Chapter Text
Lillie flipped another Sunkern cake off the griddle onto the stack. She leaned over the burner and dipped a spoon into a bubbling pot. After a quick lick, she added a dollop of golden honey from a jar. Rockruff circled close, his rough scruff catching on her long socks.
A woodblock counter separated the corner kitchenette from the open floor plan of the beach house. Scuffs in the wood were hidden under a plastic pitcher of fresh-squeezed Sitrus juice, a basket of perfectly browned toast, and a paper platter of creamy butter straight from Paniola Ranch. She heaved a cast iron pan of hot bacon up to the counter and set down a stack of Sunkern cakes with Cheri berry compote.
Footsteps creaked from the bottom of the basement stairwell. Rockruff yipped and bounded across the room, teeter-tottering down the gap in the hardwood floor. Lillie combed her fingers through her hair until it cascaded down her shoulders. She waited in front of the splendid breakfast, palms clasped, sweet smile tucked between Cheri berry cheeks.
Adonis emerged above the banister with puppy astride. The smooth valley of his pectorals begged to be caressed between the fabric of an unbutton lab coat. She always looked there first. She couldn't help it. The man never wore a shirt.
Her mother always told her that what a person chooses to wear defines them. Kukui rolled up the sleeves of his signature Professor outerwear, promising grit and brains came with his wayward, unapologetic brawn. Grey sweat shorts betrayed a sensual and carefree attitude, and a white baseball cap with a rainbow patch on the front spoke of playful and adventurous expeditions under the strong Alolan sun. Before she could believe he was too foolhardy, tinted safety glasses assured her that he gave proper respect to his hardcore lifestyle. How could she meet the expectations of a man dressed like that?
"You won't believe this!" Professor Kukui exclaimed. His pearly smile charmed her with his flawless confidence. He was a wild wind tamed by the island landscape; she could ride his zephyr all day long.
Lillie inhaled sharply before asking, "What?"
"Verdant Cavern blew like a Turtonator in heat yesterday, oh yeah!" he gestured a ka-boom by popping his fingers out like a magician. "Nothing but scorched earth and ashes. Kahuna Hala says he's never seen an attack like that on Melemele… far too strong for any wild Pokemon around here."
"Oh no! Was anyone hurt?" Lillie's expression became tortured with concern.
Kukui stroked his well-trimmed goatee as if the thought hadn't occurred to him.
"Not sure. I'm headed out there with Oak and Illima. No tellin' what we're going to find! How 'bout you tag along?"
"No…"
He looked at her like the word was incomprehensible.
"I'm sorry, I can't go…"
She couldn't tell the Professor that she might cry if any Pokemon were injured and embarrass him when she couldn't suck it up. She'd likely trip and fall, become lost, slow them down. He'd wonder why he ever agreed to let a troublesome runaway like her take up space at his lab, pretending to be a research assistant.
It was only a couple days ago that she interrupted his experiment on Palossand wrestling because she lost Nebby and needed him to find it. The Professor hosed the entire tournament because she was such a Wimpod after that Haunter chased her for nearly a mile, and she couldn't tell Kukui anything about what really happened because Hau made her promise…
"Wowza, what a spread!" Kukui pointed to the heap of food. Lillie noticed her teeth grinding away at her already mutilated thumbnail. She confined her hands behind her back.
"Of course!" his clarity returned with the swift whack of a palm against his head. "You can't come when you invited a friend over for breakfast!"
Lillie opened her mouth. Then closed it. Then opened it again. "Uh… Yeah."
"Must be a special sort of friend." He winked. "By the way, I need you to Fly some supply."
Kukui slipped two fingers into his lab coat pocket and flicked out a piece of paper. Lillie plucked it from him carefully and nodded with a bashful glow.
"Thanks Skiddo!"
Before the Butterfree in her stomach could settle, Eros alighted on his cotton blend wings and soared out of the great room. Rockruff ran after him, barking all the way into the sunshine. The door clicked shut.
