Lunar Eclipse: Part I (Pokemon)

Chapter 24

January 17, 2017

Rotom woke me up with an alarm I had programed into the dex. I sat up with a groan, ignoring its chirpy greeting. It took me a minute to figure out where I was and why I had woken up so early. I turned to my right to see if the racket had woken up Gladion. Somehow, he was still asleep, and the position he was in was absolutely adorable. He lay on his stomach and had his arm wrapped around Michio, who was snuggled up to his side.

I grinned. "Rotom, you have to take a picture of this."

"Sure thing!" Rotom said. It flew in front of Gladion and snapped a photo.

The flash caused Gladion to bolt upright. He looked around wildly, his hair sticking up in many places. Michio yawned and stretched while I rolled over on the bed laughing. Rotom proceeded to show Gladion the picture and then zipped into my bag before he could delete.

"What was that for?" Gladion growled.

It took a minute for my laughing to subside before I could speak. "You and Michio... you looked so cute!"

Gladion's eye twitched. "I am not cute."

This just made me laugh again. "Yes, you are! You were hugging a pink fairy Pokémon! I'm posting this one."

"Don't you dare!"

I hopped off the bed and made for the bathroom to get ready for the day. "Fine. I'll just show Lillie and Hau."

A half hour later, we stood on the docks. The sun had just made its way above the horizon. I stifled a yawn.

"So, we're waiting for Hau?" Gladion said.

I nodded. "He'll come." If he was who I thought he was, then he would come.

"Yeah, I guess so. He's a pretty interesting kid, I'll give you that. Growing up in the great kahuna's shadow and still trying to stand up to Hala as an equal? I couldn't do it."

"Everyone's got their own troubles to conquer, I guess." Someone approached us, but it was not Hau. I recognized the man from Po Town.

"Officer Nanu?" Gladion said.

"If only Team Skull could've just kept themselves and their troublemaking to Po Town," Nanu said. "Why'd they have to make all this fuss, huh?"

Gladion shrugged and looked away. Nanu must have visited Acerola after all, and she had to have told him what happened. So, what was he doing here?

Now he looked straight at me. "You there, girl. I'm an island kahuna, you know. Battle against me. It'll be a good experience for you if you're really hoping to master the island challenge."

He was a kahuna? That was a surprise. I glanced at Gladion, and he nodded. I looked back at Nanu and smiled. "Okay, I will." This was what I had been preparing for, after all.

Like expected, Nanu used dark type Pokémon. Since he was a fairy type, Michio managed to defeat his Sableye and deal a good amount of damage to his Krokorok. Yuki finished off the large scaly Pokémon but fell to the Alolan Persian. I chose Cuddles as my last Pokémon. Once again, the cute pink Pokémon proved quite strong and formidable. The battle was quite fun, and I found myself smiling at the end.

"Well, shoot," Nanu said after his loss. "Of course, I already knew you had the heart and the strength to storm Team Skull's stronghold, but I didn't know you were this good. And your Pokémon worked real hard for you." He then handed me the darkium z and showed me how to use it. "There. Congratulations or whatever. You've officially finished your Ula'ula trials. You've got somewhere else to be, don't you? Try not to destroy the whole place. Oh... And you, boy. Gladion. Tell me... If you're really trying to get stronger as you say, then what're you depending on Team Skull for?"