Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Moon woke up slowly, and made the executive decision that she could afford to lounge in bed for a little while. She was warm, but not sweaty, and the sun was peeping in through the translucent shades and warming her face. Puck and Ariel and Ben were all snuggled up around her, and when she turned her head her eyes fell on a still sleeping Gladion, as well as Null and Rey and Nox where they were cuddling with him.

It was funny, she thought, watching Gladion. He did not, on first observation, seem like much of a cuddly person; but clearly this was a front.

Imp, dangling from the chandelier, peeped softly down at her. Moon grinned up at the bat and closed her eyes again, running her hands through Ben's soft, Electric-tingly fur until sleep returned.

The next time she woke, it was to Ben crossly licking at her face. “Vee vee, jol vee.”

“All right, all right. I'll feed you, keep your hair on.”

She sat up and rubbed at her eyes before opening them; a yawn threatened to break open her entire jaw.

“Oh, cute,” she heard Lillie say softly.

“What's cute?”

She opened her eyes just in time to see a flash of scarlet ears and neck as Gladion hastily rolled over, not facing her anymore.

“Ms. Wicke brought breakfast!” called Hau cheerfully from the kitchen. “Malasadas and pancakes and all kinds of nice things. She even got us all drinks. Coffee for Gladion and me, cocoa for Moon, and tea for Lillie.”

Moon supposed this was motivation enough to get out of her bed. She got to her feet, pushing her hair out of her eyes and padding over to the kitchen.

Gladion joined them shortly afterward, flushed with sleep and brooding over his coffee. Brooding seemed to be a fairly normal look for him but it was possible, supposed Moon, that he wasn't actually grumpy. She'd known Red since she was little; she really ought to be better at recognizing resting bitch-face when she saw it.

She studied Gladion, with that thought in mind; and found that she could, actually, tell the difference. He had a natural frown, but both his eyebrows and mouth were too relaxed to contain anger. Moon turned back to her cocoa and pancakes, very pleased with her discovery.

When they were finished they packed everything up and hauled it down to the dock level, where Wicke was waiting for them. Nanu's boat was nowhere to be seen, so Moon assumed that it had been taken care of— probably one of the employees had driven it back to Ula'ula Island. Instead, a sleek white Aether boat, like the one that taken her and Hau to and from the Aether Paradise on their first visit, bobbed gently up and down in the waves. There was an employee to drive this boat as well, waiting in the cockpit with a polite customer-service smile. Moon squinted at the employee, who looked vaguely familiar.

“Did I battle with you a couple of days ago?” she asked.

The polite smile dropped. “Yes,” said the woman, resigned. “Zapped me like a telephone pole.”

“Ah, one of you guys! I'm so glad you're here, actually. Were you all okay?”

The woman stared at her for a few moments. “Um— yes, we're all fine,” she said, after a few moments.

Moon sighed, relieved. “Good. I didn't think we'd killed anybody, but we didn't really have time to check.”

“Anyway,” said Wicke pointedly, before the conversation could get any more awkward than it had already gotten, “I think you're all adequately prepared for Poni Island, correct? Seafolk Village does have a Pokémon Center, but it's the only one except for Tree Town, which is off-limits to anyone who hasn't passed the entirety of the island challenge.”

“Could we go there with the cool letter passes you made for us?”

“No. Your passes are only to temporarily exempt you from the trial and Grand Trial.” Wicke's eyebrows rose. “I don't know why you would want to go to Tree Town before you've completed the island challenge. It's a lovely place, but I've heard that getting there before you have access to the Ride Pager is utter hell even for island challenge champions.”

“Fair enough.”

“With Moon, it's more about knowing the answer than actually wanting to go,” added Hau, elbowing her good-naturedly. “She likes knowing her options.”

Moon eyed Hau suspiciously. “Somehow I'm not sure that's a compliment.”

They all stowed their things in the cabin before climbing back out to say good-bye to Wicke. To Moon's surprise, she had a small, wrapped present for each of them as well as a hug; and there was also some quick, whispered advice.

“Thank you for loving both of them,” said Wicke softly, in her ear. “Just keep doing what you're doing, and keep being yourself. I've never seen either of them so comfortable in my entire life.”

Moon stared at her, unsure whether she was joking; but Wicke was not smiling, and her eyes were solemn and soft.

“That's really sad,” she said finally. “I want to be flattered, but like— that's really sad.”

“Indeed.”

They boarded the boat, settling on the comfy cabin sofas; the Aether employee began maneuvering the boat away from the dock and out of the Paradise, onto the open ocean. Wicke waved until they rounded the corner and could no longer see her.

“Can we open the presents?” wondered Hau.

Gladion looked up from the torn wrapping paper in his lap. “Were we supposed to wait?”

“She didn't say anything about waiting, so I presume we're allowed to open them.” Lillie slid one finger under the tape on her package, and Moon got to work tearing hers open as well.

All of their presents were different, which was nice. Hau had a glasses case with a pair of sunglasses— designer sunglasses, at that. They were accompanied with an apologetic note from Wicke explaining that she wasn't really sure what to get him, since he already had a lifetime half-off discount on malasadas and she didn't want to get him anything too bulky since he would be carting it all over Poni Island at the very least. He put them on immediately, and Moon had to admit that they looked pretty cool.

Lillie had received a long, slightly sheer scarf in an eye-searing shade of electric blue. It looked, to Moon's inexperienced eye, like silk or satin, which was honestly ridiculous in terms of practical traveling fashions; but Lillie immediately tied the scarf into an expert knot that nicely complimented the cut of her dove-gray blouse.

Moon opened her own package to find a gift card for an e-reader app she had installed on Rotom several months back— a good eleven thousand Poké, to spend on whatever e-books she might like to have. That was nice.

And Gladion's gift was a pair of noise-blocking headphones, which produced a dry smirk— the closest thing, frustratingly, that she had ever seen resembling a smile on his face. He tore open the packaging, put them on, and closed his eyes, leaning back on the sofa.

“Perfect,” he announced. “I can't hear a thing.”

Lillie's expression was unamused as she stood and walked over, pulling one side of the headphones from his ears. “You do know I suggested that to Wicke because of the one time you were shouting at us about being too noisy?”

The smirk vanished, replaced by a scowl. “I apologized for that already!”

“To me, certainly.”

Gladion sighed, but then turned to Hau. “I'm sorry for being unkind to you,” he said frankly. “I don't think you're annoying. You're louder and more cheerful than what I'm used to in the people around me. I need to learn to appreciate that, so— keep doing that, I guess.”

Moon's jaw dropped along with Hau's, but she quickly closed her mouth as Gladion turned to look at her.

“I don't think I can give you an adequate apology for what I've put you through, but you're worth the effort of trying. I'm sorry for being condescending and unkind. I don't actually believe that your ego is fed by being the smartest person in the room, and I'm sorry that I said something that was neither true nor kind for the sole purpose of trying to upset you. That was Lusamine-levels of mean, and you deserve better.”

Moon just stared at him, because she didn't have the words to respond to that.

“Okay, damn,” said Hau quietly. “I'm pretty sure we've all forgiven you already, but like, I forgive you all over again, just for that.”

Gladion curled up in his seat with both a slight frown and a deep blush on his face, as he pulled the headphones back over his ears, doing something on his phone. “Sure,” he muttered.

Lillie beamed at him. “That was really nice of you. Thank you, Gladion.”

He provided her with a single thumbs-up in response.

Moon, after a few more moments of staring, turned instead to Rotom and had him scan in the e-reader gift card so she could pick out some books to add to her reading list. She liked having her physical copy of Shakespeare, but anything else would fit easily on the e-reader app without giving her extra weight to carry.

The apology did not make things perfect, she was surprised to realize. There were still things she needed to work through with Gladion— things they needed to talk about. But it did soften something that had been wary and untrusting, residing in her heart with a host of other emotions. It was a good apology. There wasn't any “sorry your feelings got hurt” style of apathy in it. He knew what he had done wrong, and he was sorry.

Perhaps it was just speculation, but Moon wondered if Gladion hadn't perfected the art of the apology as a sort of response to Lusamine, who in her observation was aggressively unapologetic about anything and everything she might have done wrong.

Lusamine was an entire epiphany on her own, one that had puzzled Moon (when she remembered to think about it, between all the other shit she was thinking about at any given time) long before she'd known the woman's identity as Lillie and Gladion's mother. But now that the relationships had been clarified, she felt like an idiot. All three of them had the same white-blond hair and green eyes, as well as something distinctly elegant in the shape of their faces. There were differences, of course. Gladion and Lusamine shared a thin, aesthetically pleasing nose (probably natural; at least, Moon hoped it was natural), but Lillie had a cute little button instead. And Lillie's ears lay flat against her head, like Lusamine's; but Gladion's ears stuck out just a little bit.

And there was something different in the eyes. Lusamine's eyes were catlike— almost yellow, Moon had thought, in the eerie light from the Ultra Wormhole. They had sparkled with malice and disdain for her children. Gladion's eyes were those of an old man, looking out exhaustedly from within a young body. And Lillie's eyes had not quite yet lost their innocence.

One of Gladion's eyebrows rose, and Moon realized that she had been staring at him. She quickly turned her attention back to Rotom, silently cursing the flush that she knew was rising to her cheeks.

chat: hypothetically

shakespeare jr: Poetry recommendations, ready set go

fucking softie: I have no knowledge of your general taste beyond “Shakespeare” or, for that matter, poetry in general.

shakespeare jr: I do like the sonnets but they're included in my collection already

shakespeare jr: Have you ever read the theory that Shakespeare's “dark lady” wasn't just a dark-haired, fair-skinned Galarian woman, as most people assume

shakespeare jr: One of the sonnets describes her hair as “wire” and if that ain't code for a woman of color I don't know what is

fucking softie: I had not read that theory, but it sounds very interesting.

fucking softie: Are you acquainted with the school of thought whereby Shakespeare the man was a front for the actual writer of the plays?

shakespeare jr: OH BOY AM I

A loud snort made her jump. Moon glanced up and saw that the smirk had returned to Gladion's face. It was flattering to think that she had been the one to put it there.

fucking softie: Take a picture, it will last you longer.

shakespeare jr: Omg stOP

fucking softie: Anyway, the only poem I really remember liking is Howl, by Allen Ginsberg. It's... intense.

shakespeare jr changed fucking softie's name to nerd

shakespeare jr: Picture Attachment: [ChatScreenshot.jpeg]

shakespeare jr: Congratulations you've been promoted

nerd: I suppose I can't complain, since I much prefer this nickname.

nerd: Picture Attachment: [IMG029.jpeg]

Moon, curious, opened the picture and discovered a screenshot like the one she'd sent to Gladion. It showed their conversation, with different names. Gladion's chat name for himself was the thing with feathers, and his name for her—

—she felt her heart stop, a little. His name for her was simply sunshine.

shakespeare jr: Omg

shakespeare jr: Is that what it was originally

nerd: Yes.

She proceeded to purchase and download the entirety of Howl by Allen Ginsberg; and after that the e-book store recommended E.E. Cummings and William Carlos Williams, so she picked up a couple volumes of their poetry as well.

When it finally felt like her face had stopped burning, she risked looking over at Gladion. He was intensely occupied with his phone, and the headphones were firmly in place over his ears; but his cheeks and neck were scarlet.

“I understand Moon so much better now,” said Hau, in a stage whisper. “This is actually painful to watch.”

“I've been watching this not happening since they first met,” said Lillie, not bothering to keep her voice down; Gladion didn't so much as twitch, as the noise of the world was blocked by his headphones. “It's just going to get worse since they'll be around each other all the time.”

Moon eyed Lillie, unamused. “He might not be able to hear you, but I can.”

“Actually I can hear her,” said Gladion, without looking up from his phone. “The headphones aren't that good. I'm just choosing to ignore it, and I advise you to do the same.”

Lillie and Hau both began laughing. Moon grumpily opened up her new volume of poetry and began reading.

As it turned out, Gladion was correct. She did like Howl.

It was perhaps another hour of quiet reading (for Moon and Gladion) and talking (Hau and Lillie) before the Aether employee announced over the intercom that they were approaching Seafolk Village. Moon tucked Rotom into her pocket and began gathering up all of their discarded wrapping paper. Gladion pulled the headphones down so they were around his neck and did the same.

The windows revealed that Seafolk Village was a cobbled-together mixture of docks, houseboats, and on-land structures. Moon was rather relieved to see that the Pokémon Center, at least, was located on land. It was rather bigger than what she was used to in a Pokémon Center, but it made sense— it served most of the island, since only island challenge champions and Battle Tree employees with their families were invited to use the facilities at Tree Town.

The central point of Seafolk Village was marked by a huge mangrove tree, with the docks built around it. Its roots tangled in the waters below the docks, and there seemed to be a little pool built in around the tree as there were children and Pokémon splashing and playing, giggles rising onto the breeze like chiming bells.

The boat pulled into a large, central dock. Gladion hung back to discuss something with the Aether employee as Moon, Hau, and Lillie climbed out, stretching their legs and looking around.

“Well, hi there!”

Moon turned around, blinking. A tall, slim girl was walking toward them, wearing a loose, paint-spattered T-shirt and similarly stained jeans. There was also paint in her hair and on her face and hands and arms— a rainbow of colors.

“Hi,” said Hau, squinting at her. “Are you the trial captain?”

“Yep.” Her gaze flicked over all of them. She looked rather sleepy, but her eyes were alert and amused. “My name's Mina. You can travel as far as the mouth of the Vast Poni Canyon before you take on my trial here in town, but you need Fairium Z to go further than that.”

“Actually,” said Moon apologetically, “we kind of have some special circumstances.”

She produced the pass letter that Wicke had made for her, handing it over. Mina unfolded it and read to herself, quietly mouthing words.

“Okay,” she said, with a nod. “Special circumstances, yeah. That's putting it pretty mildly. I'll sign off on these— do all three of you have one?”

“All four of us,” said Moon, indicating Gladion as he emerged from the Aether boat. “Two of us aren't on the island challenge, but they're coming with us anyway.”