Lillie sighed and pulled off an apron with a dancing Oddish on the front and the words "Shake that Grass." She stuffed it back in the cupboard where she'd found it and slumped onto a bar stool. A squat, pink creature hopped onto the seat beside her and drooled over the Sunkern cakes.
"Hey!" she scolded. Snubbull's loose jowls froze in mid-chomp over the stack. Tearful, saucer eyes pleaded with her. Lillie softened.
"Go ahead… eat up," she said quietly.
Snubbull completed the dive. Scrunch munch! Slurp!
Lillie unfolded the paper in her lap and sighed.
"Pardon me," Lillie waved timidly. She stepped up to the Poké Mart counter wedged in the corner of the Hau'oli Outskirts Pokémon Center. She hoped the cashier would notice her, but didn't want to make a scene. The clean-shaven young man had pleasant features, but he appeared generic and forgettable. Even his nametag was blank.
Lillie adjusted the gym bag on her hip and felt Nebby bounce. "Pardon me," Lillie repeated, a bit louder. The cashier finally glanced over.
"Welcome to the Poké Mart! May I help you?" he asked. No matter how many times she'd been to this Poké Mart, his greeting was always the same. Lillie bent down to look at the colorful bottles of sprays and droppers, elixirs, toys, cassettes, and Pokéballs neatly arranged on the shelves and secured behind glass.
"I need to make an order." She pulled the list from under her hat, unfolded it, and said: "May I please have 10xRevives, 10xMax Potions, 5xRepels, 10xBurn Heals, 10xParalyze Heals, and 5xAntidotes."
He gathered the items while she spoke and arranged them neatly on the counter.
"Is there anything else?"
Lillie pressed her index finger to her chin. "Can I see the Full Restore?" she asked. The cashier reached an arm down into the row of lime green spray bottles and pulled one out, handing it to her. Lillie examined the contents.
Full restore wasn't on the list, but she had a thought. Professor Kukui practiced new moves with his Pokémon. They hit him with attacks so he could feel how strong they were. So daring! But he might get injured. Full restore was the strongest heal item there was, so maybe…
"Would this well work on humans?"
The cashier looked as if she'd told him she was hiding an explosive under her dress.
"I'm sorry, miss," he said, swiping the bottle out of her hand, "I can't sell these items to you."
"Why? Did I say something wrong?" Lillie watched with dismay as the cashier cleared the counter, refusing eye contact. "Please, I need them for the Lab. It is important we have a good supply." He opened a pad and jotted something down while she talked.
"Is this laboratory registered with City Hall?" he asked.
"I don't know…"
"Please come back when you can provide proof that you are authorized to purchase these materials."
"But…"
A boy wearing a floppy hat lined with fishing lures hopped up to the glass enclosure. He wasn't tall enough to see over the counter, so he hoisted himself up to the tips of his flip-flops with his dirty elbows.
"Gimme two potions!"
The cashier complied, and the boy dropped his payment with a ring on the counter, shouting a "thanks!" before shuffling away in his polyester shorts. The cashier turned back toward Lillie.
"Miss, loitering is not allowed."
Lillie counted the number of tourists, locals, and Pokémon enthusiasts milling about in the Pokémon Center. She crossed her arms in defiance.
"There are... there are seven people here that are literally only loitering…. It's… all anyone seems to do in Pokémon Centers, so… I can too!"
He picked up the phone attached to the wall behind the counter. Lillie suddenly felt exposed and heard herself apologizing. She quickly headed out of the building before the cashier could start dialing.
"That was strange," she whined as she exited the double-doors. "I can't go back to the lab empty handed. I guess we'll try somewhere else." Lillie patted the side of the gym bag. Nebby's "pew!" in response gave her comfort. She skipped down the front steps of the Pokémon Center.
"Pardon me," Lillie waved. She strode up to the Poké Mart counter wedged in the corner of the Hau'oli City Pokémon Center. The clean-shaven cashier on the left chatted with a second cashier to the right. They both sported a generic haircut, and their facial features were pleasant but forgettable. She couldn't tell them apart when they both wore blank nametags.
