she wasn’t in the mood for stairs.

At the top of the stairs, Pearl realized she was at the very top of the mountain – the dome of crystal that covered the chamber was clear enough to see the endless sky and land below.

It was kind of mesmerizing, and Pearl just stood still to take it all in.

Once Pearl had broken herself out of her trance, she focused more on the champions chair sitting in front of her, empty.

She began walking towards it, but couldn’t help that thus almost felt too… easy.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps on the stairs behind her.

“If only it were that simple, huh Pearl?”

A deep shiver went up Pearl’s spine.

Of course.

“KUKUI?!” she yelped, still shocked quite a bit by who the voice belonged to.

“Who else would it be?” he said with a lighthearted laugh.

“I was, uh, kind of counting on Hau being the one to challenge you up here… but since he seems to have made himself content with other plans… I guess I’ll have to take his place!”

“I, uh, didn’t know you were a trainer?” Pearl said, slightly confused.

“Of course! I went through the island’s trials just like you did, after all. What kind of person would fund a League if they weren’t a trainer willing to battle in it themselves?”

“Hmm… fair point!” Pearl said with a nod.

“Well, if it counts for anything… I’m ready to end this!”

Pearl withdrew Poppy, and released Azul – figuring he’d be a good lead, being her strongest.

Kukui nodded, and grabbed a pokeball of his own.

“That’s the spirit! Let’s make this a battle to remember, yeah?”

Out came a lycanroc, and the final battle had officially begun.

The lycanroc was speedy, and used its turn of advantage to set up stealth rocks around the arena – a move Pearl knew would come to bite her later. Still, using the lycanroc’s lack of a proper attack to her advantage, she called for Azul to hit the pokemon with sparkling aria… not enough to take it out, but almost. Because it was so close, Azul was able to speed in with an aqua jet the next turn to take it out.

Next on Kukui’s end was an Alolan ninetales, which, while very pretty, was also a very delicate pokemon. Despite the lack of type advantage, Pearl and Azul were able to utilize the same strategy they’d used for Kukui’s lycanroc, while the ninetales failed to hit Azul with a blizzard.

Kukui sent out a braviary next, and Pearl figured she might as well switch to Poppy – because if the braviary had any powerful normal-type moves, they wouldn’t be able to hit them. Poppy got the first turn as a powerful acrobatics, but braviary gave an unexpected move – it used whirlwind, switching Poppy out. Pearl was worried Cherry may be dragged out and promptly steamrolled, but thankfully, Azul was brought back to the field – and he seemed only more refreshed after his brief break, quickly finishing what Poppy started.

The fourth opposing pokemon was magnezone, and Pearl was starting to get a bit concerned. She had no real options against it, so she figured that because Azul was so strong defensively, he’d be her best bet to keep in the field. She called for Azul to use sparkling aria, her usual faithful choice for brute-forcing things.

For its first move, the magnezone used thunder wave to paralyze Azul. Pearl was a bit tense because of this, but thankfully, Azul’s second sparkling aria was able to hit, and the magnezone’s battling energy became critical.

Pearl knew she could stop and heal, but then it’d give Kukui a frame to do the same, or to deal a damaging blow on Azul. So, taking a deep breath in, Pearl put her trust in her pokemon, and called for Azul to use aqua jet, despite his paralysis.

By a stroke of luck, Azul was able to connect the hit, and the magnezone fainted.

It was getting close now, but Pearl didn’t want to get too cocky yet. Kukui sent out a snorlax, and Pearl held her ground. She wanted so badly to heal Azul, but worried for the repercussions of missing a turn. So, she carried on – Azul managing to hit with a sparkling aria again.

But then, as snorlax’s choice of move… it went for a heavy slam. Not only was it a super-effective hit against Azul, but because snorlax was such a heavy pokemon, it did enough damage to knock Azul out.

Pearl gritted her teeth, knowing neither of her next possible options were favorable.

She could send out Cherry, who was still at full health – but was incredibly fragile and likely wouldn’t last long if snorlax decided to keep on with its hard hits.

And then there was Poppy, who was already hurt from the stealth rocks, and would take more damage if she sent it out… but would have the most attacking advantage over a pokemon like snorlax.

Pearl loved Cherry, but knew Poppy was good at getting her out of pinches like this.

Out Poppy came, and after a minimize and a lucky miss from snorlax, it was able to whittle down the opponents health to zero.

The energy between the two trainers was too intense for words, and Kukui only firmly adjusted his hat as he sent out his final pokemon – decidueye.

Pearl shouted for Poppy to hit it with shadow ball, but decidueye intercepted with a sucker punch… an attack that brought Poppy’s health down to a critical point. Things weren’t looking good, so Pearl just told Poppy to try another shadow ball and hope the opponent would miss… but with another spirit shackle, Poppy was down… but, of course, not before inflicting some nasty aftermath on the decidueye.

The two trainers were both down to their final pokemon now, and the energy in the chamber was practically on fire.

Pearl wasn’t confident, but knew she had to keep holding on.

The decidueye used brave bird, and Pearl was fully expecting it to completely take Cherry out in one hit.