“Right. And what are all your names, please?”

“I'm Moon Hawkins.”

“Hau Akiona.”

“And we're Lillie and Gladion Mohn,” said Lillie, pointing to herself and Gladion; he nodded once in response.

“Nice to meet you all. I'm okay about all this— as long as you're all Trainers. I can't really justify letting you go into the canyon if you can't defend yourselves.”

“We're all Trainers,” confirmed Hau.

“Mmkay.” She patted at her pockets, frowning. “Any of you have a pen? I only have paintbrushes...”

Gladion silently offered a slim black pen. Mina took it and squinted for a few moments, then nodded once.

“Good quality, Staedtlers,” she remarked, plopping down to sit on the dock and uncapping the pen. “Bit pricey just for an everyday pen, though.”

Gladion didn't say anything in response to that. Mina wrote a brief note at the bottom of Moon's letter and signed her name, then repeated the process for each of them.

“Gladion,” she said, a touch absently. “That's familiar. I think maybe Trinh mentioned you?”

“How do you know Trinh?” asked Hau, surprised.

“She's my half-sister. We write each other letters.”

“You look nothing alike,” said Moon, without thinking about it. Trinh's fine, straight hair was dyed hot-pink, but sometimes her roots showed dark brown beneath. Mina's hair was dirty-blonde and wavy, and her skin was fair in comparison to Trinh's golden-brown complexion.

“Oh my god, Moon,” murmured Gladion under his breath. Lillie just sighed quietly.

“Sorry,” added Moon hastily.

Mina blinked at her several times. “I'm not offended,” she said mildly. “Mama's white, and so was my dad. Trinh's dad isn't white. We both take after our dads more than Mama, so it makes sense.”

She turned back to Gladion. “Aren't you on Team Skull, then?”

“I quit,” said Gladion, shrugging.

“Mmm. If you don't mind my asking, when's the last time you saw my sister?”

Moon swallowed. “We all saw her a couple of days ago.”

“Well, I didn't,” interjected Lillie. “But the three of them, yes.”

“How is she doing?”

“Um— she seems okay. She did a really cool mural at the bus stop that goes up to Mount Hokulani.”

“Graffiti?”

“Yeah.”

Mina sighed. “Shame I didn't hear about it sooner— if it's graffiti it's probably gone by now. I would have liked to take a look at it. We're both artists, in case you couldn't tell.”

“Oh, I took a picture with my phone.”

Rotom obligingly pulled the picture in question up, and Moon passed it to Mina.

“Oh,” said Mina softly. “That's— wow, that's beautiful. Thank you for showing me.”

She smiled with her whole face, eyes scrunching closed with the joy of it; and it was then that Moon could see the resemblance to Trinh: the way their eyes crinkled at the corner was just the same, and the shape of their mouths when they smiled. It was a day for finding things that people shared with one another.

“You're welcome,” answered Moon, unable to stop herself from smiling back. “Thanks for your help with the paperwork.”

“My pleasure. I'll look forward to challenging you when you get done with whatever it is you need to be doing.”

“Sure.”

Mina ambled off in the direction of a small fleet of houseboats, leaving the four of them standing on the docks.

“Well,” said Moon, after a few moments, “I guess we should go get rooms at the Pokémon Center for the night.”

Gladion made a face. “Are you sure we can't just start camping early?”

“Yes,” said Lillie severely. “I want to be able to use a shower one last time. I don't know if there will even be anywhere to bathe. The Altar of the Moone is landlocked, and I don't think there are any rivers on the island.”

“Not to mention flushing toilets.” Hau made a face.

The four of them collectively winced. Moon had long mastered the art of squatting to pee while Hau and Lillie held up a towel for privacy, and she assumed that they had done the same; and if Gladion didn't visit Pokémon Centers very often then he'd probably done the same thing.

“I want to see if I can't find a way for Rotom to quietly hack into the PC system,” she decided. “Then I can keep getting Pokébean orders from Arby.”

“How's that going, by the way?” Hau asked, as the four of them began walking along the docks toward the Pokémon Center.

“I think it's going really well.” She'd gotten some financial reports from Arby almost two weeks ago— which was strange to think about, because it had been less than two weeks since she'd done Acerola's trial. Time passed very strangely when one was in crisis mode. “I had him fill out some of the paperwork that will kind of like, establish Lunarbean as a company. It's called an LC, I think?”

“LLC, actually. Stands for limited liability company.” Gladion's answer was almost automatic. “It essentially turns your income from your own business into a tiny corporation. Tax laws apply differently to corporations than they do to individuals.” His mouth thinned. “I got to learn plenty of information about corporate law when I lived at Aether. I think Lusamine was trying to train me to inherit the company, but it's not a family company and I don't want it.”

“She tried that with me too, after you left,” added Lillie. “I told her I'd rather work in Medical or R&D.”

“I just wanted to be a pharmacist, but no, there's no dignity in that field,” mumbled Gladion. “Therefore it's not good enough for a company president's son. Fucking bullshit.” He cleared his throat. “So— you own a company now?”

“Yeah, I guess I do. I wanted to make Arby a full partner because he's doing all the work, but he refused.” Moon frowned. “He really didn't want to have his name on things— probably because of the weird documentation with it. I couldn't talk him out of it, so I'm the CEO and he's my operations manager, or something like that. Rotom gets a cut for being our IT guy as well as the shipping service, but I think it's investing money in bitcoin for me.”

“How much money do you even have?” wondered Hau.

“That's rude,” said Gladion, rather disdainfully. “You don't just ask people about money. Were you raised by wolves?”

Moon caught his eye and held up a finger. Gladion opened his mouth, then paused, then closed it.

“I don't know what that's about,” said Hau, watching the exchange with amusement. “But yeah, kind of rude of me. Sorry.”

“I actually think I have a lot of money,” said Moon. “Hey, Rotom, pull up my bank account, would you?”

Rotom did as she requested. Moon hadn't actually looked at her bank account in a while, so when she saw the numbers she felt her jaw drop.

“You okay there?” said Hau.

“Um— yes, I'm fine. Um. I think I'm doing really well, actually. That's, um. That's a big number.”

“May I?” said Gladion, holding out one hand.

Moon, still dumbstruck, passed Rotom over. Gladion's eyebrows rose even further than usual.

“Earning ninety-four million Poké and change over what I would guess is the span of approximately six months is not just a big number.”

“Holy crap, really?” said Hau, wide-eyed. “Moon, you're rich!”

“I still need to break it down,” said Moon hastily, taking Rotom back. “Some of that's going to be beans, but some will be battle winnings, and I think that Wicke might have wired me some money.”

“She does that periodically,” said Gladion dryly.

“What about your parents?” asked Lillie.

“They don't send me money unless I ask for it, and I'm pretty comfortable asking when I need something. Red and Blue sent a ridiculous stack of cash when I first started out, but I think I put that in my clothes budget and it's probably mostly gone by now.”

“So essentially,” concluded Hau, “we have to accept that you're nearly an unbeatable Trainer, that your business is doing really, well, and that Rotom's bitcoin mining is paying off.”

“Well— yeah, I guess so.” Moon grimaced. “Arceus fuck, I'm going to have to figure out how to do taxes.”

“I can help you with that,” offered Lillie. “Wicke, too. In fact, she'll probably have some advice for you about investments and stocks and things like that.”

“Ugh, math,” groaned Moon, but there was something light in her heart. After a lifetime of enforced frugality, the simple pleasure of knowing that she could provide for herself was more than luxurious. And she could eventually pay for college without going into debt, which was pretty nice; however, the idea of leaving Alola didn't sit quite right with her. Maybe she would see if l'Academie Lumiose offered correspondence courses.

The Pokémon Center was larger than most of the ones that Moon had seen so far in Alola, and as a result they were easily able to get two double rooms next to each other. Moon, as usual, paired with Lillie; and Hau grinned at a very doubtful-looking Gladion and said, “Finally, a roommate who isn't crazy.”

“Are we sure we can't share by family?” he said, turning to Moon with a pleading expression.

“I thought you said you needed to get used to Hau being loud and cheerful,” said Lillie— expression sweet, but voice tart.

“Yes, but—” He exhaled sharply, glancing at Hau. “It's not you. It's— I'm very used to being alone, that's all.”

“You shared a room with Rogelio.”

“And Jeremiah and Ki-moon and sometimes Almas when his roommates were giving him shit, but that isn't the point.” He rubbed at his eyes, avoiding their gazes. “I just— I get nightmares. I don't want to bother you.”

Hau reached out, resting one hand on Gladion's shoulder. “Look, dude,” he said seriously. “I know that Lillie's your sister and Moon's your something-that-you're-in-denial about and I'm just kind of the baker's dozen in the malasada box. You didn't ask for me, but I come with the package. The thing is, I know how to help Lillie with panic attacks. Both she and Moon have woken us up before. It's no bother. Like Moon and I both tell Lillie, every time she worries about something like this— helping a friend is never a burden.”

Gladion blinked at him several times, then quickly took a step out of his reach and turned around.

“Gladion?”

“Just— just a minute.”

His voice was suspiciously thick, and when he turned around his nose was slightly pink and his eyes were a bit watery; but none of them said anything about it, and Gladion put up no further objections to sharing a room with Hau.

Speaking of Rogelio had put him, and by default Molly, on Moon's mind. She was glad that they hadn't been at the Aether Paradise, and she was also horribly, selfishly glad that they hadn't texted her since she had left Po Town. It would have been a stressful cherry on top of an entire stress-clusterfuck sundae.

But she did kind of miss them, as well. Gladion didn't get quite as enthusiastic as Molly and Rogelio about seeing Hau and Lillie do cute things.

She was also thinking of Plumeria, who they had left so abruptly in the rain of Po Town in the wake of Gladion's fury; and of Cassie, who had broken Kohaku's wrist after he'd tried to stab her. She still didn't know what he'd been thinking, but thankfully disaster had been partially averted by Gladion. Moon reminded herself to check on his stitches and help change the bandaging if he needed it.

And she was reluctant to admit it, but she was also worried about Guzma. She'd made the mistake of pushing him too far, and the way he had gone from mildly unpleasant enemy to enraged animal at the drop of a penny was terrifying. It had been as though the man inside his mind had left, leaving only wild, animalistic anger in the eyes of a total stranger.

There were so many things she'd gone through, in the past week. The entire Lusamine thing had been horrible; before that had been the fight and subsequent killing-rage that Guzma had gone into. Before that they'd fought Team Skull and Kohaku had actually tried to kill her; before that they'd fought wave after wave of Aether employees and intimidated the hell out of Faba with Null, who had evolved into a beautiful bird-dog thing. Learning exactly what Type: Null was, and how she had become to be, was almost as horrifying as seeing Gladion's face as he told them the story; and learning details about what Faba had done to Nebby had been painful. The one good thing about the fights during their Aether infiltration was managing to successfully pull off the storm play. It had been fun, especially once she'd learned that there hadn't been any casualties.

The boat ride had been stressful, and managing to successfully challenge Nanu had been stressful; the Charizard rides had also been stressful, and talking Gladion out of a panic attack via battle had just been sad. And before that, she'd had another battle with Guzma and learned that the Po Town ransom note was a trap. Getting to Po Town by itself had been one of the most unpleasant experiences in her entire life. Nearly dying at the hands of the Foxes, only to be rescued by her Team Skull friends, was probably the thing that had really put Moon in crisis mode. She'd been there for about a solid week, and she was only now beginning to crash from it. Even the lazy day at Aether hadn't been as restful as she would have liked. One couldn't fall to pieces in a place like Aether. It was suffocatingly perfect; there was no room for an emotional breakdown.

Here on Poni Island, though— that was another story. And if Moon spent most of her evening shower crying, nobody had to know about it. Even sneaking out into the public lounge area of the second floor on the Pokémon Center, so she could keep crying without waking up Lillie at one in the morning— that would remain her secret, and hers alone.

Chapter Text

“How are we doing the penalty game?” Moon asked Gladion.

They had ventured out into the Poni Wilds, which would take them to Hapu's house and the non-Aether hospital. Gladion and Lillie had been there before, but they'd flown in on a Charizard summoned by Plumeria's Ride Pager, borrowed for the occasion. Hau and Lillie walked several yards ahead of them, holding hands and occasionally separating to challenge wild Pokémon in the abundant grass.

“I've already got one, right?” Gladion sighed.

“Yeah, that comment about Hau being raised by wolves wasn't very nice.”

“Of course.” He was silent for a few moments. “I guess I'll tell you a story or answer a question every time I say something mean. It will probably happen a lot. And I don't like talking about things, so it's a good penalty.”

“That includes yourself,” said Moon firmly. “If you're mean to yourself, it counts.”

Gladion eyed her dubiously. “If you like. I'm guessing you have a question, or you wouldn't have brought it up.”

“I've got so many questions.” She pondered all of them for a few moments, but the most pressing one weighed down at once. “Why didn't you want Lillie to tell us that you were family? I confided about you to her. Like, a lot.”

“Hmm.” He was quiet for a few moments, and Moon took the opportunity to challenge a wild Granbull with Puck.

“It's okay if you're not really sure,” she clarified, as the injured Granbull fled. “That's a valid answer, too.”

“It's not that I'm not sure. I know why. I'm— struggling to put it into words.” His mouth tightened. “I was never as good as Lillie at making up things I need to say on the spot. A poor quality, in a future company president.”

“Take your time. I'm not in any rush.”

“I suppose the simplest answer is that I didn't trust anyone.” Gladion was training Imp, and pitched him against a curious Tropius who emerged from the foliage to sniff at them. “But it's more complex than that. Anyone who looked at Lillie and I standing next to one another might easily conclude that we're siblings. I didn't want to be discovered. There wasn't any legal standing which could have returned me to the Paradise when Lillie escaped— I turned eighteen in April so I'm beyond her control. But Lillie's only sixteen—”

“Seventeen as of tomorrow.”

“I'm aware of that.” Gladion frowned at her. “That was an interruption, so you have a penalty too.”

