12 Hours Earlier...
Alice Brier awoke with a slight start. The dip of the ferry as it went over the crest of the last wave certainly did it. With a strong feeling that morning was already soon coming, she sat up in her cot, waiting for the rest of her body to feel as up and ready has her mind was. Rolling over to her stomach, she rummaged through her open duffel bag until she fished out the case for her glasses. Opening it up, she grabbed them out and promptly put them on with her free hand, adjusting them with her fingers on the hinge.
Tossing the covers off her chest and legs, revealing her purple shorts and white t-shirt, she sat at her bed’s edge and placed the case back in her bag without another sound. Looking down at the unoccupied cot beside hers, she let out a conclusive breath and stood up, promptly leaving her cabin. The hallway led straight to a stairway to the bow, and with a silent jog up the stairs, she found Sam sitting at the very front of the boat, head and body turned to face the direction they were headed.
While Sam didn’t look too much older than his sister in looks, he showed it in his height, his lanky legs stretched out so that his butt could sit flat on his seat. His hair was a lighter shade of brown than her sister’s as well. His sleeping attire consisted of grey sweatpants and a brown t-shirt one or two sizes too big for him. Even as Alice approached him, he didn’t seem to keep his attention off the horizon masked by the dusk.
“Sam!” Alice called out, just loud enough to make him jump and face his sister. “What time is it?”
Sam pulled out his Pokédex, a small, square-shaped red device, from his pocket. Pulling the top half up, it expanded the holographic screen in the center to reveal a menu with several applications, but Sam’s eyes only focused on the top where the time was.
“It’s about quarter to 6,” he answered.
“Really? Even though we don’t reach Hau’oli for another three hours? You seriously can’t sleep in to save your life.”
“And what’s your excuse? Other than being excited, of course.”
“Nah, that’s pretty much it.” Alice approached her brother and took a seat on the opposite side from him. “So, are you excited too, bro?”
“Well, I mean sure. I’ll probably get more excited once we get off this boat, though.”
“Yeah, I miss Kalos too, but you’re right. We’ll probably forget all about it once we get settled.”
“Well, that’s not true...”
“I’m kidding,” she chuckled, lightly kicking his shin with her foot. “Lighten up.”
Alice then noticed that Sam tucked his legs below his seat and continued watching the sea. Feeling slightly ashamed, she scooted herself to her seat’s edge and looked Sam at eye level.
“Listen,” she said, “I know that I wasn’t as attached to life in Lumiose as you were, but think about all that other bullcrap you get to leave behind. You and Honedge get to start off with a clean slate here, make a whole bunch of new friends. I honestly don’t know how you can’t be more excited about this.”
“Me neither,” Sam simply said.
Alice was left a bit speechless, but before she could retort, another’s voice came in first.
“You guys are from Lumiose City?” a young boy’s voice wondered.
Sam and Alice looked to see a young boy, no older than 6, wearing a blue pajama-top with a Greninja on the chest and bottoms that mimicked the look of a Greninja’s legs. He kept his distance, but was close enough to talk to at conversational volume.
“Um, yeah,” Alice perked up, “and which city are you from?”
“Oh, I’m from Hau’oli,” he answered. “Me and my mom and dad were just on vacation in Cyllage City and we’re now on our way back home! Are you going on vacation too?”
“Actually, no. We’re moving to Alola from Kalos. My parents ran a really successful restaurant in Lumiose, and now they want to open a restaurant in Hau’oli City.”
“Wow, that’s so cool! Are either of you by chance going to do the Island Trials?”
“I know I am! How ‘bout you, Sam?”
A brief moment of silence occurred before Sam shot up, realizing he was being included in the conversation.
“Uh… yes, yes, I am too. Brought my Honedge from home.”
“Whoa, a Honedge? You must be quite a trainer to catch one of those!”
“I, uh… actually…”
The boy seemed perplexed by Sam’s inability to string his sentence together.
“What he means to say,” Alice butted in, “is that–”
“–I’ve spent most of my training in the kitchen with my parents,” Sam interrupted back. “I only started taking Pokémon training seriously about a couple of years or so before we moved. If you want someone to chew your head off about Pokémon and training them, my sister is the one to talk to.”
“But…” the boy said, sounding a bit frightened, “I don’t want to get my head chewed off.”
