My head hurts so much
I wonder where I am? Am I lying down? How long have I been here? One day? One year? I have been sleeping for so long that I do not remember anymore?
I try to open my eyes, but I cannot force myself to do it yet. I feel dizzy, my head hurts so much that my disorientation and darkness seem to be all that is left. That and a distant sound in the background that I cannot make out yet. No more than a buzz in my ears, but a constant company that seems to refuse to leave.
What was I doing?
I think I was talking to someone. A friend and a Professor maybe ... But then what happened?
Poison!
I try to open my eyes again, but again I fail. Now I can remember a little. I was in a pokemon battle recently, and I was poisoned instead of my loyal companion.
After that I started to feel bad, and now I understand that it was the poison running through my veins. If I could I would be smiling. I may be as grown up as Kukui, but I am just as inconsequential as Hau. But after that, what was I doing?
The sound in the background seems to get louder by the second. First, nothing more than a simple annoyance, but it was distinguishing itself as a beautiful and angelic voice that sings to me in a slow and constant rhythm, like a lullaby for a child to sleep. But who would sing for me? I have never had anyone but ...
"Tia?" I manage to ask a simple question and the song has stopped, making the sound of silence seem deafening in my ears.
"Luna? Are you awake?" I feel something soft and warm gently against my cheek, like a hand. "Do I need to call Professor Burnet? Can you speak?"
"PEW!"
A barrage of questions continues. Worried about me for my stupidity. I do not think I can ever help but worrying others. I try again to open my eyes, and this time I am slowly reaching my goal.
I see light. Strong and blinding, but I cannot tell if it comes from the lamp or the young girl looking at me worriedly. Her golden hair falls over her shoulders as she presses her small hand to my forehead to check my temperature.
"Lillie," I can say her name. It would be rude to mistake her for someone else when she is clearly concerned about me. I force a weak smile as I greet her. "How are you?"
"HOW AM I...," She almost yelled at me but took a deep breath and smiled at me. "I ask the same thing. How are you feeling?"
"Dizzy, weak ... Stupid," I try to sit up, but instead of stopping me, Lillie actually helped me do it.
"I would enjoy disagreeing with the last one," She finally sat on the bench next to me. "But after being poisoned by the only known pokemon capable of poisoning other poison type pokemon I feel sadly inclined to agree,"
I gave a small laugh. Is little Lillie trying to insult me? Maybe I really stepped on the ball this time. "Where are we?"
"In the infirmary," She finally took Nebby in her arms and placed him beside me. The little guy soon cuddled up next to me and started sleeping. "Professor Burnet brought you here as soon as the nurse arrived,"
"And how long did I sleep?"
"Much less than expected from any human being," A new voice became involved in the conversation. I looked at the automatic door that was already closing and saw Professor Burnet walking towards us. "You slept for just over four hours. You almost broke the world record,"
"Almost?" I cannot help playing with the situation. "Well, who managed to wake up faster than me?"
"The average time for a person to wake up is three days, but Kukui woke up in three hours," The Professor smiled and sat down next to Lillie.
"Damn ... There's something wrong with that guy," I feel a little bitterness emerging. For so little he was better than me.
"I prefer to think that there is something wrong with you two," Burnet interrupted my line of reasoning. "You are the only idiots in this world who have chosen to be poisoned,"
"Well, it could be worse," I look at the ceiling thoughtfully. "But on second thought ... With three hours, Hau must have already won the next Trial and be on the way to the next island. I think I stayed behind on this one," Heavily I admit my defeat.
"What are you talking about?" Lillie asks, confused. "Hau's over there," She pointed to my left. I turn around and see the boy next to my medical devices eating what is clearly a malasada, "
"Yo," He greeted me with a wave of his fingers.
"Did you not even think for a second to speak up before?" I asked with a small drop of anger and embarrassment.
He stared at me for a few seconds chewing and finally swallowed his favorite treat. "I had my mouth full,"
Strangely, this is a good excuse.
I turned and looked at Burnet, after all, our conversation is not over yet. But I feel bad about excluding children like that, so I stuck to other priorities. "Where's Kukui? Shouldn't he be here already?"