“Right.” Moon grimaced. “Sorry, my inner know-it-all wanted to correct you. I will work on shutting it up. Please continue.”

He rolled his eyes, but the tiniest upward tilt at one corner of his mouth told her that her apology had been well received. “Anyway, Lillie was sixteen when she escaped, and though Wicke has been working on filing for emancipation, it's a little difficult to do without communicating with the parent in question. Legally, if Lillie were discovered to be a runaway by law enforcement, they would have to take her back to the Paradise. I didn't want anyone to find out we were siblings and risk blowing our covers. If I had my way, we wouldn't have crossed paths at all until she turned eighteen. We both had perfect covers. I was Team Skull, a delinquent; she was Professor Kukui's assistant. Two separate spheres of influence.”

He paused, and Moon took the opportunity to pursue that thought further. “So why didn't you stay away from each other?”

“I hadn't seen Lillie in three years and she missed me.” Gladion shrugged again, though he was beginning to turn pink. “And we weren't actually that separated. Guzma has some weird rivalry with Professor Kukui— except Kukui doesn't see it as a rivalry, which just pisses Guzma off even more. So eventually we might have run into each other. But then again, you and Hau came along, and since she became a real Trainer it was much more likely we would meet up anyway.”

“You really love her,” said Moon softly.

Gladion nodded once, mouth thinning. “Wicke was always kind to us, but I didn't trust her for a long time. I thought she was in my mother's pocket. I don't know if I ever would have come to her for help if I hadn't been—”

He stopped abruptly.

“If you hadn't been?” she prompted him, after a few moments of silence.

“If I hadn't been vaguely aware that wishing I was dead wasn't really something that normal people did.”

Moon's heart stopped for a few moments. Gladion wasn't looking at her, or at Imp who was doing lazy circles above and around their group; his mouth was drawn tight and his eyes were bright.

“I'm sorry,” she said finally. “I wish you hadn't had to go through that.”

Something in him relaxed. “The point is, I didn't trust Wicke for a long time, so Lillie was all I had. I would do anything for her. I'd— I'd kill and steal and die for her. I didn't want to risk her freedom by allowing people to suspect that we're related, which could possibly connect us back to our mother. And I didn't want to risk Null's freedom, or Nebby's for that matter. We were all free, and I wanted it to stay that way.”

Moon digested all of this in silence for several minutes. It went a long way toward explaining plenty of things about Gladion. He didn't trust anyone— couldn't trust anyone, when he didn't know who might have been on Aether's payroll. He liked being free, and it seemed that he probably also liked being alone.

And Moon— she was just some random Trainer. Lillie's friend, yes; but back on Akala Island she was still a stranger. Of course Gladion wasn't going to trust her with information this important. And even then it hadn't been any of her damn business if he was Team Skull or not.

“You didn't lie to me because you wanted to. You lied to me to keep yourselves safe.”

He nodded once.

“Wow,” said Moon finally. “I'm such a bitch.”

“Oh, for fuck's sake.” Gladion rolled his eyes. “Can we just agree we were both awful, and never bring the fucking thing up again?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Was that enough of an answer to satisfy the penalty rule?”

“Dude, that was like, three penalties. Trust issues, protecting Lillie and Nebby and Null, and the whole, um, mental health bomb you dropped.”

“It was once,” said Gladion, but he didn't stop to let her speak. “All right, no, it was more like three or four times, but I've been on an antidepressant for about a year now. It doesn't stop me from having bad days, but I mostly don't want to kill myself so I guess it's working.”

He said it nonchalantly, but his face was beginning to look a little pinched so she decided to change the subject.

“What about my penalty?” she asked him.

Gladion studied her for a few moments. “Question for question,” he said finally. “I'll ask you some questions as well, if you don't mind.”

“Go for it. You already know I can talk the hind leg off a Mudbray. I don't have much that's off-limits, either.”

“What's your favorite childhood memory?”

The question was prompt; but Moon had an immediate answer because one memory stood out far beyond the rest.

“When I watched Blue challenging Lance, and then almost immediately Red challenging Blue, on the Indigo League channel.” She grinned at the memory. “I was about eleven, and they'd only been real Trainers for about three months or so. They sped through the gyms because Red wanted to beat the record for youngest League Champion, and Blue is really fucking competitive. They'd both been making national news, because of how fast they were going. And then they'd both helped with the Silph Co. takeover and rousting Team Rocket from Kanto. So they were being really well advertised, and the networks were televising everything. My parents let me stay home from school that day to watch, because they're my best friends and it was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. Blue went through first, and he struggled a little bit with Agatha and Lance but he beat them, and he was the Champion.”

“For a whole, what was it— forty-five minutes?”

“Forty-six,” Moon corrected him. “Blue is very insistent about that extra minute. Red sailed through the whole Elite Four and beat Blue just as soundly. Blue was so pissed at him. They didn't talk for like, a month.”

“I had always heard that they were rivals, not friends.”

“They were definitely rivals, but they grew up together. They loved Pokémon, and I was like the annoying tagalong little sister but they both loved me, too. The competition started out friendly, but it didn't stay that way. Blue was just going through— um, kind of a personal crisis, and he was taking it out on Red by being aggressively competitive and really mean.” She cleared her throat. “Red had his own crisis like six months later and he went and spent like two years by himself on Mount Silver because of it. But they both got over themselves eventually.”

“When you say personal crisis—”

“Blue refers to it colloquially as The Big Gay Panic. And Red doesn't correct him, which means he agrees. They were such a mess back then.”

Gladion nodded. “What about that makes it your favorite memory?”

Moon hadn't examined this particular memory that deeply, so it took her a few moments to work it out. “It was like watching a play,” she said finally. “Or reading a book. These two people, who I loved almost as much as I loved my parents, did this really cool thing and they worked really hard, and I got to see how it unfolded. I was there for all of it— not in person, but in spirit. I was invested in their journeys. And this was the climax of the story. It was the moment where all of the hard work paid off. And yeah, it was kind of bitter for Blue; but Red made absolutely sure that he and Blue were given the same amounts of publicity. He refused to do events or interviews unless Blue was also invited.” She smiled again. “What I remember is sitting with my parents and eating popcorn, and I was so excited when Blue won that I jumped up and spilled the popcorn all over our living room floor. I was so happy for him. And then Red beat him, and I was like— I don't know, hysterical. Both of my friends, really my only friends, were both champions of Kanto. It was really amazing. And it just further cemented that desire I had to become a Trainer and do the same thing. I didn't think I would be able to— you know, because of the money. But then my dad got the job at Blush Mountain, and everything changed. I wasn't just watching the play anymore. I was a part of it.”

A thoughtful expression crossed over his face. He didn't press her any further, and Moon decided that was enough of the penalty game for the moment.

The rest of the day passed unevenfully, and they went camping by a small grove of Berry trees. The trees were sadly, as Wicke had predicted, too short for Moon to hang her hammock; so she joined Hau in the process of setting up the big tent that all of them would share. Gladion squinted disbelievingly at Lillie's camp stove and the fuel can for a few moments before shrugging and setting it up on a flat rock.

“Well, what did you do when you had to camp?” said Lillie, making a face at him as she threaded together the tent poles.

“Granola bars and protein shakes.”

“Ugh, gross,” said Moon, wrinkling her nose.

“It got the job done.”

“Fortunately for you, I have sandwich ingredients as well as tons of cup ramen,” Moon informed him. “Or Hau and Lillie both have MREs.”

He shrugged again.

“We boil water for everyone, but you can pick something.”

“Ramen's fine.”

“Chicken, beef, or shrimp?”

“It comes in flavors?”

“I know,” commiserated Lillie. “I pretended I knew that the first time I had ramen with Moon, but I didn't know that either.”

Hau looked from one to the other of them, confused. “How do you not know that ramen has flavors?”

“Well, when your mother is an elitist snob and thinks that ramen is a low-class food because you can buy it at a Pokémon Center or a convenience store, you don't get to eat it,” said Gladion moodily. “It's never really appealed to me, so I never bought any on my own.”

“So you've never had ramen?”

“I've eaten it before, but someone else has always made it. Molly or Rogelio, usually. Never saw the labels, but it always tasted the same.”

“You probably had chicken flavor. That's the default. You can pick any kind you want.”

“You would like the beef ramen,” suggested Lillie. “You've always preferred beef and steak.”

“Sure, let's do that.” He shrugged again.

Moon filled Lillie's teapot with bottled water and began boiling it, picking out a cup of beef as well as a cup of shrimp for herself. The tent was set up and the teapot was heating, so it was time to feed the Pokémon.

Feeding time was chaotic, but also a lot of fun. Hau, Moon, and Lillie each had five, plus Nebby who didn't technically belong to Lillie; and Gladion had four, which put them up to twenty in total. Puck and Ariel went to hunt for wild Bugs like usual, but to Moon's surprise they were joined by Imp, Null, and Sonar. Moon knew that Imp ate Bugs but apparently Sonar had developed a new preference on evolution, which made sense. And Null's design was oriented toward hunting, but she had worn the helmet for so long that it had been more practical for her to eat beans. Poppy had a packet of fish, but the remaining fifteen crowded around Moon as she opened a sack of mixed beans, pouring them out into bowls on the ground.

“You don't have to feed mine,” protested Gladion, reaching for his backpack. “I'll pay you back.”

“It's a nice sentiment, but I literally get them for free and I figured out how to dupe my PC account on Rotom so that my guy Arby at the Pelago can just send me beans whenever. It's fantastic.”

“Beans add up in the budget, dude,” added Hau, clapping Gladion once on the shoulder. “Let Moon take care of it. It's good to have an emergency stash because they don't go bad, but she can take care of bulk feeding.”

Dinner was eaten, by which time the sun was going down— earlier than usual, thanks to the winter. With the sun went what warmth there had been. Poni Island was mostly rocks and scrubgrass, and it was colder at night than most places in Alola. The four of them cleaned up after dinner, and everyone was herded into the tent except for Hero, who was really far too big to fit inside. They left the main entryway open so that she could stick her head inside, but she seemed content to sit outside and watch. Macbeth had to stay crouched because she was also quite tall, but everyone else fit easily and Wicke had been correct in guessing that all of the Pokémon would help keep them warm.

There was some shuffling as Hau and Gladion turned their backs so that Moon and Lillie could don pajamas in privacy, and vice versa; but when they were all in sleep clothes Moon took out Rotom and opened up Howl again, intending to read until she fell asleep.

chat: sprechen zie cousins?

walking malasada changed shakespeare jr's name to lovestruck fool #1

walking malasada changed their name to relationship guru

lovestruck fool #1: Hau I love you but like...

lovestruck fool #1: ...no

relationship guru: ok maybe i gave u shit abt meddling, but it worked out ok for lills and me

lovestruck fool #1: Omg LILLS

relationship guru: im not sure she likes that 1 so i might have 2 rethink a nickname 4 her

relationship guru: but dont u change the subject missy

relationship guru: as weird as gladion is

relationship guru: he is still a dude

relationship guru: i am also a dude

relationship guru: do u see where im coming from

lovestruck fool #1: If I wanted dating advice from an older male friend who's already in a relationship, I'd ask Blue probably

lovestruck fool #1 No wait I'd ask Red. I'd be the Blue in this relationship and Gladion would be the Red.

relationship guru: didn't it take them like 3 years 2 get 2gether tho

lovestruck fool #1: ...

relationship guru: EXACTLY

relationship guru: so as ur only qualified guru, im telling u that u should like, pretend u gotta pee and go 4 a walk. i'll go cuddle w/ lills and take ur spot and then u can sit by gladion until it's time 2 go 2 sleep

lovestruck fool #1: Omg

chat: girl power

shakespeare jr: Lillie I'm begging you, control your man

lillie-pad: I don't even know how to begin replying to this.

At this point they were all giggling, and Gladion looked up from his own book, pulling off his headphones to squint at each of them in turn.

“What's so funny?”

“Ironically,” said Moon, with a straight face, “Hau is trying to offer me relationship advice.”

A pained expression crossed Gladion's face, and he pulled the headphones back over his ears— which were rapidly turning pink. “I don't think you need his advice.”

chat: hypothetically

nerd: That wasn't me trying to be mean. I meant you're doing fine on your own.

shakespeare jr changed their name to moon.exe has stopped working

moon.exe has stopped working: Picture Attachment: [NameChange.jpeg]

moon.exe has stopped working: I, too, have gotten a promotion

nerd: Unfortunately Lillie is the one who's good with computers, so I'm afraid I can't help you there.

moon.exe has stopped working: No worries, I just gotta run task manager and the virus scan

moon.exe has stopped working: By which I mean go to sleep lmao

nerd: Ah.

nerd: I'd hoped to request your assistance with something, but it can definitely wait until the morning.

moon.exe has stopped working: What do you need?

nerd: I wanted to check on my stitches and change the bandages if necessary. I need an extra pair of hands.

moon.exe has stopped working: Dude that will take like five seconds, we can totally do that before I go to sleep.

She'd put Rotom down and scrambled toward Gladion almost as soon as she'd sent the message; his phone beeped as she approached and he glanced down at it before looking up at her.

“What's going on over there?” said Hau, in the tone of someone who was trying not to laugh.

“First aid maintenance,” said Moon briskly. “Sleeve up, please. Well, jacket off would be easier but I don't want to make you uncomf—”

Gladion shrugged off his gray jacket without argument, revealing the Team Skull tank top below it. Moon's eyes were caught by his shoulders again, but she quickly looked down at his bandaged arm.

“It's just getting the bandage off and back on that's the difficult part,” he mumbled, reaching around to unwind the bandage. Moon caught at the end of it, unwrapping the fabric gently and automatically reaching out to grab his hand so that his arm would stay still before she realized what she'd done.

The wound was healing up nicely— a touch puffy around the edges, but the stitches were holding well and the fluid that leaked from the wound was a healthy clear color and smelled mostly like the bacitracin ointment that a doctor at the Aether Paradise had prescribed. That would need to be reapplied. Moon opened her mouth to ask, but Gladion's free hand had already produced the tube and a clean bandage from his large first-aid kit.