“What my brother means,” Alice huffed, before returning to her happy disposition, “is that I’m a really good trainer and know a lot of stuff. I also brought my Noibat with.”
“Wow! I’ve heard those are pretty rare!”
“They really are! I actually got mine before I was old enough to become a trainer!”
“How’d you do that?”
“Well, I was camping with the Junior Rangers, and I–”
“Blake!” an older woman’s voice hissed midway in the stairwell before she stormed up to her child as fast as she could without running. She wore a single blue nightgown, and her messy hair made her look rather intimidating in the minimal light provided by the boat. “Don’t you ever leave your cabin like that this early in the morning! What were you thinking?”
“It’s no problem,” Alice responded. “We were just having a nice chat.”
“Well… I thank you for keeping an eye on him.” Her clutch on Blake’s arm looked noticeably tight from the kid’s face. “It’s just he should know better than running off on a boat by himself at his age.”
“You know,” Sam interjected, “I’ve heard that adventurous children make for very strong Pokémon trainers. You might have a future Champion in your family, ma’am.”
Blake smiled up at his mom, encouraged by this supposed fact.
“Don’t encourage him!” she barked, walking her son back inside. “Come on. You should be sleeping.”
“Can I just say goodbye to my new friends?” begged Blake.
The mother stopped, and relinquished her grip on her son’s arm, which Blake tried to rub the sting out of.
“Fine,” she said. “But if you’re not back in your room in the next minute…”
The mother’s point was clearly made, as told by the child’s fearful reaction, and she turned around and returned inside.
“So,” Alice said, getting Blake to face her and her brother again, “Blake’s your name?”
“Yeah! What’s yours?”
“I’m Alice, and this is my brother Sam.”
“Cool. Nice to meet you Alice and Sam! Alola!”
The kid finished his farewell by waving both hands out and down like a bow before sprinting back inside. Alice and Sam couldn’t help but grin proudly.
“Alola…” Sam said to himself, mimicking the boy’s wave.
“See?” Alice chided. “We haven’t even docked yet and you’re making friends.”
Sam suddenly noticed the deck of the boat getting a bit lighter, and right before him to the east, the sun began to peak over the horizon. Sam and Alice followed the sunlight back to the sea still laid ahead, and were shocked to see that they were already a few-hundred yards from Ula’ula Island.
“Holy crap, we’re here,” Sam giggled.
“Pretty much. Bet you’re even more excited now, huh?”
Alice could tell that Sam didn’t need to respond, as his face looking up at the frosted peak of Mount Lanakila was enough of an answer for her.
“Anyways,” Alice said, “I’m going to shower before everyone else on this boat starts to use up all the hot water.”
The sound of a refreshing shower was surprisingly enough to break Sam out of his adventure-starved trance. “Yeah, good idea.”
The two hurriedly walked back inside the boat. They were still a few hours from arriving, but an early start to the day would be the best start.
Sam and Alice stepped back outside outside of the boat, each one with a backpack strapped to one shoulder and a duffle bag on the other. Sam in particular also wheeled up a heavy suitcase with his free hand.
He was dressed in his more casual attire, which consisted of blue shorts, a grey tee, and a light jacket of a darker shade of blue. Alice’s dress consisted of dark-grey short shorts with a red stripe going down each leg, a matching red shirt, a black vest with seafoam-green outlines, and a backwards orange-and-black cap.
With Hau’oli City all but surrounding them with the ferry docked at the harbor, they were compelled to stay put and look at the skyline, only to be bumped into.
“Come on, guys,” their dad said, hoisting two cases in his hand. “The sooner we get moved in, the sooner you guys can go off and have some fun.”
Their dad looked to be an acceptably fit man for his age, not ripped, but showed no signs of flab either. He wore a light, breathable black polo with white-and-blue shorts with a floral design on them. Her mom followed, a large purse over her right shoulder and a large wheeled suitcase held in the other hand. Despite her sunglasses being of normal size, they looked a bit large on her smaller head, her long head of hair only adding to that effect. She had on a long-white blouse that caught the Alolan breeze and tight blue jeans.
“It really is so much cooler in person,” she commented. “And I see a suntan on the beach in my future.”
“That applies to us too, dear,” her husband retorted. “We’ll go and sightsee once we get unpacked.”
“Yep, yep. Come on, let’s get going.”
