Love in the Time of Trials

Chapter 21: A Bloodlust

And now to finish up from last chapter. Of course, I realize everyone seems to be on vacation (except for me, as always) but hopefully you have a bit of time to vacation in Alola with me. Time for Chapter 21!

Chapter 21

A Bloodlust

"One month!" Kukui's voice rang out across the table. Gary didn't pay much attention to it, despite the loudness of it. He was busy putting his notebooks lazily on the table and flicking open to the research he had taken down over the last few weeks. "Okay, not quite; more like a month and half or so, but construction of the stadium will be done around then, and I think the League would be best to be held at that time."

"I second it," Akela spoke, absentmindedly flipping her sunglasses up and down. She, too, looked bored, briefly staring out the window to the dawning sun.

"Is there any particular reason?" Cynthia chose to ask, and now Gary decided he should probably start paying attention to what was actually going on around him. Kukui grinned and sat back, propping his feet up on the stone table. Akela looked at him with a rather annoyed expression.

"There's a special event happening soon, or so the people at Hokulani Observatory have said to Samson Oak," Kukui admitted. Gary's eyebrows flew up. He'd heard about his grandfather's cousin, but didn't know very much about him at all. Thinking on it, he knew that he'd have to ask Kukui more later, perhaps pay the man a visit, but the professor was continuing on. "The astronomers are calling it the Day of Stars, because the stars will 'align with each other'. I mean, no idea what it all means, but considering the legends and records of all the legendary Pokémon having a connection to the celestial bodies in the sky, I figured it would be way cool to hold the final match right before the Day of Stars, finishing off the League with a bang! Woo!"

"Calm down, Kukui," Hala rumbled, folding his hands across his chest. The professor grinned with a look of apology, but it was obvious that his request would be considered highly. "I do second the notion. It would be quite the event."

"If everything goes well," Kahili said from her seat next to Gary. Her legs were crossed, one over the other, as all eyes turned to her. Gary arched an eyebrow and he looked to Steven and Cynthia, the latter having pursed her lips. The air in the room had ratcheted up with tension from the declaration, but Kahili didn't look the slightest bit perturbed by it all. "Oh, come on, we all know the reason we've been called here, don't we?"

"The fate of Alola," Olivia remarked. She, too, had her legs crossed, peering across at the other woman. Out of all of them there, only Akela looked less than interested, though as Gary watched her, he noticed she was really just feigning an act of not caring.

"Yes, there have been disturbing trends of late," Hala grumbled out. Kahili remained relaxed as she responded to Hala's words.

"Pretty much, and I'd like to think our League representatives know exactly what that means," she spoke. From the movement to the side of him, Gary could tell that both Steven and Cynthia were acknowledging her points. "No one wants another disaster like the Kalos League, do they?"

"Definitely not," Kukui muttered. "We'll just have to be very careful about it, keep an eye on the shadows. At the very least, we know that no one here would perpetuate an attack of any sort on the League."

"That's true," Cynthia spoke up. "We've been monitoring things, and while the prediction of the tipping point coming closer is most likely correct, there is no reason to believe any infiltration has been made. ARC has been far too careful about that, and we Champions have trusted them implicitly. Our internal structure is secure; we've made sure of it."