“Don't use too much of the bacitracin,” he said, a touch curtly. “It doesn't need that much, and if I can save some to put in the kit after the stitches are out, I'd prefer that.”

“Isn't this just a stronger version of the triple-strength antibiotic you can get at literally any Pokémon Center?”

“I believe so, yes.”

She let the point stand as she daubed a generous— but not wasteful— amount of the product over the long cut. Gladion sighed, seemingly annoyed; but he didn't put up more of a protest and Moon figured he didn't really mind. She didn't dare look up at his face to find out, though she knew he was looking at her.

When the ointment was on she wrapped it back up in a fresh bandage, carefully placing a layer of soft gauze flat against the wound before binding it in place by wrapping more gauze around his whole arm.

Something feather-light brushed against her knuckles; it was his thumb, sweeping along the ridges of her left hand which held his in place.

“Thank you,” said Gladion, almost inaudibly.

“A-any time.” Moon inwardly winced when her voice came out high-pitched and embarrassingly breathy. “Um— good night.”

“Good night.”

For a solid few seconds neither of them moved, but then Moon realized she was still hanging onto his hand like a limpet so she dropped it like a hot coal, scrambling to her feet and going back over to the girls' side of the tent to retrieve her toothbrush and toothpaste.

Rotom was buzzing— probably messages from Hau and Lillie, laughing at the whole exchange— but for once Moon didn't care. Her heart was thumping dangerously, as it always did with Gladion. And she might have been better at reading him— or he might have been comfortable enough to lower his guard— but it seemed as though he had been just as flustered.

When she went back in, Gladion had put aside his phone and crawled inside his sleeping bag, staring straight up at the ceiling of the tent where Lillie's lantern was hanging. Null, Imp, Rey, and Nox were arranged around him. Hau and Lillie, similarly, had their teams clustered around them; and Moon's teammates did the same as she climbed into her own sleeping bag.

Lillie's birthday morning dawned brightly, and Moon— the first one awake— crept outside and summoned a Ride Charizard. The trip to Seafolk Village took all of three minutes, and she quickly slipped into the local Swirly-whirl Malasadas and ordered the usual five boxes before flying back to their campsite.

All three of them were awake when she got back, and Lillie's sleepy eyes widened at the sight of the malasada boxes. “For me?”

“Does anyone else have a birthday today?” snarked Moon, but she grinned and let Lillie have first pick. They didn't have a cake, because it would have been at least forty-five minutes each way to fly to Hau'oli City, the location of the nearest bakery; but between malasadas and another rousing chorus of Happy Birthday (Moon and Hau screaming at the top of their lungs, Gladion mumbling and glaring at them), the birthday girl didn't seem to mind.

After breakfast there were presents to unwrap. Hau had texted Moon to ask for panicked advice during the general shopping excursion, but she'd been just as much at a loss as he was. Lillie wasn't materialistic, so she didn't have requests or wishes to fulfill and it was their prerogative to think of gifts. Moon had finally fixed on a matching hat and scarf set in soft grey wool— it was Alola, but it was still winter, and Mount Lanakila was always cold so there would be times and places to use them.

Hau had gotten Lillie what appeared to be a blanket, which turned out to be a weighted one. “They're supposed to be nice for anxiety,” he explained. “Like the heaviness grounds your muscles or something, which I guess makes you feel safe.” The blanket was bright red and Lillie, still in her pajamas, draped it around her shoulders immediately.

“Oh, I see what you mean.” She smiled. “It's a bit heavy of course, but that's a good thing. It's quite calming. Thank you, Hau.”

“You're welcome.” He beamed at her.

Gladion had not one but four gifts for Lillie, claiming that he'd missed out on three of her birthdays and owed her presents on that account. Lillie scoffed and rolled her eyes at that, but he hadn't spent too much money on her and she couldn't reasonably object. There was a wrapped package that contained about three pounds of Lillie's favorite candy; a beautifully hand-carved wooden hairbrush; a Moon Stone, which made Esper squeak excitedly; and a flat, navy-blue cardboard box with Olivia's shop logo branded silver on one corner, which contained a pair of intricately spiraling rose-gold earrings.

The box sparked a thought in Moon's memory, and she turned to look at Gladion.

“Did you, by chance, send me a gift on my birthday?”

His eyes flicked slightly down to her neck and back up to her face— giving himself away, but she wanted confirmation. “We weren't speaking at that point.”

“I got it anonymously, so it doesn't matter if we weren't speaking. And there's the, um, the chat thing.”

“The chat thing?” said Hau, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“Yes, he gave you the necklace,” said Lillie briskly, threading on her new earrings. “He liked the irony.”

Gladion glared at his sister, but she simply offered a sweet and slightly condescending smile.

“Thank you,” Moon told him earnestly. “I really do love it. I wear it like, all the time.”

He went pink. “Yes, I— I noticed that.”

As they were packing up and preparing to break camp, Hau found that the Pokébean stash from his own backpack had disappared; fortunately, there was a trail of half-eaten beans that led through the tall grass and over to a burrow at the base of a Berry tree.

“Can I have my beans back?” he called down the burrow, kneeling to squint inside. “I need those.”

A young Crabrawler peeped out of the hole, eyeing Hau with wary eyes. After a few moments, it held out an empty sack.

“Dude, you ate the whole thing?”

“Braw, braw, braw.”

“Ah, it has something in common with you,” said Gladion dryly. “It's a bottomless pit.”

The Crabrawler clicked its claws disapprovingly at the remark, but Hau only grinned. “That's true,” he said. “And you know, my backpack was just sitting out in the open, so I probably deserved that. I didn't even see or hear you sneaking up on us. How long ago did you take them?”

“Crab crab.”

“Oh, nice.”

The two of them studied each other for a few moments, but then Hau cleared his throat. “Say, if you want to come with me and join my team, you won't have to steal beans or forage for food ever again. You'll be fed and happy for the rest of your life. My teammates are really nice, too.”

The Crabrawler considered this for a few moments, then bobbed its head up and down once in a nod. Hau grinned, withdrew a Pokéball from his bag, and tossed it to capture the Crabrawler.

“You decided not to go with the Poipole, then?”

“I said only if I didn't find something I liked better first. And I've been thinking about a last teammate for a while, anyway. Gramps has a Crabominable— I've always kind of wanted one.”

“Oh, it's a girl. What will you call her?” asked Lillie, leaning over Hau's shoulder to peer at his Pokédex.

“Berrybean,” said Hau promptly, typing it in. “She stole an entire sack of Pokébeans from me and ate it in just a few hours, and she used to live under a berry tree. I'll probably just call her BB most of the time.”

“Cute,” said Moon, grinning.

Hau let the newly christened Berrybean out of the Pokéball before leading her back over to their campsite, so she could get to know the rest of his teammates. “I'm the first one with six,” he said cheerfully.

“Lillie has six.”

“Nebby doesn't really count, as she's not in a Pokéball.” Lillie's hand went to her suspiciously non-wiggly satchel, which Moon knew to contain an unresponsive Nebby.

“She's still part of your team, though. You can't deny that.”

The corner of Lillie's mouth lifted in a sad smile. “No,” she agreed. “No, I can't deny that.”

It was an almost somber mood that settled over them as they began the second leg of the journey to the non-Aether hospital, training as they went. Moon was working with Hero, which meant she had to keep her distance from the others— sending out a fully-grown Metagross could be dangerous if other people were in the way. Gladion worked with Nox, who quacked cheerfully as he spun and barrel-rolled in in mid-air.

“Where did you get Nox?” Moon asked him.

Gladion smirked. “Porygon aren't native to Alola,” he informed her, sounding entirely satisfied with himself. “Faba ordered one from Kanto when he first began working here. About a month and a half ago, Wicke sent me a Porygon and an Up-Grade and told me that Faba was being annoying, so would I please take this Pokémon and raise it better than he was raising his own.”

Moon choked on laughter. “Wow, that's...”

“Petty,” Gladion finished for her. “Yes, extremely so. It's something Wicke and I have in common. At first it was an uphill battle, because Nox is... ah, how do I say this... he's not very bright.”

“Pory pory!” agreed Nox cheerfully.

“But we got used to each other, and he's been keeping up with everyone else.”

“Are you going to evolve him again?”

“Wicke is trying to get hold of a Dubious Disc, but they're extremely rare since Silph Co. stopped selling them to the general public. She'll send it along as soon as she gets one.”

Hau had begun training with BB, which made sense as she was new to the team; and Lillie was working with Esper, who was just about ready to evolve. Her work paid off; just before noon, a flash of pink starlight brightened everything around them and Esper, now a gangly young Clefairy, launched herself at Lillie with a happy squeal.

Moon was reminded of the Clefairy mother that had given her life to defend Esper and Horatio and their unnamed siblings from the wild Fearow. The mother Clefairy couldn't have been much older than Esper was now. In human terms, it would have been a teenage pregnancy.

“Fuck,” she muttered, scrubbing at her eyes with her sleeve.

“Gro gro?” inquired Hero softly, moving in front of her and nudging her way into a hug.

“I made myself sad, champ. Don't worry about it.”

Gladion, behind her, cleared his throat. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Moon smiled at him. It was a really sweet offer; he was learning, just as she was. “Yes, but not today. I don't want to spoil Lillie's birthday.”

He nodded once. “Right here if you change your mind,” he murmured, turning back to Nox.

They stopped for lunch— Gladion still had protein shakes and granola bars, but abandoned them when Moon pointedly handed him a peanut butter and Rawst berry jam sandwich. The Pokémon happily chowed down on beans or Bugs or fish. Moon leaned on Hero's chrome-domed body and closed her eyes under the soft, warm sun of a mild pre-winter day.

“I've had a brilliant idea,” said Hau solemnly.

“Did that hurt?”

Moon held up one finger without looking at Gladion, and heard him sigh in response.

Hau snickered. “It was funny, don't be mad. The idea is birthday kisses.”

Moon opened her eyes to observe the aftermath of this remark. Hau was, of course, grinning like an idiot; Gladion looked disgusted; and Lillie had gone scarlet.

“Why,” she said wearily.

“Because every one of us wants to kiss someone else here, so there's an acceptable social excuse for it.”

“You don't need an 'acceptable social excuse.' It's literally just the four of us.”

“Oh, that's true!” Hau brightened up at once before grabbing Lillie's hand, gently tugging her close, and enthusiastically pecking her on the cheek. He then bounded over to his backpack to put Poppy's fish-packet wrapper into the bag where he was hanging onto their group's garbage.

“PDA!” shouted Gladion, glaring after him.

“Relax, dude. It's not like they were making out.” Moon, amused, noted that the red on Lillie's face had spread to her ears and neck, and she fumbled to pull her big, floppy white hat on over her head, angling it downward so that they couldn't see all of her face. “That's about as wholesome as you can get.”

Gladion subsided, but kept glaring at Hau as they packed up their things.

“I'd have thought you'd be a proponent,” remarked Hau. “You wouldn't have to make up an excuse. It would be like a special occasion.”

“We're kind of nowhere near that point yet, so drop it.” Moon only spoke up because she could tell that Gladion was resisting the urge to say something nasty; it was written in his tensed posture, in the venomous stare fixed on Hau. “As long as you and Lillie are clear about preferences and boundaries, you can do what you want. Just don't rub his nose in it.”

Hau looked appropriately abashed. “Ah, I didn't think of it that way. Sorry, man.”

Gladion shrugged, and the venom disappeared. “It's whatever, I guess.” That seemed to be Gladion-speak for I forgive you, so the matter was dropped.

And sure, Moon wouldn't have minded kissing Gladion— in fact, she had probably thought about it far too often for her own good— but she was going to do the thing right this time, even if it meant going slowly.

Chapter Text

It was not until late that evening that the four of them passed through a tall archway, made from a sort of clay-mud adobe material. On the other side of the archway, the Poni Wilds route opened up into a large field with three or four buildings lining it. The largest one was the non-Aether hospital; the smallest was a house made of the same adobe as the walls, and was the closest one to them.

“I'm just going to guess that's Hapu's home,” said Hau, pointing at it.

“What gave it away, the island challenge flag on the mailbox or the massive Mudsdale sitting out in front of the house?” Gladion's expression was deadpan, but his delivery wasn't scathing enough to merit another penalty.

As they approached the house, the door opened, and Hapu emerged with an older woman behind her. They had been speaking quietly, but Hapu looked up and smiled brightly at the sight of the four of them.

“Well met!” she called, walking around Epicentre, who whinnied loudly in greeting as well. “It has been some time— nearly a month, yes? Moon, I trust you have recovered well from your injury in the Haina Desert?”

“Yeah, I'm doing a lot better.” Moon beamed at her. “Thanks for asking.”

“What brings you out here to my house? You must have completed Officer Nanu's grand trial if you are here, but surely you have not already finished with Mina?”

“No, actually. We're kind of on a mission, and we have a favor to ask you.” Moon glanced at Hau and Lillie and Gladion, none of whom seemed inclined to stop her or interrupt. “It's a pretty long story, though. Are you busy right now?”

“I was just going to feed Epicentre and some of the Miltank in the barn, but that will hardly take any time at all.” Hapu's gaze flicked to Gladion. “Would I be correct in presuming that this is Lillie's brother, who kept his hood up and face mask on when last we met?”

Gladion nodded once.

“Should we follow you to the barn, or wait inside your house?”

“Come on in and wait, dears,” said the older woman, with a soft smile. “I'm Akela Kahonua— Hapu's grandmother. She will take care of the Pokémon, and I've got a pan of brownies in the oven.”

“Sold,” said Hau at once, walking toward the house. “Thanks for your hospitality.”

“It's a pleasure. Hapu doesn't get very many friends over to visit.”

“Grandmother, please,” said Hapu. Moon had never seen the younger girl less than perfectly composed, but a very slight flush washed over her cheeks as she took Epicentre's reins. “I'm sure my social life is of no concern; and you need not bring it up. I'll be in shortly.”