She quickly walked around him and her two kids and stepped off the boat through the ramp. It didn’t take too much longer for the three of them to follow suit.
The apartment lobby looked more akin to a five-star hotel than anything. Every table contained a large vase with an even larger bouquet of flowers in it, and the polished wood floors, walls, and furnishings looked like they were cleaned just minutes before the family’s arrival. Once the Briers stepped inside through the automatic sliding doors, they didn’t even make it all the way in before receiving their first official greeting.
“Alola, cousins!” the energetic-voice of a middle-aged man called out. “The name’s Kukui. I’m the Pokémon professor of this area, and I’d like to formally welcome you to the Alola region.”
The four of them looked to the person that made their acquaintance: a tan older man wearing grey sweatshorts and an open lab coat, revealing his naked pecs and ab muscles. He wore a pair of plastic safety goggles fashioned with shaded lenses as well as a white cap with a four-toned rainbow on it. He also had a very drawing goatee and bun tied at the top of his neck. If he were indeed some kind of scientist, he certainly reflected the tropical atmosphere to a tee.
“You must be the Briers from Kalos. Glad to finally meet you all.”
“Yes,” the father said, setting his bags down and shaking the man’s hand. “I’m Benjamin, but my friends call me Benji, this is my wife Susan, and my kids Alice and Sam.”
“So these are the two trainers you were talking about.” He adjusted the brim of his hat as he looked down to Sam and Alice. “And from what I already heard, you two already have your own Pokémon with you.”
“Yes, sir,” Alice responded.
“That’s fantastic! You’re already two steps ahead of me. Tell you what, I’d still like the two of you to come visit me at my research center. There’s a couple things I’d like to do before you go off catching Pokémon and setting off on the Island Trials. I’ll provide lunch and everything!”
“That sounds great,” Sam said. “Could you tell us how to get there, we’re, eheh, still pretty new in town.”
Kukui scratched the side of his jaw, processing Sam’s reply. He suddenly burst out laughing, startling him and his parents a bit. “The young man has a sense of humor! I think I like you already, Sam. We’ll be getting along just fine, I can tell.” Sam’s unease still didn’t let up as Kukui firmly patted his shoulder. “Yeah, I can tell you where to go.
“Take the main coastline road to the city limits. Continue taking that road east until you hit the outskirts. There’s a small beach south of you at that point, my place is where the grass meets the sand, you can’t miss it. It’s also an hour’s walk, but I’m sure that’ll be nothing compared to the adventure you two are going on.”
“Yes,” Alice interjected, “we can manage. Thank you.”
“Great then! I’ll leave you to unpack now. How’s about we meet around noon?”
“Sure,” Sam said, “we should be done long before then.”
“Well, feel free to come over whenever you’re finished, even if it’s an hour earlier. The more time, the merrier!”
“Thank you, Kukui,” Susan said with a nod so exaggerated it appeared more like a bow. “I’m certain our kids are thrilled to be in such good hands.”
“And I’m thrilled to spend some two-on-one with them. I’ll leave you be now. See ya’ later, cousins!”
Kukui walked around the four of them and exited the building. Once the sliding door closed on him, the four family members walked to the elevators in the very back.
Twilight Sparkle sat at her crystal throne in the Castle of Friendship, monitoring the large round table that projected a map of the land of Equestria. Standing beside her were Starlight and a small, bipedal purple dragon with green spines and light-green underbelly. The map seemed normal, longer than it had been in the last half-hour or so. Suddenly, the land of Equestria fuzzied out, instead projecting the four islands of Alola in its place. Before the three of them could register that the image had changed, Equestria’s image returned on the table.
“I don’t get it,” the purple alicorn spoke with incredulity. “What even are these islands? I’ve never seen them before!”
“Do you think they’re somewhere off of Equestria?” the dragon asked.
“I don’t think so, Spike. I don’t recall ever seeing these islands on a world map before.”
“Do you think they are some lost land that disappeared long ago? Like the Crystal Empire?”
“It seems reasonable. Even Celestia didn’t know much about the Crystal Empire when it returned, and I had never even heard of it.”
“Maybe there’s some book about it in your library somewhere,” Spike said. “Speaking of the Crystal Empire, maybe they have a book about it somewhere in their library. Pretty much all of those books are over a thousand years old; maybe those islands existed when the Crystal Empire first did.”