"Pardon me," Lillie repeated, a bit louder. The right cashier's cheery smile faded. He nudged the left cashier.
"Welcome to the Poké Mart! May I help you?" left asked.
"I need some supplies," she pulled the list out of her hat.
"I'm sorry, but we can't sell any items to you until you show registration," Left said, smiling.
"What are you talking about?" Lillie got a sinking feeling.
"We were informed that you are currently not authorized for purchase," Right said.
"But… I walked all the way to Hau'oli City…"
"That is not our problem, miss." Left said.
"Yes it is! I've never needed registration before." Lillie was surprised by her own forcefulness.
"If you don't have registration, there is nothing we can do." Right seemed to be getting agitated, and Left started for the phone.
Lillie took a step back. "That's okay, I'm leaving…" She spun on her heel, causing Nebby to chirrup. Lillie ground her nails in the padded strap of her bag and fled the Pokemon Center.
"Excuse me!" Lillie waved. She strutted up to the Poké Mart counter wedged in the corner of the Route 2 Pokémon Center. The clean-shaven cashier on the left chatted with a second cashier to the right. They both sported a generic haircut, and their facial features were pleasant but forgettable. The right cashier's cheery smile faded. He nudged the left cashier. Lillie pulled out the list from her hat and slapped it onto the counter.
"I got lost three times trying to find this place, so I don't have time for chit chat. I am making an order for these items," she said, pulling a twig out of her hair.
"I'm sorry miss, but we have to see registration…"
"No! I don't need registration… this is not fair. Please, you've got to fill this order!" Lillie tapped the paper with her finger vigorously.
"Miss, we cannot sell to you."
Left was already on the phone. She heard him say the word "users."
"Who are you calling?" she asked. Left did not answer, and neither did Right. She looked at them helplessly.
"What about a potion? One potion? I need something!" Lillie couldn't recall the last time she felt this frustrated.
"I'm sorry, miss, we're getting you some help," Right said.
"What do you mean? I'm not leaving without my items." Lillie stamped her foot and crossed her arms, blocking Right in a stand-off and refusing to move from her spot for several minutes. They awkwardly ignored her, shuffling around items behind the register, pretending to be busy. Then she thought of a new tactic.
"Look, I have money!"
Lillie reached into the side pocket of the gym bag. She grabbed a wad of Pokédollars and waved it at them.
"I'll pay you more than the normal price!"
"Are you trying to bribe us?" Left narrowed his eyes and Right moved away from her as if she were contagious.
"Are you in on the Delibird ring?" Right asked suddenly. Left made a harsh, disapproving noise.
Confused, Lillie was about to respond when someone tapped her shoulder. She whirled around and saw a man with a dark complexion in a blue uniform.
The bright light of day flashed painfully in Lillie's eyes after the long and educational conversation indoors. Lillie pulled down the brim of her hat and stepped to the sidewalk outside the police station, ignoring the beautiful view of the marina through the dancing palms across the road, the sky full of Wingull and fluffy clouds. Mayonnaise seeped onto her fingers from a pasty baloney sandwich she'd been holding for at least thirty minutes.
"Well Nebby, I suppose we need to go to City Hall and sort this out the proper way."
Nebby made a long, dispirited wheeze from inside the duffel bag.
"Don't worry, we'll go home soon." Lillie headed down the street towards the civic center.
Professor Kukui swung open the door to the lab with a splatter of sea foam. His winsome stride transformed the beach house from a wrecked shack to a rustic island getaway. Rockruff immediately flew in after, scattering sand over the living room, tumbling over Kukui's shoes, and pushing his floppy ears into his master's downturned palms.
Kukui discovered his assistant sitting on the sofa and turned toward her, knuckles to his hips. She didn't acknowledge him. Papers littered his coffee table. She was hunched over, tense with concentration. Her fingers knotted around strands of hair that frizzled over her scalp while she chewed an eraser that belonged to a very short pencil. Nebby bounced around the sofa, splattering stardust on the cushions.