Moon, amused, followed Hau and Akela into the house. Lillie and Gladion were just behind her.

Hapu's home was very cozy. The adobe of the walls was only decor for the outside of the house; the inside was regular plasterboard, lined with logs that supported the soft, curving rafters of the roof. There were several Pokémon in the large, main living room that boasted full view of the kitchen and dining room; two Machamp, a very young Miltank, and two or three Alolan Meowth— not as many as Nanu had, of course. Hapu's grandmother directed them to a series of couches and chairs arranged around a coffee table as she slowly ambled over to the kitchen.

“The brownies have another ten minutes yet, but would you like something to drink? We have water, milk, tea, coffee, cocoa...”

“Coffee, please,” said Hau and Gladion in unison; they turned to stare at one another with such expressions of surprise (Hau) and mortification (Gladion) that both Moon and Lillie cracked up.

“We take it very differently,” mumbled Gladion, folding his hands in his lap. Moon had been all too quietly pleased when he had chosen to sit next to her, at the end of the couch closest to the door; but now she had a view of his hands, which was either a bonus or torture depending on what he happened to be doing with them at the time.

“I'll have tea— Roserade leaf if you have it, but otherwise I'm fine with anything,” said Lillie. “Thank you.”

“I like cocoa. Is that okay, that we all want something different?”

“Of course!” Akela beamed at them. “I'll just put the kettle on, shall I? And I can fill the carafe, too. Hapu will want tea, and I'm after a spot of cocoa myself; so the more water, the quicker it goes.”

She worked as she spoke, hands moving quickly even when her legs did not. One of the Machamp was watching her, eyes wary and worried as he edged closer and closer.

“What's wrong, buddy?” Moon asked him.

“Macha.”

“Oh, he's worried about me,” chuckled Akela. “I have bad joints, and I really shouldn't stand for more than about five minutes at a time.”

“Wouldn't it be easier to use a wheelchair?”

“Maybe, but there's just too many things to do around here. The Machamp and Mudsdale don't train themselves, you know!”

“For the Ride Pagers?” remembered Moon. “What do Machamp do for the Ride Pager?”

“They move stuff,” explained Hau. “We saw that big stone block in Diglett's Tunnel, remember? They can move that.”

“Oh, neat.”

“If you haven't got Machamp registered, I can do that for you.” Hapu's grandmother walked slowly back toward the sofas and sat down in a squishy rocking chair; the Machamp promptly relaxed. “They can carry people, too. This one will carry me sometimes, when my ankles or knees are off.”

“Oh, so that's why he's worried?”

“Exactly.” Akela's eyes— grey like her granddaughter's— flicked over each of them, returning to rest on Moon. “Tell me your names, if you please. I'm sure Hapu has told me about you before, but I'm an old woman with a limited memory.”

They introduced themselves. Hau's last name garnered a nod of approval; clearly she knew Hala, which made sense if Hapu's late grandfather had been the last kahuna of Poni Island.

Hapu came back inside, pulling off the bonnet and gloves that Moon had never thought to question, despite the fact that they were rather eccentric choices in head- and hand-wear. She tucked the gloves in her pocket, hung the bonnet on a coat-hook by the door, and went to check on the progress of both the brownies and the boiling water before she was satisfied enough to join the rest of them in the living room.

“So, you have a story for me?” she said decisively, sitting down in the remaining chair.

“Yeah.” Moon glanced around, looking at the others; but they were all watching her so she took a deep breath and began the story.

They took it in turns, to tell Hapu about what had happened since she had last seen them. She had already known about the incident in the desert, to Moon's surprise; but it made sense. Lillie would have had to contact her, to cancel the appointment they had previously made for Hapu to escort her to the Ruins of Abundance. Everything after that, however, was new information. Moon talked about Acerola's trial and the mysterious explosion that had occurred afterward; Hau, grim-faced, described the ransom note from Team Skull in exchange for Aether House's therapy Pokémon, which brought a ferocious scowl onto Hapu's face even as she retrieved the fresh brownies from the oven.

“The cads!” she exclaimed, setting the pan down on a potholder on the coffee-table with a definite thud. “How dare they! Have they been made to undergo any sort of retribution?”

Moon glanced at Gladion, whose expression was somewhere between guilty and thoughtful. He shrugged.

“Um, we're not sure,” admitted Moon.

Then came the journey to Route Seventeen, including the meeting with Faba; Lillie talked about how Nebby had gained some orange to her aura at the Lake of the Sunne, and Moon picked the narrative back up with her visit to Nanu's mostly-abandoned police station.

The journey of her harrowing path through Po Town, however, was something that she had not had the opportunity to discuss in detail with any of her friends; and it was with some guilt that she admitted that Kohaku had very nearly gotten her killed by turning her over to the Foxes.

“I tried to run for it, and Hero covered for me,” she explained. “They had a gun and they shot at me, but she blocked it and then I recalled her and we ran for it.”

Hau and Lillie were wide-eyed and silent; Gladion had gone entirely motionless on the couch next to her. Moon swallowed. She didn't like the looks on any of their faces.

“Um— we got away for a little bit and I tried to hide, but they did actually catch me. They took my Pokémon, or I thought they did, and the one woman had a, a gun to my head. I honestly thought I was going to die. Like, my life flashed before my eyes and everything. But then a different gun went off, and all the Foxes died. Then Molly and Cassie and Rogelio came out, and they'd been disguised as Foxes and they gave me my Pokémon back. Cassie got my stuff from the Pokémon Center where I'd left it, and I guess she was also taking care of the, um, bodies.”

“Hmm,” said Gladion, a touch absently. “So that's where the kids went.”

“The kids?”

“Jeremiah, Ki-moon, and Almas.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I asked Rogelio why they weren't in bed until late, but he said they were out helping Cassie with something. I didn't think about it too much. I was... preoccupied.”

His eyes met Moon's briefly, but he looked away before she could say anything.

Hau and Lillie had not been with them in Po Town, and Lillie had, in fact, been separated from them for a good six or seven hours; so she had a narrative of her own to relate. It was Moon's turn to listen, horrified, as Lillie folded her own hands very primly in her lap and explained that she had gotten in the helicopter with Faba and kept Nebby well away from him; Lusamine, on the radio, had given him the order to cooperate with Lillie's demands even though he was quite sulky about it. She'd been escorted straight to R&D, where Lusamine had been present to do some testing of her own; Wicke had not been permitted to see her. Nebby had been tortured again in the pursuit of answers, and it was only after several short but no less painful tests that the little Pokémon in the cage had been deemed ready to undergo the worst torture yet— that of summoning a full, stable Ultra Wormhole.

Lillie had begged, and pleaded with Lusamine; it was to no avail. Her mother had been inexorable. Moon, Hau, and Gladion had burst onto the scene just as Lusamine had been about to go down to her private laboratory anyway. All they had managed to buy was some time.

After that, of course, the story could be told by all of them. They produced their pass letters from Wicke for Hapu to examine; she nodded as she looked through each paper.

“So you see,” concluded Lillie, “Nebby's evolved, but she was also hurt by the machine my mother built to contain her. We're hoping to visit both Tapu Fini and the Altar of the Moone in order to help her gain some of that energy back. And hopefully she will be able to assist us with opening an Ultra Wormhole, so that we can go to space and retrieve my mother and Guzma, as well as do something about Necrozma.”

Hapu nodded slowly. “It's a sound conclusion,” she said simply, getting to her feet and serving herself another brownie. “And you require the use of the Moon Flute as well?”

“Yes, we'd be very grateful to you if we could borrow it.”

“Of course. I would be happy to assist you.” Hapu fell silent as she sat down again, her gaze flicking over each of them. It was strange, but the younger girl exuded a soft, confident authority despite being younger than all of them. Despite the silence, Moon didn't think it was the correct moment to say anything and her instinct bore out correctly when Hapu straightened in her seat, setting her plate down on the coffee table.

“As it stands,” she said carefully, “I am not yet— technically— the kahuna. On most islands, there is a televised ceremony outside of the Tapu's Den, where the old kahuna is in attendance to pass the mantle on to the new one, as well as the Tapu and the new kahuna making a pact to cooperate in caring for the island. In attendance are the new kahuna, the old one if they are available, a broadcasting team to televise the proceedings, and whichever guests either of them care to invite. However, my grandfather is no longer with us; and additionally Tapu Fini dwells within a flooded cave. It would be exceedingly difficult for a news team to make their way there. Traditionally, the kahuna ceremonies of Poni Island have never been filmed but with the newer technology of portable, waterproof cameras, I am to be the first. I have been given one of those action cameras that one wears on their person, with the directive to go to the Ruins of Hope and film my pact with Tapu Fini as soon as possible. I had intended to ask Mina to accompany me as a witness, as the only other representative of a Tapu on the island— even if her role is more indirect than mine. But I knew she would not want to go, as it is inconvenient to get to the Ruins of Hope regardless of whether one has already been there or not. I have gone several times, but the pact has not truly been sealed.”

Moon swallowed. “Are you— inviting us?”

“I am. It makes things easier for me. One of you can wear the camera, so that I am visible on the footage. I would invite Moon and Hau, as they wear Z-Rings made from true Sparkling Stones; I would invite Lillie, as Nebby's caretaker; and I would invite Gladion, for reasons I choose not to disclose at this time. He is aware of what they are.”

Moon looked at Gladion, confused. He had gone beet red, sinking down into the couch and staring very fixedly at his folded hands.

“At any rate, I will take you with me, and we will film my pact with Tapu Fini; then I will be able to truly assist you as the kahuna of Poni Island. The Moon Flute is found on Exeggutor Island, and without the required Z-Crystals no visitors are permitted onto the island without permission from the kahuna— which I cannot give until I am, in fact, the kahuna. Your timing is actually impeccable; I cannot help but wonder if there is some kind of divine influence to it.”

“Everything works out, then,” agreed Moon. “Of course we'll come.”

“Very good. We should go as soon as possible. It is approximately a day's journey to the Ruins of Hope without the aid of a Ride Charizard, so I will come with you and guide you through the Poni Breaker Coast and the Ruins of Hope. Would tomorrow morning suffice for the commencement of our journey?”

“Tomorrow works great, if we can stick around for the night.”

“Naturally. There is plenty of accommodation here, and I don't doubt you would all be grateful for the luxury of indoor plumbing.”

There was only one room for the four of them to share, but it was a large dormitory-style room, with eight or nine single beds lining it. Hapu explained that it was a dormitory for the various interns and Ride Pager trainers who helped out with the Machamp and Mudsdale, but it was apparently the training off-season so they didn't have anyone in at the moment.

They all settled into the dormitory and took their time to shower; there were even a few laundry machines, and Moon took the opportunity to wash everything she'd dirtied since they left Aether Paradise. She and Lillie and Hau settled on neighboring beds, and despite Gladion's clear initial preference for bedding down several beds away they made him stay close. His bed was parallel to Moon's, something for which she was unsure whether she should thank or scold Lillie and Hau; and he lounged across it with his phone and the noise-cancelling headphones, absently eating a granola bar while Null sprawled on top of him. Moon took a picture as quietly as she could, and had half-drafted a text to send with it to Molly and Rogelio before she remembered that they weren't actually on speaking terms at the moment.

They had arrived around four in the afternoon, appropriately; and delicious smells began flooding the air around half-past five. Moon ventured out into the main room again to see Akela knitting comfortably in a chair, with Hapu and the two Machamp manning the kitchen. One of them carefully tossed a large salad together with big wooden spoons; the other was manning a large, flat metal grill on the counter and flipping well-seasoned steaks over with tongs; and Hapu was pulling a pan of fresh dinner rolls from the oven.

“We're just about ready, we have a little longer on the potatoes,” she said, pointing at a pile of foil-wrapped lumps at the bottom of the oven. “If you're all washed up for dinner, then you can come in and wait.”

“I'll let them know.”

The four of them filed into the bathroom to take turns washing their hands. Moon, humming to herself, studied her own reflection in the mirror and took a second to adjust a strand of hair that didn't seem to want to behave, wetting it down with her damp hands so it would lay flat. She squinted at her reflection, satisfied, and turned to find the hand towel.

Her eyes caught Gladion's in the mirror. He was watching her intently— definitely not looking at her face, but rather her general collarbone area. It could have been misconstrued as checking her out if she didn't know any better, but Moon knew he was looking at the necklace she always wore, the leather cord with the silver sun charm. They'd already discussed the fact that it had been a gift from him, anonymously sent on her birthday; but seeing him look at it now— Moon was reminded that it was a very boyfriend-and-girlfriend sort of gift.

She wore Hau's bracelet with the four beads on it too, she reminded herself; it was fine. It probably didn't mean anything that serious; he'd given it to her too early on for that.

Really.

They all went out to the dining room to find Akela hobbling over to the table with the assistance of one of the Machamp, while the other one, unbothered by the heat from the oven, held an armful of the foil-wrapped baked potatoes as Hapu took them out of the oven with tongs. A plate of the seasoned steaks lay on the table; and the big bowl of salad and another bowl of rolls were waiting as well.

“It is imitation steak, in case you were wondering,” said Hapu quickly, when Moon squinted at the plate of steaks; some of the juices gathering at the base of it were suspiciously pink. “It's just very high quality, and the manufacturers have been experimenting with natural food dyes so that it looks more like real steak when it's done rare or medium rare.”

“Makes sense.”

“I'm not sure why there's a market for that,” said Gladion flatly. “Who wants their meat to look like it's bloody?”

“People who are used to real steak?” suggested Hau.

“It tastes and smells almost exactly the same. There's no reason for it to look authentically bloody unless they like seeing the blood, which raises a whole other host of issues.”

“So, you're against the meat industry?”