"Professor Kukui came quickly," Lillie explained to me. "But after he saw you were unconscious he said he had an emergency that Hala had called for him,"
"Hala needed his help?" I would like to say that I contained my surprise, but it would be a lie. "What could need those two together to solve?"
"Kukui didn't speak, but he wanted to talk to you about it," Burnet sighed. "I thought you might know,"
"No, I cannot imagine," I reply sincerely. "But Professor, could you tell me more about Ultra Wormholes?" I asked her so that she would understand my concerns without involving Hau and Lillie, to them it would appear to be nothing more than a small curiosity.
"Yes, I could," she sighed and her expression changed to motherly pity. "But I doubt I can tell you what you want to hear,"
"I see," That was my only response before looking out over the horizon and sighing as I leaned my face into my hands. So much work and effort for nothing. Not a clue or information on how to get home to my sister who is waiting for me. Unconsciously I feel my fingers press harder on my head as I try to organize my emotions.
"Luna?" I feel hands on my shoulders. I lift my head to see both Lillie and Hau comforting me. They have no idea about me, and yet they care about me as much as a friend. None of them said anything else, just demonstrated their empathy for me in understanding. Now I look from one to the other and see perhaps for the first time that I never thought of them as anything other than children, just two of many that I have had to deal with over the years for my sister's dream. But I will not lie to myself, I consider them as my friends, perhaps the first true friends since my sister.
"You guys are amazing," I sigh as I feel a smile growing in me.
Burnet was watching us with a sad smile. She got up from the chair and questioned me. "Well, due to your absurd immune system, I think you can leave in an hour, just to make sure there are no sequels. What do you intend to do?"
Hau and Lillie sit down and I look at the clock. "I am going to visit the pokemon center and then I will be heading towards the grass trial, maybe I can finish it today,"
"Aren't you tired?" Burnet asked me before sighing, the ring on her necklace seemed to glow when she smiled again. "You look a lot like Kukui did you know? But please try not to kill yourself on the way,"
"Don't worry, Professor Burnet," Hau wrapped an arm around my neck in a kind of tight hug. "I'll go with her. I'll make sure she kills Totems instead of the two of us,"
"Do not make promises you do not know if you can keep," I replied and a general laugh echoed through the room.
"I'm going to stay here for a little while longer. I want to go to the Ruins of Life tonight. I heard this is where the Kahuna does her Grand Trial so maybe we will meet there,"
"It looks like a plan," I jumped out of bed with ease to Lillie's despair and Nebby's scare. "Now, where are my gloves and cap?"
I hate to leave my beautiful boat on Akala Island, but I also have to be aware of what it can and cannot do, and this time I needed speed. "Just a little more my friend, Mele Mele is right there," I talk to my Braviary who gives a shout of agreement. We flew almost the entire route between the two islands and I can already see our objective approaching.
There was a time when things were simpler, I think with a frown. It was just acting like a Professor, trying to negotiate exhaustively with the pokemon league center, recruiting members for the Elite of 4 and other things of the genre. But now the situation has changed.
The wind almost takes my cap off but I catch it before it falls overboard. First it was Lillie and Nebby. Appearing like that. Then Luna appeared with an even higher standard, even making Tapu Koko show a clear interest in her. And now another stranger appeared brought by the island's own guardian deity ...
Something big is going to happen, really big.
The city lights almost blind me when we finally arrive. I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn't even realize that Braviary had come so close to Hala's house.
We landed in the big ring that gave way to the battle of Luna and Hau. "Thank you very much my friend," I stroke my Braviary. His face and body were full of imposing scars when he received my affection. "Rest, I need to solve some problems," I put him back in pokeball and ran straight to Hala's house, knocking on the door next. "Hala, I'm here, can you let me in?"
"Kukui?" I heard his surprised voice and a short time later he opened the door with a friendly smile. "It's good to see you so fast, my friend,"
"Well, good to see you too. But tell me, how is she? What do you know so far?"
"Well ..." He started to say something when a strangely familiar noise echoed from inside the house.
"That ... Is she, isn't she?"
"It is," he replied.
"One question. Why?"
"When I talked to her about how we captured a pokemon and offered Rowlet she said it wasn't fair to just gain him for free,"
"So is she fighting with the pokemon?"
