Sun & Moon: Rebellion (Sun x Lillie Fanfiction)

Chapter 16 - An Old Friend

I met Rose just over two years ago, during the time Lillie was in Kanto. Our relationship was never that complex - as far as I was concerned, we were friends, to put it simply. We didn't have as close a friendship as I have with Hau or Gladion of course, but I appreciated her as a friend nonetheless. Spending time with her definitely helped my mental state too... my thoughts often dwelled on how much I missed Lillie at the time, and the pain I felt from that could only really be temporarily cured with distractions, for lack of a better word.

It was a still, quiet evening over Melemele island. I was heading down to Kala'e Bay again, the small 'secret' beach just past the Seaward caves - a place I often went down to, to sit on the sands and paddle in the shallow waters. It proved to be a great place to go to clear my mind since hardly anyone was ever down there. I remember the evening well; the water was a brilliant orange in the evening sunlight, the cool breeze rustling through the few trees and adding to the subtle ambience that was complimented by the gentle splashing of the waves out at sea.

I was strolling across the bay by myself, whistling a tune and finding a palm tree to sit under. It was nearing the end of another fairly uneventful day, and I had Lillie on my mind yet again. I was almost certain that I was alone as I found a spot in the shade to sit at, but I'll never forget my surprise when that cutesy, ever-excited voice came from behind me for the first time. The voice came from a girl who looked to be the same age as me, sat atop the ridge of a small hill just behind me.

I was caught off guard for sure, but I guess I didn't mind someone to talk to, even if I did originally go to the beach to be alone. She immediately recognised me as the champion of course, but unlike a lot of people, that wasn't something that she focused on. Most people just behave in the same predictable way, asking for an autograph and a selfie, but Rose just seemed interested in having a conversation with me. She told me her name, that she was from the Unova region, and that she was a trainer... sort of. She explained that she spent most of her time outdoors, either learning new skills in the wild parts of Alola or just hanging around a city somewhere with her Pokémon. She never bothered with the Island Challenge; told me that she never wanted to be a popular trainer, nor did she want a serious journey. But it was clear as day to me that she loves her Pokémon. Even if she doesn't battle with them too seriously, it was hard not to get the impression that her Pokémon were the only companions she really had.

I can never remember how long we ended up talking for that evening... considering how much we talked about, I guess it was some hours. There were many things she seemed to avoid talking about, though. Things that she quite fairly didn't want to tell me on our first encounter, I suppose. But she was eager to talk about her travels and her Pokémon, which I was glad to hear about.
After a while though, the stars started to become visible through the orange evening sky. I think she tried to hide it... but I couldn't help but notice the look of dismay in her eyes when I suggested that it was time for us to head home. Her demeanour seemed consistent during the hours we spent talking, so I wasn't expecting her to seem so afraid before we parted ways. I decided not to ask anything of it at the time. She certainly seemed to be a nice character, albeit an interesting one, but I was left with so many questions still. So, we decided to meet up again sometime soon, maybe for a battle. She seemed interested in training with me, and in time, that's exactly what we did.

We didn't meet up every day or anything, but we did hang out on a somewhat consistent basis, even running into each other in the region once or twice by chance. The two of us had a battle when we met for the second time, which was when Rose was sure she wanted me to help her become a better trainer. It wasn't my first time helping people train their Pokémon and I often didn't have anything much better to do, so I was happy to teach her as much as I could. Summing up my past relationship with Rose is difficult, but that's it in a nutshell. This went on for a few months, until another summer evening came by.