"Oh good, you're here," Lillie said without looking up. "Are we a Class A or Class B hazardous waste producer?"
"…What?"
"If we produce at least 50 kilos of waste in a year, we are Class A. You hosted a Muk for a couple weeks… Does that affect our quota?"
Kukui scooped up the nearest paper and gave it a skeptical once over. He shooed Nebby out of his way and sat down on the adjacent sofa, reclining with ankle over opposite knee. Rockruff clamored into his lap.
"Where did you get this?"
"We need a permit from City Hall to purchase Poke Mart Items."
Kukui cinched his jaw as if struck with a massive headache. He slid a roll of paper from behind his ear to the corner of his mouth and pulled a match from his lab coat pocket.
Lillie read carefully, "Does the facility maintain adequate accommodations for all Pokemon residing on the premises, verified by a licensed Nurse Joy?"
Kukui struck the match on the flint around Rockruff's collar.
"Section XXI part C and section XXVII part W only apply to laboratories that operate a standard PC system, but it doesn't say what system is considered standard… Also, I looked everywhere and I couldn't find a copy of the Melemele building codes. We need those before the fire marshal does an inspection. Oh, it says here the processing fees are reduced if we submit by Pelipper. Gee, that's a big number…"
"Thanks Bellsprout! I'll take it from here." He seized the paper from her grasp. Her hands remained suspended as if it never left.
"Are you sure? We need to get supplies…"
"Yeah yeah. Don't worry about it." Kukui shoved the documents under the sofa. "Don't you want to hear about Verdant?" He leaned back and liberated a wad of Stunky smoke that thickened the air.
"Was it bad?"
"You bet! Everything was destroyed. Except it wasn't fire, it was like a plague sucked the life out of every living thing in the cavern. Even Guzma is stumped on this one."
"Oh…" Lillie pinched Nebby out of the air and wrapped her arms around it like it was a stuffed animal. Nebby squirmed briefly and then sagged in defeat.
"We're going to track down the Pokemon that did it. It must be a poison type. Likely evolved."
"Could… it be a ghost type?" she asked.
He looked at her quizzically and took another drag, holding back his breath while he spoke.
"How do you mean?"
Lillie dropped her chin and caught her tears. She couldn't keep the shameful Haunter enounter a secret any longer. Kukui deserved the truth. It was probably out there right now, planning its next terror attack...
Haunter stared across the spool, half-conscious. Zorua scrutinized the frayed gashes that dragged from his uneven mouth up to his spiked crown. He looked like a piñata that got caught in an escalator. It made no sense to her since whatever substance gave him form wasn't readily identifiable. Once, after a lot of liquor and interrogation, she eventually got him to fess that he was made of vorax and ceranium gases... whatever those were.
"What happened? You make out with Mow Rotom?" The two crimson dabs above her eyes exaggerated the snark.
"Hm? Big Red? No… we never went that far. It was prattling on about virtual reality and I got bored," he replied sluggishly before taking a sip of something with far too much pulp.
Zorua's customary low-lidded glamour blinked dumb. Was he... serious...? She collected herself with a snort.
"Come on, what happened?"
Haunter didn't answer. It was a quiet evening at the Subzero Slammer. Apparently, chucking ice cubes at Psyduck wasn't engaging enough for Zorua, so she invited herself to sit at his table. Normally he didn't mind attention, but there was something unnerving about her type.
Vulpix appeared with a bottle of fresh water. Haunter welcomed the distraction.
"Hey, I ordered a Riptide Rock Slide! What's this?" Zorua complained.
"Your set is in 20 minutes, so no drinking – augh!"
The snap of a red mitten left the bottle roiling over the table.
"Give me a tasteless drink, and I'll give you a tasteless performance!" Zorua declared.
Vulpix pinched her mouth tight. "Fine! Just don't get sloppy and then cry about how dad is going to send you to the Isle Aphun if you don't bring home enough money. I can't have you bleeding the house dry with a lousy set and bogus sob story every night."