“That’s not a bad idea, Spike, but I don’t want to exhaust the trip all the way up there, and I’m certain no book in my library makes any kind of mention of these islands. We’ll ask the princesses about it, and see what they make of it. If they can’t help us, then we’ll turn to the Crystal Empire Library for further help.”
“I think what’s more concerning,” Starlight added, “is what’s causing this in the first place. We don’t know what these islands are, where it is, or what’s even on them.”
“That goes without saying, Starlight, but it would be a good idea to try and understand what we’re dealing with before we wait for something to happen. Come on, let’s contact Princess Celestia.”
Twilight hopped off her throne and made her way to the massive crystal door leading her to one of the castle’s many hallways. With a magenta aura pulsing around her horn, she pushed the door open with a similarly-colored aura on both door’s handles. Starlight and Spike followed her down, unaware as Alola returned on the table, this time staying there.
Kukui flipped through his journal, leaning back in his chair with his feet on the desk. Four quick knocks on the front door broke him from his concentration. Flicking the book onto his desk, he looked to the clock on the wall past a tall aquarium tank where three heart-shaped fish swam contently, and smiled warmly to see it read a quarter to 11. Putting his chair upright and setting his feet down, he walked to the door and opened it, not the least bit surprised looking to see Alice and Sam standing together.
“You guys are even earlier than we expected,” Kukui greeted. “Welcome!”
“We’re quick walkers,” Alice explained.
“And eager. Please, come in, come in!”
Kukui stepped aside and motioned them in with an outstretched arm. As Sam and Alice stepped inside, they were suddenly caught off guard as a light brown puppy with a fluffy white tail and rocky white collar and a pink dog-like creature wearing a gown raced just in front of their feet, nearly tripping Sam. Kuikui couldn’t help but laugh.
“Pardon my guests,” Kukui continued to chuckle. “We house quite a few Pokémon here.”
“Now,” Sam said, looking about for any other possible intruders, “when you said ‘we’ just now, who were you–”
“Are they here?” a young man, just older than his teens questioned, his head popping out from the basement stairwell.
Upon noticing Sam and Alice, he stepped out in full view of them. His skin had a light-brown color, and his green hair so dark that it could pass for black was tied in the back into a spiky bun, with two bangs draping down between his eyes and ears. Beneath his traditional orange jacket with floral design, he wore a black cheongsam-style shirt with white trimming on the collar and bottom. He wore very large white shorts tied together with an orange sash and the cuffs clinging snugly to his upper shins, as well as orange sandals. He looked about as authentic of an Alolan native as one could be.
“So these are the two trainers you were telling me about?” the young man asked Kukui.
“The very same. Alice, Sam, I’d like you to meet a close friend of mine, as well as the Kahuna for Melemele Island, Hau.”
Hau approached the two trainers, facing Sam first, and with a wind of his arm, he clasped Sam’s hand with such vigor that had he not held on, Sam might have fallen over.
“A real pleasure to meet you guys!” Hau said, shaking his hand. “I’m always looking forward to meeting new trainers!”
Once Hau let go, Sam tried to hide his motions as he rotated his wrist and squeezed his fist, unsure if Hau actually hurt him. Alice, on the other hand, was able to catch Hau’s hand and keep a firm grasp as he shook hers.
“So you guys came all the way from Kalos, huh?” he continued asking. “I’ve heard a ton of cool things about that place. You two do any of those Mega Evolutions that they’re so famous for?”
“No,” Sam answered as Hau stopped, “we don’t have the Mega Stones or bracelets to do that, but I hear that trainers on Alola use Z-Moves.”
“That’s right.” Hau then held up his left wrist, which sported a smooth white bracelet seemingly made of stone. With the way the face was designed, the diamond-shaped slot in the center and the spots of black in it made the white spots form a Z. “This bad boy is what you need to summon your Z-Power so your Pokémon can use Z-Moves.”
“That’s really neat looking,” Alice commented, leaning in close for a look. “Is that why we’re here? To get one of those?”
“Sorry to suddenly be a disappointment,” Kukui said, walking up to them, “but only certain trainers get to use a Z-Ring and use Z-Moves. Hau got his because his grandfather Hala was the Kahuna before him.”
At that, Hau’s almost inextinguishable joy seemed to flicker out and he faced away from them, telling Sam and Alice all they needed to know.
“It seemed even the guardian deity knew that I was destined to take his place once he left us.”