“I'm against lavish displays of wealth and power, which is what goes into the meat industry as it exists in Alola.” Gladion folded his arms grumpily, glaring at his empty plate. “There are places where there are big herds of Tauros, but a lot less in the way of synthetic meat production. Places like Sinnoh and Unova, which have a lot more land and wilderness, are able to support the meat industry, and they can choose from a variety of Pokémon instead of just the usual culprits of Tauros, Miltank, Combusken, and Grumpig. Authentic meat is a staple in those places, even though imitation is catching on as a humane alternative. But here, and in other places with less landmass like Hoenn and Kanto, authentic meat is a luxury. Either it has to be imported, or the cost of the animal care goes up with the price of the real estate involved, and the price of meat goes up accordingly. It's stupidly expensive to eat a real steak in Alola, and the money in question could be better used elsewhere.”

There was a long pause, during which Gladion's face went from grumpy to blank and red-faced.

Hau cleared his throat. “Is this like, uh, a Lusa—”

“Yes. I don't want to talk about it anymore. Can we eat now?”

Everyone dished up their plates and began eating. Moon found she liked the salad, which surprised her as she wasn't terribly fond of veggies as a rule— she liked sweets and fruit and bread. There was a spicy, light dressing and crunchy croutons and little crumbles of cheese that were made from milk from what Hapu stated was the only Gogoat in Alola— stabled out in the barn with a few Miltank and Tauros as well as Epicentre. The baked potatoes were nice too, especially with butter and salt and sour cream; and the steaks were delicious regardless of what color they were.

After dinner Hapu called them back into the main room and asked to see Nebby. “I do have a little of Tapu Fini's power at my disposal, even though I am not yet the kahuna,” she admitted— eyes flicking to Gladion, noticed Moon; another entry on a list of observations she was making about whatever dirt Hapu seemed to have on Gladion. “So if I examine Cosmog— excuse me, Cosmoem, and open my sight to Tapu Fini, then she may have some instruction for you before we attend her tomorrow.”

“I suppose that makes sense,” admitted Lillie.

“Ah,” said Akela, peering over at them as Lillie drew Nebby from her pocket. “I haven't seen a Cosmoem since Foxglove perished on Uamake Beach.”

There was a pause. Moon stared at Akela, wide-eyed.

“You saw when Foxglove was killed?”

“I did. They called Ikaika and the other kahunas to help deal with the whole matter, but it was our wedding anniversary and I was rather steamed about him getting called off, so I decided to go with him. Hapu was staying with a friend of ours, so she didn't come with us.”

There was a long pause.

“I think you had better tell the whole story, Grandmother,” advised Hapu. “Given what I remember from how you have told it to me, they might find some of it useful to their purposes regarding this Cosmoem.”

“Oh, very well then.” Akela cleared her throat. “Let me see— this was about ten years ago, of course. The kahunas were Hala, Olivia, Foxglove, and dear Ikaika. From what I understand, Foxglove had made his infernal machine, raised the ancient gods from well-earned slumber, and watched as they made their escape from Po Town about... oh, ten days before? Anyway, the Tapus must have conferred on the matter because Tapu Bulu went to Po Town to ravage it, killing most of the inhabitants— and Foxglove as well, for the first time. The kahunas found him in his machine, dead and revived again. He had died as one might die to an angry Tauros— gored in the chest, by long, sharp horns.

“Now, I was helping with the emergency rescue efforts in Po Town, along with Hala's wife, and his sister and her husband—”

“That's Gram, and Moon's grandparents!” said Hau excitedly.

Akela laughed. “You are quite correct. There were several others present as well. Let me see— Captain Molayne, though Hapu tells me he is no longer a captain; and the young professors, barely married but willing to pitch in all the same. I seem to remember a few teenagers and children who had survived the Tapu's purge, as well. The remaining Foxes didn't like our presence, and did their best to battle us; but we managed to hold them off long enough to get the survivors out of where they were buried in the rubble of their homes.

“However I was not with Ikaika, and he told me this part of the story well after the fact, when he had finished grieving. Foxglove looked up as the kahunas entered the room. His Pokémon were nowhere to be seen, but there were the remains of several destroyed Pokéballs on the floor so it is presumed that the Tapu released Foxglove's team from their service to him. His face was ashen grey, nothing like the sun-kissed, handsome man who charmed us all. He didn't seem to be able to speak very well, which was proven later by the autopsy which showed that his lungs had been damaged when Tapu Bulu gored him.

“He croaked out a few words— Ikaika said he heard 'help me,' but evidently Hala heard 'let me,' and presumed that he meant 'let me out. He and Ikaika went to the machine and pulled it to pieces with the aid of their Pokémon. Foxglove stepped out, remaining motionless for a few moments. Olivia, who was hurt personally by his attempt to recreate her fossil revival machines, asked him what in the Tapu's name he'd been thinking. Foxglove shrugged, rather indifferently, and then pulled a knife on her. Olivia wasn't hurt badly, but it was enough of a distraction that Foxglove was able to escape. He had no Pokémon, but he managed to bully a Ride Pager from a young man on his island challenge, and promptly flew to Uamake Beach. Hala, Olivia, and Ikaika pursued him, and the rest of your grandparents and I went with them. The seven of us found him in the remains of the first Thrifty Megamart— you know that story, yes?”

“Boy, do we,” murmured Moon, thinking of Foxglove's shade that had tried to ruin her trial.

“He stood still outside the doors, staring at the cold ruins. Hala approached him gently, asking him to please put down the knife and rest. He added that they would try to take care of him, to keep him safe— a generous offer, I thought.

“But before Foxglove could say anything, there was a bright flash of white light, in the setting sun; and all four of the Tapus appeared, as well as Solgaleo and Lunala themselves— with a little Cosmoem floating in between.”

Moon, Hau, Lillie, and Gladion all turned to stare at a still unresponsive Nebby.

“Wow,” said Lillie finally. “Perhaps she really is a legendary Pokémon.”

“As you may know, the legendary Pokémon have voices, if they choose to use them. The Tapus only speak to their kahunas, though they have occasionally been known to speak with very powerful Trainers, all of whom have gone on to achieve great things. But Solgaleo and Lunala may speak to everyone, and they spoke in voices of thunder and ice, words I will never forget.”

Akela was silent for a few moments, but then Hapu delicately cleared her throat and the woman nodded once before continuing.

“Solgaleo spoke first. It was a massive beast, but by the greying of his bright whiskers he was growing quite old. He said, Foxglove, chosen by Bulu, servant of the red island and guardian of the sun-lake: you have forsaken your vows and broken your oaths, which Bulu has held sacred to you.

“Lunala spoke next. She was not quite so old as the Solgaleo, but still quite old. She said, This violation of the pact between human and beast is an abomination to both, and must be made good once more. It is up to the humans to repair what you have broken from them, but it is ours to repair what you have broken from us.

“And then they both spoke in unison: Foxglove, chosen by Bulu, servant of the red island and guardian of the sun-lake: to answer for your crimes, we lay you to rest here, in the place of Bulu's sacred meeting with Grandmother Starlight. You will have eternity to ponder upon your sins and mend your ways; and it will be your punishment to watch for ten long years, as the people and beasts of the red island thrive without you and your wickedness.”

Moon felt a chill go down her spine. Hau and Lillie were both wide-eyed, and Gladion gazed at the table with no discernible emotion on his face.

“Once they had spoken, they and the little Cosmoem turned, opened an Ultra Wormhole, and went right through it— closing it immediately afterward. The Tapus gathered around Foxglove. Ikaika told me that each of them spoke to Foxglove, and that the kahunas heard their words but none of the rest of us did. He never told me what was said to Foxglove, and I never thought it wise to ask him. At the end of it, Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, and Tapu Fini retreated a short distance, and Tapu Bulu promptly speared Foxglove on his horns for a second time.” Akela winced. “It was something I rather wish I hadn't seen. There was a greenish glow to him, and he sucked the remnants of life from Foxglove to leave him a withered, shrunken corpse.”

There was a long silence, but then Hau sighed deeply.

“Wow,” he said, shaking his head. “That was a ride and a half.”

“I think so, too.” Hapu's gaze went from Hau, oddly, to Gladion. “What do you think of the story, Gladion?”

He flinched, looking up at her; but Hapu's gaze was kind as well as sharp and Moon watched, confused, as he looked away with shame written into his features.

“It makes sense,” he said finally. “And they swore Nanu back in as the next kahuna, didn't they?”

“Indeed they did. The remaining Foxes, the ones that had escaped before Tapu Bulu could destroy them, were rounded up and returned to Po Town to live out their days in rainy isolation.” Hapu cleared her throat. “I believe some of that involved my grandfather. Tapu Bulu would have had to borrow some of Tapu Fini's power, to create a permanent storm in such a place. I imagine that equates to some sort of permanent favor owed to the Poni kahuna from the Ula'ula kahuna. In Nanu's case, it means he has been kind enough to take on Grand Trials in my name, until I have the authority to administer them on my own.”

Gladion stood up abruptly. “I'm tired,” he said quietly. “Please excuse me.”

He didn't wait to be excused, instead retreating immediately to the room where the four of them were sleeping.

“Why are you pushing him?” said Moon, frowning at Hapu. “I don't want details, because it's obviously private, but can't you see he doesn't like whatever it is you're doing?”

Hapu's gaze did not waver. “There are some things that cannot be hidden to the kahunas,” she said softly. “I am not pushing him to speak on the matter. I am simply reminding him that he has resources available to him, should he wish to use them.” Her voice lowered, almost to a whisper. “After all, he cannot run forever.”

Despite the examination, it seemed that Tapu Fini had no comments on Nebby's state of being, and both Hapu and Akela retired to their own rooms— farmwork dictated that they both had to be awake quite early, which meant sleeping earlier in turn. Moon was about to go in to try and talk to Gladion, but a hand on her arm stopped her: Hau, sober-eyed.

“I don't think you should press him about it,” he said softly. “Hapu's right, she was being gentle with whatever it was she was talking about with him. But you're not always gentle.”

“I'm trying,” she mumbled, chagrined.

“And you're doing really, really well; but all the same, you should give him a night to cool down,” advised Lillie. “Gladion only holds grudges when he really doesn't like somebody. He might be a little annoyed with Hapu at the moment, but he'll have forgiven her by breakfast.”

Moon sighed. “Can I talk to him about other stuff?”

“That's up to you.” Hau grinned. “I like him more and more as we keep on traveling together, but I never know what's going to bother him next.”

With that thought in mind, Moon elected to take a shower and get ready for bed before talking to Gladion. She was, therefore, rather surprised when she emerged from said shower and Gladion looked up from his phone, promptly pulling off his headphones.

“Can I talk to you?” he said abruptly.

“Yeah, always.”

Perhaps she shouldn't have been quite so confident in her answer. Gladion stopped in place, blinking at her in confusion.

“Possible exceptions for when I'm relieving myself or concentrating very hard on something, with exceptions to the exceptions made for emergencies.”

His face twitched— with amusement or annoyance, she wasn't sure— and he jerked his head toward the door. Moon ignored Hau's waggling eyebrows and Lillie's sly smile as she followed him out into the dark, quiet main room.

He sat down on the sofa, where they'd been earlier. Moon, after a few moments, sat down next to him. The wintery evening had brought a chill, even to a house that had thick adobe walls; and she shivered exactly once before Gladion was automatically pulling off his jacket, dumping it in her lap.

“I can go get one.”

“I'm not cold. Please stay.”

It was the please that did it, more than anything else. Moon, rather self-consciously, put on Gladion's jacket. It was the nice gray one with the deep hood, and she had to resist the urge to smell it like a creepy person because he was right there, for Arceus' sake. It was a little tight in the shoulders, but the waist was too wide and the sleeves were too long, so she tucked her fingers inside and focused on listening.

“I— um. I haven't been totally honest with you.”

“You don't have to tell me things just because Hapu was hinting at them.”

“That's not why.” He paused. “All right, maybe it's partly why. And I'm not telling you everything, either, because it's not technically your business. It might be a little bit, later down the road. I don't actually know, which is as frustrating for me as I imagine it might be for you.”

“That's okay,” Moon assured him. “Whenever you're ready to tell me is fine.”

He nodded, but didn't speak right away. Moon had begun to learn the art of patience, with Gladion. He needed time to phrase what he wanted to say, just as Lillie did.

“Um, so obviously you know I'm Lillie's brother.”

It was a strange way to begin but she humored him. “Yep, got that loud and clear.”

“And you know I've been in trial sites and stuff like that, even though I'm not on an island challenge.”

“Like at Wela Volcano Park.”

“When Lillie told me to go find you,” said Gladion. He nodded stiffly. “There's... um, there's been another time. When she told me to go find you. When you were away from them. And also your Pokémon.”

There had been only one occasion that fit his description. “You went looking for me in the desert?”

“At Lillie's request, yeah.”

“Did Hau know about it?”

“He knew about it, but he didn't know we were siblings.”

So that, perhaps, was the secret that Hau and Lillie had been keeping from her on Ula'ula Island— the secret she had entirely forgotten in the chaos and strain of the last two weeks. “It seems really obvious in retrospect, but what do you think he was thinking?”

“Lillie told me that he just thought she'd lifted my number from your phone, because she wanted to be sure I was good enough for you or something.” He let out a mirthless snort of laughter. “Lillie's good at letting people think what they want to think, like that. She keeps a straight face and lets them draw their own conclusions. It's the one thing she got from our mother that I actually envy her for.”

There was another pause, but Moon waited it out.

“Um— anyway, I went looking for you in the desert. And I did find you, actually. I guess your Metang— well, it's a Metagross now, but it took you to Tapu Bulu's den and I found you there. And then Nebby came out and so did Tapu Bulu.”

Moon swallowed. “He doesn't really like visitors, does he?”

Unexpectedly, Gladion shrugged. “If it's important, he gets it. He's a hermit but he's still a Tapu, too.” He cleared his throat. “Not that I'd know, or anything. It's just what I thought. Um, anyway, Tapu Bulu seems to have, um, taken a liking to me or something. It's noticeable enough that all the other kahunas know about it. But they, and now you, are the only ones. Lillie and Hau know a little bit, because Tapu Bulu carried you out of the desert and laid you down in front of them. Anyway, Hapu's poking at me a bit because I'm favored by the Tapu, or something like that.”