The freezy fox blustered her cloud of tails and trotted away, disheveling the brush of fur between Zorua's pointed ears. Zorua huffed and whipped it back into place. The dispute refreshed Haunter's mood and he broke into an exultant grin.
"So... how tasteless do you get?"
"Shut it!"
Zorua picked up the water bottle and lobbed it through Haunter's vapor. It thwacked a yellow skull behind him. Abra rotated painstakingly from the long bar, popping open one eye to a sliver. He cracked the joints in his bony fingers.
"Oh come on, you're psychic! You should have seen that coming!" Zorua groaned.
Abra stamped up to the table. The little domes on his shoulders quaked with fury. His nostril slits flared and his diminutive chest inflated.
"Don't get so mad! It was an accident!"
The wizard slammed his fists on the rim of the spool. A beam shot up from the sand, dwarfing his hunched form under a retina-scorching light that contracted to a fine laser point and then vanished. Zorua blinked the spots out of her vision. When her sight cleared, Vulpix stood in front of her.
"I leave for two seconds and you make Abra teleport? You're paying his tab."
Vulpix balanced a tray atop her coif. It held a short glass filled with sugar rocks drowned by a bubbly amber liquid. Zorua reached forward and knocked it back under her pointed nose.
"Not a chance, cap sniffer!"
Vulpix spat an ice shard. Zorua caught it behind her canines. She pulled it out of her mouth and licked it like a melting Vanillite until Vulpix couldn't hide a small smile and popped Zorua in the cheek.
"Stop being weird," Vulpix chided.
Before Haunter could quip in on the scene, a blur of wings attracted his attention.
"Noibat!" he greeted.
"Hi Haunter, didn't expect to see you here so early!" Noibat fluttered over the Pokémon and dangled on a garland of Comfey. The fairies strained to hold their flower-studded threads under the weight, but their tiny protests went ignored.
"Heavens to Blissey! What happened to your face?" Noibat exclaimed.
"I'll tell you about it another time. While you're here, I could use your help."
He reached a phantom hand into one of the cuts in his head and tugged at something inside. It resisted like a sticky clod of mucus until the wet membrane broke and a thick book slipped out. Vulpix retched. Zorua brightened.
"Oh I love presents!"
She hopped across the table and grabbed the book from Haunter as if he'd offered.
The binding was built out of raw hide crudely stitched together. Two black stripes bulged from the bottom corners of the cover and merged at the top to create an open triangle. A circle stamped the middle, as black as a Salazzle's heart. Zorua stroked it softly.
"This book contains a hidden power that can reshape all of reality," Haunter explained. "I need it to look spiffy."
"Why?" Noibat asked.
"Because it's a gift for..." Haunter rolled his eyes up and finished lusciously, "my ingénue."
"Aw, I am ingenious." Zorua flipped open the cover. Ethereal braids looped out of the rough cut pages like frolicking in Dragonairs lit by dawn. Her pupils dilated as inexplicable voices tickled her eardrums. She squealed delightfully, clawing at the interior of her ears.
"Hauntie dear, you shouldn't have!"
The book snapped shut with a gust of sparkles and wheeled back to Haunter.
"As charming as you are, la femme kabuki, it's not for you."
Zorua huffed.
"It's for that human girl," Noibat declared as though she'd just made a brilliant deduction. The bat flew down in a whorl of screaming petals and stole the tome into her talons. "I'll make it look really cute! It just needs some posies to cover up all the... blood stains…"
"Great idea! I would never have thought of that. See, that's why I need you." Haunter complimented.
Noibat swallowed her heart back into place. Her glossy gaze met his torn up haze, fixing on him hopefully, waiting for the moment he'd realize the weight of such words. Maybe today was that day. He looked at her with those sharp, dotted triangles that always angled at satisfaction but never truly attained it, and for once, he hesitated.
Any nascient glimmer of discernment in the ghost was swiftly dispelled by an eerie wind passing over the canopy of palm fronds. Haunter along with the rest of the Pokémon turned attention to the leaf-curtained entrance of the Pokibar. Noibat begrudgingly followed suit.