“I’m…” Alice said, “I’m very sorry about that, Hau.”
“Guardian deity?” Sam meant to say to himself.
Despite his attempts to keep his thoughts in his head, Hau turned back, and like a switch, returned to his happy demeanor.
“Oh yeah, Tapu Koko! He’s one of four Pokémon who guard and bring prosperity to the islands. There’s one on each island, and as such, there are three other Kahunas on the other islands. Very few trainers have actually encountered him before, but those that have… I can imagine the chicken-skin they must have gotten.”
“I’m guessing he’s pretty powerful,” Alice said.
“And how. You can’t protect an entire island and its inhabitants by being a pushover, you know.”
“And what does the Kahuna do then, exactly?” Sam came in. “I don’t mean to be rude or nothing. I’m just trying to learn more about this place and get a lay of the land, per se.”
“No offense taken there, Sam. Along with tending to the ruins where the guardian deity lives and picking and choosing the trial captains, we’re also the ones you face in a Pokémon battle for the island’s Grand Trial. Speaking of…”
Hau reached into both of his pockets on his jacket, and from each one, he pulled out a small crescent-shaped pendant with triangular yellow, red, pink, and purple stones on it, which hung from beaded leather strings kept looped through a screw tie.
“If you’re planning on taking on the Island Challenge, you’ll need these amulets to participate. You can just hang them from your backpacks, and as long as the trial captains see them, you can complete their trials.”
“Oh,” Sam calmly exclaimed as he took one of them. “Thank you.”
“And with that,” Alice said, grabbing hers, “I’m officially an Island Challenger.”
“Normally, I’d say you’d still need a starter Pokémon so you won’t have to take the challenge by your lonesome, but Kukui tells me that you already have a Pokémon. Can I see them? I’d really like to!”
“Of course,” Sam said, removing the Poké Ball fastened to his belt.
Sam followed suit, and the two of them gently lobbed their balls to the floor. Upon impact, they opened up with white energy inside them shooting out. From Sam’s Poké Ball, the light formed and faded away to reveal a two-foot silver sword floating beside its trainer with a narrow blue eye in the center of its golden hilt. The blue cloth attached to the bottom of the pommel held the sheath that looked to be made of a worn, faded bronze.
From Alice’s Poké Ball formed and emerged a small purple bat-like creature with golden eyes and a fuzzy black chest and thighs. Its darker-purple ears were each roughly the same size as its head. Rather than flutter in place, it chose to perch itself on Alice’s shoulder.
“Wowee!” Hau laughed. “Those are so awesome! Kukui, you know what those are right?”
“Yep. Sam has a Honedge, and Alice’s Pokémon is a Noibat.”
“Thanks. I actually didn’t know.”
“Actually, there is one piece of business I’d like to start off before we go any further. You brought your Pokédexes with you, right?”
Without another word, Sam and Alice fished them out of their pockets, and placed them both into Kukui’s open hand.
“Your Pokédexes haven’t been updated to include the new Pokémon you’ll no doubt meet on your journey. I’ll take them into my lab and fix that, though it may take an hour or so until the updates are complete.”
“And what will we do in the meantime?” Sam asked.
“Well, since the gang’s all here, how’s about we have lunch?”
Sam suddenly remembered the offer made at their apartment. “Oh yeah. Not to be picky, but what’s being served?”
“Well,” Hau said, “you’ve probably never experienced true Alolan cuisine on Kalos before, so we’ve got spicy pulled chicken on sweet buns warming in the kitchen. How’s that sound?”
“Wonderful, actually.”
“Great then,” Kukui replied. “Just let me get these updates running and Hau, can you help Alice and Sam make their plates while I’m down?”
“Sure thing, Kukui!” he responded.
Kukui took long strides to the stairwell and lightly ran down them.
“Come on,” Hau encouraged. “Let’s dig in.”
Sam and Alice followed Hau into the kitchen and dining area which was only a little bit up and to the left of the doorway. Alice and Sam were already stunned by the spread that was left for them: the buns already sliced and ready for stacking, bowls of coleslaw and sliced pickles, baked beans in a pan on the stove next to the pot of simmering chicken, and a large pitcher of lemonade and a basket of sweet potato fries with some kind of dipping sauce beside it.
In this moment, Alice and Sam entirely felt like Alola had become their new home.