Lunar Eclipse: Part I (Pokemon)

Chapter 2

November 20, 2016

I woke up around noon this morning. This is an improvement, I guess. I spent the day playing with Meowth my new Litten. We even got a little training in. Then just as the sun set, Professor Kukui arrived at the door.

"Hello, Kukui," my mother greeted him. "Is the festival starting soon?"

Kukui nodded. "It will be starting in an hour. But first, now that she's got a Pokemon of her own, I thought I'd show Selene here a little something on Route 1."

Mom smiled. "Sounds good to me. Have fun at the festival, sweetie. I'm sure you'll have a good time with your new Pokemon pal. Me and Meowth will be sure to unpack every last box here - you'll see!"

I followed Kukui outside. This time, we took a different route to Iki Town. I noted the tall grass laid out in front of us, and Sun pawed it curiously. It turned out Kukui wanted to show me how to catch a Pokemon. He gave me ten Pokeballs and a few Potions for that purpose. Then he demonstrated the process with his Rockruff. It did not look too difficult. I totally had this!

"Why don't you have a little adventure of your own on the way to Iki Town, yeah?" said Kukui. "Take good care of Selene, Sun!" With that, he jogged off.

I took a deep breath. "Ready, Sun?"

The Litten meowed in agreement.

The two of us started our mission. I already knew which Pokemon I wanted to catch first, so I used the other wild Pokemon we ran into as training for Sun. Finally, I found it: a Pikipek. Unfortunately, I overdid it and caused the flying type to faint. This was harder than I thought. I healed Sun and continued exploring.

I ran into a boy who warned me the festival was starting soon, but I ignored him. I could not show up with only one Pokemon! At last, I heard a rustle, and a Pikipek flew into the air. "This is our chance, Sun," I said. "Give it one good Scratch!"

The Pikipek took the offensive and flew down to peck at Sun with his beak. The Litten winced but beared the pain long enough to whack the flying type right out of the air with his claws. While the bird was stunned, I pulled out an empty Pokeball and tossed it at my target like Kukui had taught me. The Pikipek was sucked inside, and I held my breath as I watch the ball wobble. Finally, the ball grew still, and I let a grin spread across my face.

"We did it, buddy!" I ran across the grass and scooped up the Pokeball. Then I released my catch and gave him a Potion. "I think I'll call you 'Twitters.'"

The Pikipek chirped before perching on my shoulder.

I decided to let both of my Pokemon train one last time before I returned them to their Pokeballs and headed into Iki Town. There were many people out today, chatting happily with each other. I smelled food cooking and could hear light, tranquil music. I could not spot Professor Kukui, so instead I headed over to Kahuna Hala.

"Evening, Selene," he said when he saw me. "What do you think?"

"It's nice," I said, "but what exactly is this festival all about?"

Hala smiled. "The Alola region is made up of our four islands, and each island has its own guardian Pokemon. Our festival today is held to express our thanks to these great Pokemon guardian deities for always remaining by our sides. Well, we may call it a festival, but it's just this little thing you see here. There may not be many of us, but at least every last one of us here goes all out."

I nodded. "Cool. I'll be sure to check everything out." I turned and started to walk around the town. It certainly did look like everyone was having a good time.