Black orbs spread in from the darkness of the cave and bobbed between the stumps, crates and other makeshift tables. Pokebean dishes desiccated. Blossom decorations withered. The majority of the Pokemon dinner crowd fled as a smog penetrated the air, choking the bamboo torches to a flicker.
"Gastly never come here. This must be because of you," Vulpix remarked, pointing a blue nose at Haunter. "You owe me a gratuity."
"She is really squeezing the Cs tonight," Zorua said loudly.
Noibat hugged the unearthly book like a shield while the mass of Gastly approached. One Gastly wore thick glasses despite having no ears or nose bridge to carry them. His huge eyes couldn't be seen outside of the frames, as if they were glued to the lens. He glided to the spool and waited expectantly. A mass of identical, effervescent bowling balls arranged themselves behind him. The seconds dragged, and no one moved.
"Can I help you?" Haunter finally asked.
"We knew we'd find you socializing with biologicals at this den of flesh!" The bespectacled Gastly proclaimed.
"Excuse me?" Vulpix shrilled.
Gastly's obtrusive vampire fangs made spitting while he talked inevitable. Haunter wiped an eye with his palm.
"We thought you turned your back on us. You've always been so selfish and irresponsible."
The orbs muttered in disapproval.
"Yet you exceeded our expectations when you put an end to the fanatical regime of the Solar Totem! The Committee has voted: We shall establish Hau'oli Cemetery as the only logical trial site for Melemele. Exact terms for the position of Totem have not been agreed upon; however we will support your administration until we can hold a proper election."
"Yea!" the orbs affirmed together. Haunter scratched at his cheek.
"I don't remember this meeting."
"You never attend the meetings!" Gastly effused a mauve puff that made Noibat turn blue.
"The catastrophe that wiped out all the Pokémon at Verdant was you? Why wasn't I invited?" Zorua demanded.
"It was kind of a spur of the moment thing," Haunter said. "I'll invite you next time."
"There will be no talk of insurrection at my very reputable establishment," Vulpix yelled. "All of you get out, now!"
Gastly's peepers swiveled to Vulpix.
"This should appease you, covetous prole." A sack of bottle caps materialized and dropped with a clamorous thud on the spool. Vulpix leaned forward, sniffed the bag, and made no further protest.
"You think it will be that easy to displace the Order of the Solar Totem?" a small voice sneered from the far end of the long bar.
The Pokémon followed the squeek to an exotic-looking Rattata. His sleek, purple ears and thin white whiskers surprised them. The Rattata wiped foam from his nose and pushed away a frothy mug. He sidled over and hopped on the spool between Gastly and Haunter.
"Did you see this foreigner come in?" Vulpix whispered to her sister. Zorua squinted.
"Huh. I thought it was an Aipom…"
"How could you think it was an Aipom?" Vulpix hissed.
"There are so many purple Pokémon! And they all look practically alike!" Zorua defended.
"Do you mean to say the Totem despot is alive?" Gastly inquired.
"Maybe." Ratatta's red eye gleamed and his whiskers whiffled. "Maybe this burrow runs deeper than you'd ever dare to dig. Oh wait, spooks can't learn Dig!" Rattata bulged with laughter.
"Look, this sounds important and everything, but I have other things to do," Haunter said as Rattata continued to reel at his own joke.
"Indeed!" Gastly began. "As the highest level apparition of Hau'oli to emerge in generations, it is your duty to guide our community and raise the standard of-"
"Oh, no, that isn't what I meant. Sorry." Haunter interrupted. He regarded Noibat. "Bring the book once you've worked your magic! You know where to find me."
"In my worst nightmares!" Noibat waved a leathery wing. Haunter gave her a thumbs up and descended into a shadow cast by the flickering torches.
"Get back here at once, ingrate!" Gastly cursed.
"You haven't even scratched the surface of the wrath you have unleashed. But how could you..." Rattata sucked in a breath. "When you can't learn Scratch?"
Rattata doubled over and laughed until he lost balance and fell off the table.