“Nanu's getting pretty up there, isn't he?” wondered Moon. “Maybe you could be his assistant, or something.”

“Yeah, maybe.” He laughed again, still without smiling. “Anyway, that's all I wanted to tell you. So, um, thanks. For listening.”

“Sure, anytime.”

For a few moments, neither of them spoke or moved. The dim light of the room cast interesting shadows across the planes of Gladion's face, backlighting his white-blond hair with an ethereal, almost angelic glow.

“Do you want your jacket back?” asked Moon, hands going to the zipper.

“I suppose so.” His eyes met hers, intent and focused. “If Hau and Lillie wouldn't tease us for it, I'd let you hang onto it.”

Heat prickled across Moon's face, up to her ears and down the back of her neck. She was almost grateful for the cool air that soothed it as she shrugged off the jacket and carefully folded it, handing it back to him.

“Thanks for letting me borrow it.”

“No problem.”

Moon spent the next hour or so staring straight up at the ceiling, trying to sleep; but the sharp-soft green of Gladion's eyes, catlike in the gloom, kept her awake. It was ridiculous, honestly. She was going to do better at not being such a sap.

Well, she would try, anyway.

Chapter Text

“Can you all swim?”

The question was abrupt. Moon looked up from her pancakes with caramel-peanut butter syrup, courtesy of one of Akela's Machamp helpers, to see Hapu in her usual attire— plus long, dark, skin-tight sleeves that stuck out from the ruffles on her coveralls.

“I was practically raised swimming,” confirmed Hau.

“We took lessons when we were younger.” Lillie indicated herself and Gladion.

“Yeah, same here,” said Moon.

“Very good. Do you all have wetsuits?”

“I've got a swimsuit?”

Hapu shook her head. “You will need proper wetsuits, with sleeves and legs. We keep plenty of them— they're for the medical students who have to treat injured Wailord, which are kept in large tanks. You may each borrow one.”

“Thanks.”

“I also have, for your use, scuba gear and oxygen tanks. Epicentre will carry those until we arrive at the Ruins. Do you all know how to use scuba gear?”

“Yep!” said Hau brightly.

Moon glanced at Lillie and Gladion, both of whom shook their heads. “You're the only one, dude.”

“So a lesson will be in order before we make our way into the Ruins.” Hapu nodded placidly. “I am qualified to teach you to use scuba gear. It is one of the prerequisites for becoming the kahuna of Poni Island, given that Tapu Fini's den cannot be accessed by just anyone.”

“So we have to go underwater to get to her den?”

“Indeed. It was not always so— Tapu Fini's den was once accessible through a path that spiraled down through the black rock of the breaker coast, but time and spreading lava closed the path further and further until it was entirely blocked off. It will likely be the work of some future kahuna, but eventually the lava will spread further and harden enough for a path to be cut through the rock once more. In the meantime, however, we can access Tapu Fini's den through the door which she herself uses, when she ventures out to call upon Alola's waters. Every Tapu has a back-door, but they are generally only known to the kahunas and a few select, important Trainers.”

Moon raised an eyebrow at her. “And four teenagers qualify as select and important?”

Hapu considered the four of them for several moments, gaze flicking over each of them.

“Yes,” she said finally. “Yes, you do. If you are all packed and ready to leave, then we can depart as soon as we have finished breakfast.”

It was a fairly pointed hint and Moon hastily applied herself to what was left of her breakfast. She was a morning person, as was Hau. The thing that was interesting to discover was that Lillie— who had previously appeared to be a morning person— wasn't one. Moon supposed that it was possible that Lillie had been putting on an act for them, which was a little concerning; but it also, she realized, did not ultimately matter. She hunched over her pancakes with a slight scowl on her face— the same scowl that Gladion generally wore on his own face. He definitely wasn't a morning person, and Moon really, really needed to stop finding new things about him that were cute or silly or otherwise endearing.

They changed into wetsuits under their clothes after breakfast and left right away. Epicentre, as Hapu had said, carried the oxygen tanks; they were much lighter than they looked and the Mudsdale appeared to be in no distress whatsoever. Hapu led the way, one hand on Epicentre's reins and the other on a knobbly walking stick. The path was flat, open, and slightly downhill, with very little in the way of trees; their destination was practically visible from Hapu's house.

Despite the obvious dark strip of beach along the coastline, it took them the entire morning to reach said beach. The path had been carved down shallowly along the hillside to make for easy hiking, but the hill itself was quite steep. Hapu had to guide Epicentre carefully around the switchbacks, but the big Mudsdale seemed to be used to them as she stepped delicately along the path, doing her best to stick to the hillside.

At the base of the hill, there was still a flat mile or so of walking to do. Hapu called for a brief rest, reaching into her backpack and pulling out an action camera along with the straps that would hold it onto a person.

“I think,” she said, after a few moments, “that the person who is least comfortable being seen on camera ought to wear this one, as it means their face will not be in the video.”

Moon immediately turned to look at Lillie and Gladion, who seemed to be silently debating with their eyes for a few moments. A dry half-smile flickered briefly across Gladion's face, and he stuck out one hand. Lillie nodded placidly before the two of them went through a lightning-speed three rounds of fire-water-grass; the winner was Gladion, but Lillie took the camera from Hapu with a slight frown on her face.

“You were arguing for each other?” said Hau, drawing the obvious conclusion.

“If Lusamine ever sees this, she'll be massively annoyed that I am in the shots and Lillie is not.”

“This is being released to the general public, and you're risking your cover as August Green,” countered Lillie.

“August Green is an identity I've used purely to earn a living. I don't actually care what name I fight under or who knows my real name, now that I'm an adult and you're emancipated.”

“Wear the camera like this,” said Hapu, helping Lillie buckle the camera on and ignoring the argument. “The recording switch is here. You can turn it on when we start walking. How are you at walking backwards?”

“Um—”

“Good,” said Hapu, before she could answer. “The interview can be conducted from behind. It isn't my best angle, but I'm not terribly comfortable on film myself.”

“Interview?”

“I have a list of questions I have to answer on video.” Hapu waved a hand. “You don't need to say anything; I'll read them all off and answer.”

It was a very surreal experience. They all picked up their things and began walking again; Lillie drew pace just behind Hapu, and at a nod from the younger girl flicked the switch to record.

After a few seconds, Hapu cleared her throat. “Good morning,” she said pleasantly— albeit a touch stiffly. “My name is Hapu Kahonua, and I have been chosen by Tapu Fini as the next kahuna of Poni Island. There has been a period of time between the passing of the previous kahuna— my grandfather, Ikaika Kahonua— and my ceremonial acceptance of the Tapu's full power. This is because I am sixteen and a half years old, and I have spent the last eight months traveling through Alola, collecting the region's Z-Crystals, passing the trials and Grand Trials, and learning the lands I wish to serve by heart. I also finished my primary education through Alola's online schooling program, and I intend to take correspondence courses through Celadon University starting next autumn. I am young, but I am endorsed by Kahunas Hala Akiona, Olivia Wala'e, and Ishmael Nanu, not to mention Tapu Fini herself.”

She paused for a few moments, then continued.

“I have here a list of questions, sent by the Alolan press. Due to the fact that Tapu Fini's den is difficult to reach, I have opted not to invite a press crew to the ceremony, and thus will not be able to sit down for an interview with a reporter. I'll do my best to answer as many of the questions as I can.”

She looked down through the sheaf of paper for a few moments, then stopped walking. Lillie stopped as well, and Moon, Hau, and Gladion followed only moments later.

“Really?” said Hapu, staring at the paper in disgust. “Favorite color? Favorite article of clothing? Favorite ice cream flavor? What sort of questions are these?”

A squeaky giggle burst from Lillie before she clapped her hand over her mouth.

Hapu's mouth twitched. “I will, of course, answer the questions. I just didn't realize they were so... ah... inane. I thought it would be more about policy and philosophy and what I hope to bring to the table as a kahuna. Ah, well.”

“It's probably some kind of humanizing thing,” suggested Moon, grinning. “The people want to know what you're really like.”

“If people want to know what I am really like, all they need to do is to ask me. My favorite color, which by the way is purple, has no bearing on my personality or my worth as a person.”

“I dunno, my favorite color is also purple and the purple squad are all pretty awesome people.”

Hapu's mouth twitched. “In case the future editors of this video are wondering, you are hearing the dulcet tones of Marion Hawkins, known colloquially as Moon. She is Kahuna Hala's great-niece and a fine Trainer. I have asked her and several other young Trainers to accompany me to this ceremony.”

She gestured for Lillie to turn around, so that the camera picked up Moon, Hau, and Gladion. Moon waved, sticking two fingers up in a peace sign. “Hey.”

“On Moon's right is Hau Akiona— Kahuna Hala's grandson, Moon's second cousin, and an equally talented Trainer. On Moon's left is Gladion Mohn, who you may better know as August Green— a Battle Royal prodigy and a very skilled Trainer.”

“Hi!” said Hau brightly. Gladion nodded once.

“And the camera is held by Lillie Mohn, sister of Gladion and assistant to Professors Kukui and Burnet,” continued Hapu, unfazed. “I have met each of them over the course of my travels and I have found myself impressed by each of them. They have agreed to accompany me as my de facto camera crew.”

“Do you want us to read off the questions?” offered Moon. “It's probably easier on the editors if they don't have to cut out your commentary.”

“It's true that the editors will very likely have a great deal of work to do,” agreed Hapu. She passed the scripts to Moon. “Very well then. Let us resume our journey to the Ruins of Hope, by which time I would prefer to have finished the questions.”

Some of the questions were, as Hapu had said, terribly inane— her favorite color was purple, her favorite article of clothing were her practical, rubber-toed hiking boots as they were easy to clean, her favorite ice cream flavor was coffee. But there were some complex questions as well.

“What do you hope to accomplish as the next kahuna of Poni Island?” Moon read.

“Ah, now that is a good question.” Hapu brightened. “I think it would be in the best interest of Poni Island to see some small further developments made in the wild areas. I don't wish to destroy the natural landscape or take away from the Trainer experience; but the canyon that leads to the Altar of the Moone is not a terribly hospitable place. There are outhouses and makeshift showers installed periodically along the path, but a journey of two, sometimes three weeks is no easy thing for any Trainer— not even one with a well-trained Mudsdale, like Epicentre. I'm hoping to have a Pokémon Center built close to the end of the canyon, which would likely mean raising a small town with it. Another good place for a Pokémon Center would be in the meadow of the jacaranda trees, just outside of Resolution Cave.”

“Where's that?”

“You cannot access it until you have completed the island challenge. It is found off the main path that leads to Tree Town and the Battle Tree.” Hapu smiled softly. “I would be very careful in selecting a build location, of course. Poni Meadow is sacred to Tapu Fini, as the jacaranda trees bear flowers of her own violet sigil, and the Sensu-form Oricorio make their home there. But a Pokémon Center just outside the area would do very well as a place of respite for travelers wishing to make a pilgrimage to either the grove or Resolution Cave.”

“And is that all you want to accomplish?”

“Building more Pokémon Centers is a small, specific goal for Poni Island itself. In a joint effort with Kahuna Nanu, I would also like to increase general security around the Altar of the Moone and the Lake of the Sunne. Despite the fact that these are sacred places where Solgaleo and Lunala have been known to manifest, there are still those who would infiltrate and violate their sanctity, in the name of scientific research.” Hapu's voice grew suddenly acidic. “It might be in the interest of the Alolan government to investigate where some of their funds directed in the general area of scientific research are actually going, hmm? And one must wonder why so much in the way of government funds has been directed to scientific research rather than, say, the maintenance and improvement of an actual island of Alola, not just an artificial one.”

Moon's jaw dropped, and she turned to stare at Hau and Gladion, wide-eyed. Hau was equally surprised, but Gladion— he wasn't smiling, but there was something hard and cold and very, very pleased in his eyes. He looked rather like a Meowth that had gotten into the cream. Lillie was smiling, but it was not at all a nice smile.

And Hapu had not once named the Aether Foundation or the Aether Paradise in her statement; but there could be no doubt as to whom her pointed criticism referred. Wicke, decided Moon, would probably laugh herself silly when she saw the interview.

They wrapped up the list of questions just as they began to descend into the black sands of the beach itself; Hapu motioned for Lillie to switch off the camera, and walked down to a small shelf of the beach that was rocky, rather than sandy. She took off her backpack and laid her walking stick down next to it.

“We will have our scuba-diving lesson here,” she said briskly, reaching up to unload the scuba gear and oxygen tanks from Epicentre's back. “There will be no need to film that. You can all strip down to wetsuits.”

The scuba-diving lesson was simple enough. They learned how to put on the masks first, then added flippers for their feet to aid in swimming faster. Hapu taught them to dive and return to the surface safely, and additionally showed them a function of the Pokéball that Moon had not known about— the ability to form a small air-pocket around Pokémon that would not otherwise be able to battle underwater. It would come in handy if any wild Pokémon attacked while they were below the surface.

The water immediately off the coast was not terribly interesting, as beaches went; the sand and the ocean floor remained quite dark, but in the far-out distance Moon could make out a faint red glow, which Hapu informed them was the series of volcanic vents that spewed out lava which formed the black rock of the beach. There weren't any coral reefs to be found, and only a few very strange-looking water plants and some rather pallid Wishiwashi. Moon was an okay swimmer but with access to oxygen she quickly grew confident in the water. Hau had been scuba-diving before, and he took Lillie's hand to help her out, pointing out interesting rock formations to investigate.

Moon watched, resisting the urge to laugh, as Gladion's uneven fringe wafted around his face in the water. He wasn't terribly good at swimming or snorkeling, it seemed; but he too gradually grew bolder and bolder, venturing deeper into the water to follow one of the Wishiwashi or to circle a rock formation, examining it. The reef where they swum was sparse and rather dead but the darkness below the clear water, combined with the muffled sounds of ocean life and water, made it seem like an entirely new world.