"She is," Hala agreed and I smiled.
"Well, let's see what awaits me," Hala made room and I finally entered the house. Unsurprisingly I see that most of the furniture was damaged, Rowlet flew with a determined expression using everything to hit a girl with extremely white skin and long hair the color of the rainbow, but frankly, he was not having much success and the girl finally managed to grab it all at once and press it against the floor, trapping it completely.
"Got you, little one," The girl said, huffing a little as Rowlet tried to pull away.
I look at the scene with a small dose of nostalgia. I can't help remembering myself and Luna with her 'little' confrontation with Midnight. I went in and finally the girl let go of the bird out of her grip, but he looked a little crestfallen, as if he didn't like losing a human at all. "Hello," I say, attracting her attention.
She turned to me with her face barely sweating at all. "Oh, hello," She greeted me with a smile. "Nice muscles,"
"You are not the first to praise," I say relaxed as I approach. "My name is Kukui, I am here to try to help you in your situation. What is your name?" I say extending my hand.
"Celestia," She extends her hand as well but I stop in the middle of the gesture when I recognize the name I only heard once in my life.
"Celestia ..." I look at the girl with skin as pale as an albino, but now I see traces on her face of undeniable familiarity. "Are you ... are you Luna's sister?"
We both stopped looking at each other in silence. Rowlet flew and landed on Hala's shoulder who simply watched everything quietly. "Do you know where my sister is? How is she?" She asked me in a broken voice.
"Your sister is fine," I soon soothed her. "I know where she is now and I know where she is going next," With each word I saw a smile of relief grow on her features. "You don't have to worry, I will take you to her. My partner is bringing my boat, he will arrive here in the morning. And your sister is a strong child, besides being in good company. She will be fine until we arrive,"
"How nice ... Wait, kid?" She looked at me confused and I did the same. But instead of saying something else, she just looked at her own body carefully and started laughing.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She doubled over holding her stomach and leaned on Hala’s couch while the Kahuna and I looked at each other without understanding what was going on. "Gods, she must be so furious,"
"Um, sorry to ask, but what's so funny?" I questioned.
"Well, looking at MY body I would say I'm about 15 years old," She said and started laughing again. "So Luna must be around 12 or 13, am I right?"
Hala and I stared at her for a few seconds. Something about this conversation just doesn't fit. Doesn't she know her sister's age that she is so worried about? That does not make sense. "Well, yes, I would say yes,"
"Wow, she must be really furious about everything. She has a serious height complex," she said before laughing again.
"Well, I noticed that, but why are you asking this?"
"Your name is Kukui, isn't it?" She asked good-naturedly. "It's very typical for Luna to be so suspicious of everyone. In short, in our world we are not children. I would say that you and I are almost the same age. I am the principal of a school, and my sister is the vice - principal, "
Silence reigned in the room. I stared at her with my mouth open as the puzzle pieces came together in my mind.
The way her mind is fast, her maturity and self-control, and even why she cried when she saw the pokemon school. Ease of learning and strategic mind ... Everything fits together.
"I'm sorry that she kept this hidden from you," Celestia approached in a good mood. "But Luna has had serious trust issues since ... Well, it doesn't matter. But I guarantee that she is a wonderful person, and that she probably genuinely likes you and wasn't just using you,"
"Okay, I get it," I sit down and feel a little laugh wanting to leave. "Now it makes sense. But it doesn't matter now," I looked her in the eye. "You want to go to her yourself, don't you?"
"Yes," There was not the slightest hesitation in her voice. "When do we leave and where are we going?"
"We left in the morning. She is about to finish what she had to do on Akala Island, so I think we should go straight to Ula'ula Island and wait there,"
"If you say so," She answers me confidently before looking at herself in the mirror. "But since I'm here, how about some shopping to help with the wardrobe,"
I smile when I see her so relaxed. The two are so different and yet similar at the same time. "I know the right place. Let's go before the night comes,"
"After you," She bows playfully and points to the door. Little Rowlet lands on her shoulders.
I laugh and walk through the door followed by the duo. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m sure we all will have a big part in it... And it all begins with a brand new start.