But… she held on, just barely.

And the recoil from a brave bird that drastic wasn’t kind to the decidueye, either.

It seemed crazy, but after Poppy’s aftermath and the recoil, there was a glimmer of hope.

“That was excellent, Pearl!” Kukui said, applauding.

“I knew battling against you would be a thrill! But I figure, the rules are the rules… did you want to say anything before I claim the title of Alola’s first champion?”

“Yeah, one thing actually!” Pearl responded, an almost fiendish grin on her face.

“Cherry! Hit ‘em as hard as you can with leech life!”

A critical hit!

And just like that, decidueye fell to the ground – to both Kukui and Pearl’s incredible shock.

There was a short period of silence, as the two trainers caught their breath and absorbed what had just happened.

Whether she was aware of it or not, Pearl found her eyes to be tearing up. Quickly sucking air in, she dove to Cherry to give her the biggest hug she possibly could, crying out in joy.

And though kukui did seem a bit annoyed that his moment of glory was quickly cut short, the joy on Pearl’s face brought him back up – knowing he’d followed her and her friends all the way to this point.

“Congrats, Pearl! You actually did it!” he cheered, clapping heartily.

“That was crazy, I didn’t expect you to be able to pull through like that… but you did! And I think that just goes to be a testament of how much your pokemon love and trust you.”

Pearl was a bit too overwhelmed with emotion for words, but a nod with her happy tear-filled eyes was enough of a response for Kukui.

“Alright then, wipe those tears off your face just for now and take a seat! We gotta take ourselves a picture for the history books!”

Once Pearl had collected herself a bit more and healed her pokemon, she was led outside of the League building by Kukui – and an uproaring crowd awaited her, cheering her name.

It was definitely overwhelming, but… it all felt so satisfying to hear. This was what she’d worked so hard to achieve, and she’d finally done it.

Pearl and her pokemon were practically paraded through the streets as they made their way to the island’s marina. As much as Pearl wanted to crash at home for a long nap, she’d been told by Hau there was going to be a celebration in Iki town for her victory.

While Poppy was very helpful in lifting Pearl up above the excited crowds so she didn’t get too overwhelmed, Azul and Cherry were dancing around in the streets, showing off to excited onlookers.

It was quieter when they made it out of Hau’oli city, and upon reaching Iki town, Pearl was met with a running hug and twirl from Hau.

“You did it! You actually did it!!” he said happily, as he was soon joined by Lillie, Gladion, and Acerola, of all people.

“Not many people can say their bestie was the very first champion of a region, huh?”

Pearl giggled with a smile in response, before approaching Lillie – where the two met in a mutual hug.

“I’m so happy for you, Pearl! It’s like… this is a start of a new beginning, for both of us.” she said sweetly.

Pearl and Lillie were having a bit of a sweet moment, before Kukui could be heard shouting in the distance.

“Let’s party like there’s no tomorrow, baby!”

And so, a day of festivities, dancing, stories, and re-connections commenced. To Pearl’s surprise, her family showed up again as well! Apparently, Acerola had grabbed them.

Both Emmy and Renee were proud beyond words, and Zinnia and Aster seemed to be having fun at the party and conversing with all the townsfolk.

Finally, as the day reached its went, the party died down, and Pearl found herself walking to Kukui’s house with Lillie – as the two agreed it’d be their best bet to stay there for the night.

Hand in hand, stars gleamed bright in the sky above them, away from the light pollution of the big city.

“Pearl…” Lillie said, stopping as she looked up at the sky.

“I’m… excited to see what the future brings us… together.”

“Yea…” Pearl replied, her tone a lot calmer than normal, in part because she was so exhausted from the festivities.

“I feel like…”

“You feel like what?”

“I feel like our true adventure is just getting started.”

Onto the next adventure!

---

Author’s note;

So, this one’s gonna get a bit sappy. Not as sappy as the real anniverssary letter (which I’ll get to… later), but still sappy. Probably.

It’s been three and a half years since I started Moon! And it’s kind of amazing how much I’ve changed as a person during that time – and how Pokeau as a whole has changed, to. While I did go into Moon with the intention of finishing it those years ago, I didn’t quite anticipate it taking this long.

Still…

From the bottom of my heart – thank you, whoever you are, so dearly for joining Pearl and myself on this adventure. I feel like… both of us have learned and grown a lot, and with Moon finished, I feel Pearl can properly ‘grow up’ now – no longer a capsule of my teenage self stuck in time.

It’s a bit hard to think of what I’ll do next, since Moon has been ever-present for so long for me – but I’ll figure it out!

Special thanks:

Echo – For being… you, in every way. Thank you for being my best friend.

Sarah – For helping look over and revise much of the first half. Even if we don’t talk as much now, your support was the reason I’m still going.

Jammy – For helping look over and revise the rest. Seriously, you’ve got a typo eagle eye here.

The rest of the [checks notes] autobahn demons – For being here from the very start, through thick and thin.

Ender – For the encouragement and being cool!

[NPR public broadcast voice] And to viewers like you. Thank you!