Hapu called them back out of the water after about twenty minutes of practice with the scuba gear, and opened her backpack to reveal a map of the immediate area, with a path marking the way they should go. “I've marked the path with flags,” she explained. “They're bright purple, and they stand out strongly against the dark rock. When we get close to the underwater cave, they'll be a little more difficult to see; but you'll have headlamps, and you will all be holding onto a rope that is tied around my wrist. None of you will get lost.”

Hapu packed some things into a series of waterproof pouches— lunch, she explained, would be better eaten after they made it through to the cave— and handed them off to Moon, Hau, and Gladion as Lillie strapped the camera on once more. They all had headlamps and their Pokémon; but Epicentre and Rotom would be staying behind to guard their backpacks. Nebby had been tucked into a water-proof container, which might have been inhumane if she actually needed air to breathe in the first place. Lillie clutched Nebby with one hand, keeping her well out of sight of the camera.

Hapu tied the rope—a steel-cored nylon affair— around her wrist, then created four loops for each of them. Lillie, filming, would go right behind Hapu; Hau was after her; and then Gladion, and then Moon. She didn't really fancy the idea of going last, but she was a stronger swimmer than Gladion and she could help him if he needed it.

“Camera on,” said Hapu quietly to Lillie, and she nodded and switched it on. “Hello again— it's Hapu Kahonua, future kahuna of Poni Island. It won't have been that long since the last clip, once the video editors have worked their magic; but we took about forty minutes to familiarize ourselves with the scuba gear that we need to access Tapu Fini's den. This camera is an action camera, which means it is waterproof. If you pay attention, you'll see purple flags underwater, which mark the route to Tapu Fini's den. I do not recommend trying to visit her without my assistance; she prefers solitude perhaps only secondly to Tapu Bulu, and will not hesitate to kill intruders. I'll show you skeletons on the way in, if you don't believe me.” She turned to look at Moon, Hau, and Gladion. “Are we all ready to go?”

“Yep!” said Hau brightly, as Lillie turned to point the camera at them. Moon gave the camera two thumbs-up, and Gladion simply nodded.

“Then let's go.”

They all waded into the ocean, flippers awkwardly hindering movement until it was deep enough for them to swim properly. Hapu took them out deeper, staying gradual with the ocean floor; but they were also swimming parallel with the island— Moon was fairly sure this was east, in the direction of Melemele Island. The black rock made it difficult to see anything at all after about fifteen feet below the surface; but as she looked around in the darkness she spotted a bright purple flag, made of plastic and tied around a large rock.

It was the quiet that was more eerie than anything. Moon could hear the way the water moved around her, as well as the occasional echoing cry of a Pokémon; but there was nothing terribly close or dangerous. The rope loop around her wrist was helpful, and she hung onto the rope as the five of them moved slowly into the darkness that was only lit by headlamps.

After about ten minutes of swimming eastward, they angled sharply north— inland, back toward the black rock of the beach. With the headlamps, Moon could vaguely make out a very dark hole below them.

Hapu had paused, waiting for all of them to catch up; then she reached up and turned off her headlamp before pointing at each of them. Moon took the hint and turned off her own headlamp. Lillie and Gladion did the same.

Hau turned to look at each of them, eyes wide as he shook his head fervently. Hapu placed her hands on her hips, and Moon pointed at the rope, to reassure him that it would be okay. Lillie reached out with the hand not holding Nebby and took his hand reassuringly; Gladion swum over, reached out, and flicked off Hau's headlamp himself.

For a few moments, there was nothing but pitch-black and the sound of water around them. Moon clutched at her rope tightly, but there was no indication from Hapu that they were moving so she remained where she was.

Something brushed against her hand, then wrapped around it. She jumped, before realizing it was another hand, and based on where they'd all been positioned earlier it was Gladion's hand. She glanced down at it, even though she couldn't see anything; his fingers and skin were wrinkled from the time they'd spent in the water but his hand was warm.

A soft, greenish light appeared from below them, in the dark hole; something luminescent, lighting up the planes of Hapu's face with an alien glow. She gave them all two thumbs up, then dove down into the hole. Lillie followed, dragging Hau along by one hand; and Gladion tugged on Moon's hand, guiding her into the tunnel as well.

The greenish light came from strange, leafy corals and what looked like mushrooms, even though they were underwater. As they proceeded further in the tunnel, the green light combined with blue and purple and pink and gold, producing a wild mishmash of luminescent colors. Moon twisted around to look at everything, awed at the rainbowed secrets that were so carefully hidden beneath the water. The water was colder here, but she didn't mind because of the haunting beauty of the gate to Tapu Fini's den.

Eventually the tunnel bottomed out, spreading into a wide tube lined with all kinds of eerie, glow-in-the-dark plants and even a few Pokémon. A small herd of Lanturn and Chinchou peeped cheerfully at them as they passed; a school of Wishiwashi spiraled lazily in one corner; and several Corsola in the same bright colors as the corals around them made happy, bubbly noises.

The tube curved upward again, growing ever wider; the luminescence faded into near-darkness with the black rock still surrounding them; but there was a dim light shining ahead of them. Moon could see the shadows of Hapu, Lillie, and Hau above her, swimming upwards. Gladion squeezed her hand, then let go to swim past her. Moon took one last look at the glowing tunnel before turning upwards to follow her friends to the surface of the water.

The dim light came from a glowing moss that grew on the roof of the cave. There were more oddly-colored plants and mushrooms all around them, growing on the walls and at the edges of the cave. Hapu had already made her way over to a low ledge by the water and was pulling off her flippers and scuba gear. Lillie and Hau climbed out, and Gladion followed them. Moon stayed in the water for a few moments, just treading and looking around; but then she swam to the ledge and accepted Gladion's hand to exit the water.

“Wow,” said Hau, once his mask was off. “I was really scared to go in that tunnel, but it was so pretty.”

“I didn't think to warn you, and I apologize,” said Hapu. “The life forms in the tunnel don't respond well to artificial lights. I'm glad you were brave enough to follow us anyway.”

“It was mostly that the tunnel wasn't very wide. I'm a pretty big dude, so sometimes I can get a little bit claustrophobic. But I think everything turned out okay.”

“Indeed.” Hapu turned to Lillie, addressing the camera. “I hope you all enjoyed that journey. Tapu Fini's den is located just beyond here; if you turn this way— thank you, Lillie— you can see the traditional offering plates, as well as the stone gate of the Ruins of Hope.”

Moon was surprised to see that it did, in fact, look a lot like the gateway to the Ruins of Life, where she had waited with Hau while Lillie took Nebby in to see Tapu Lele. The two large bowls were cut into the black rock, and the arched stone doorway had the same shape, with different carvings cut into it.

“You may leave all of the scuba gear here,” said Hapu. “I've packed lunches into the pouches that we were carrying, so we can have a bit of a snack before we enter the Ruins of Hope.”

“Why wouldn't we wait until afterward?” wondered Moon. “We're not going to be in there for that long, are we?”

“The Ruins of Hope, like all of the ruins outside of a Tapu's den, consist of stone mazes with block-puzzles, for Machamp to solve with Shove,” explained Hapu. “So we could very well be in there for some time, because it's not a direct path through. Fortunately, I have made the journey many times and I know which way to go; but it might be interesting for you to solve that on your own. Tapu Fini would be pleased.”

“Should we film that?” asked Lillie. “We don't want to show everyone how to solve it, do we?”

“You are correct. We will not film the process of solving the puzzle.”

Lunch (not filmed, at Hapu's direction) was imi-BLTs on bagels, wrapped up in plastic. There were also carrot sticks and fresh Grepa berries, and water bottles for everyone; the Pokémon ate beans, though Poppy promptly dove into the water to hunt for fish and much to everyone's surprise, little BB followed her. Hau peered over the edge, anxiously watching the Crabrawler; but she seemed to be fending for herself. Moon perched on Hero's back and ate while looking around, staring at all of the glowing mushrooms and moss. She wished she had been able to bring Rotom to take pictures; maybe some other time she would tuck it into a waterproof pouch and come back.

“You're really into this.”

She looked over at Gladion, who had finished his sandwich and now held Nox in his lap, holding a handful of beans up to the robot-duck's beak. Nox ate one successfully, but attempted to eat another and managed to miss Gladion's hand entirely, tumbling forward into a full somersault. Moon was startled into laughter, which echoed around the damp cave.

“It's pretty,” she said in response. Gladion selected one bean from the handful and put it right next to Nox's beak; he opened it and chowed down, making happy beeping sounds. “The green and blue and purple, those are my favorite colors. And I get how bioluminescence works but like, it's still really cool to see it in action. It's amazing how even in total darkness, life will make its own light.”

There was a long silence after that. Moon glanced over at Gladion and saw that he was half-turned away, hastily wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand. It felt as though she had intruded, so she quickly returned her attention to her lunch.

When they finished eating and cleaning up after their Pokémon, Hapu signaled for Lillie to begin filming again, and they approached the stone door. Moon vaguely remembered that when they had gone to the Ruins of Life, Olivia had pressed her hand to the center of the door and it had slid downwards immediately. She almost expected it to do the same here; but Hapu took a deep breath, holding out one hand.

“Tapu Fini,” she said calmly, “I enter your home today to complete the journey I have taken, to grow in the small measure of your power I have been permitted. I bring with me four witnesses, their chosen teammates, and a young, injured Pokémon who requests your aid through the Trainer who cares for her. Will you allow us to pass?”

There was a long silence; but then something flickered in the back of Moon's mind— a gentle brush, in comparison to the crackling, grasping siphon of the Nihilego; but definitely not her.

“What was that?” said Hau, sounding faintly panicky.

“Tapu Fini examined you briefly,” said Hapu. “Looking for malicious intent. If you were alone, she would be more thorough. But she tells me you are all free of guile, and thus permitted to enter.”

There was a silvery-violet glow, in the runes carved into the door; then it rumbled and slid downward, as the door at the Ruins of Life had done.

“Thank you, Tapu Fini,” said Hapu. She glanced back at the four of them. “You would do well to thank her as you enter the Ruins yourselves. It will be dark at first, but there is only one path to the lighted area so you will not get lost.”

She went straight into the blackness. Lillie looked up at the door frame, murmured, “Thank you, Tapu Fini,” and followed without hesitation.

Hau made a face at the door. “I don't really like closed-in, dark spaces,” he muttered, but gamely stepped forward anyway. “Thank you, Tapu Fini.”

He left Moon and Gladion, staring at the door. Moon cleared her throat. “Thank you, Tapu Fini.”

“Thank you, Tapu Fini,” echoed Gladion; and his hand, no longer water-wrinkled, slipped into hers as they made their way into the darkness.

After some distance of walking in total darkness, the only connection that of her hand in Gladion's, Moon bumped into a wall. “Ow,” she complained.

“I've got a corner on my right, so I think we have to go left.” Gladion's other hand gently grasped her shoulder to turn her. Moon felt her entire face go hot, and was very thankful that neither of them could see anything.

They went left, and then right twice, and then left twice; and a final right turn brought them to a large, well-lit room made of stone.

They stood on a platform at the center of the room; the platform contained large, square white blocks and pits, into which the blocks would presumably be shoved by Machamp— and indeed, there was a rather bored-looking Machamp sitting on the ground by the blocks. The platform was raised above the floor of the room, which held more standing water and glowing coral. Everything was lit by mushrooms, moss, and coral, shining vividly against the dark walls; there were even some luminescent Frillish and Jellicent bobbing around in the water.

“It's a fairly simple puzzle,” said Hapu calmly, “but we'll cut filming here, so as not to give the solution away to everyone who might watch this ceremony.” She signaled for Lillie to stop recording. “It might take a little longer, but I'm in no rush.”

Moon circled the blocks, peering at the holes from what she could see of them. Lillie joined her.

“I think maybe we have to push this one up,” said the younger girl, pointing.

“Which way is up?” inquired Hau, grinning. “I don't think you mean lifting the block.”

“Er— forward, I suppose.”

“Are you sure? I kind of want to see if I can lift it over my head like Atlas.”

“If it takes a Machamp to push it, there's no way we can lift it,” said Gladion flatly.

Moon turned to look at Hapu. “What do we do if we mess up?”

“Go back out to the cave. Machamp will reset the puzzle.”

“Really? Why?”

Hapu shrugged. “Tapu Fini, like all of her siblings, enjoys confusing people.”

With that less than comforting statement, they decided to push the block forward. The Machamp lumbered to its feet to do the heavy work for them, pushing it into a pit.

“That gives us access to this block,” said Hau, pointing. “And there's another pit we have to cross.”

Gladion's eyebrows creased as he studied the blocks. “So we push it to the right, then come back around and push it forward into the pit?”

“That should work,” agreed Lillie.

They directed the Machamp again, and another pit was filled; they were left with one more pit to cross, but this block was easy enough to access and the puzzle was solved.

“We make a good team,” said Moon, looking at each of them.

Gladion's eyebrows shot up, but Hau and Lillie were nodding in agreement.

“You're our missing piece, man,” said Hau, offering a hand to him. Gladion hesitantly took it, and Hau pulled him in to clap him on the back once before letting him go. “We did okay as the three of us, but Lillie and I aren't quite as strong-willed as Moon is, you know? You balance her out.”

“And you balance Hau out as well,” pointed out Lillie. “He's exuberant, but you're usually calm.”

They all turned to look at Moon— Hau and Lillie rather expectantly, Gladion warily.

“I like having you here, obviously,” she said, fighting and failing to hide the blush. “But Lillie's a lot happier, too. I saw her grumpy this morning for the first time. Usually she pretends to be a morning person.”

Lillie blinked, clearly startled by this observation.

“How'd you manage that?” said Gladion, turning to look at Lillie. “You've never been a morning person in all the time I've known you.”

Lillie sighed. “I had to be one in self-defense once you left— you know how Mother gets.”

“Right— god forbid you don't think the sun should be shining out of your ass before nine in the morning.” Gladion rolled his eyes, but there was something fond in them as he regarded his sister. Lillie caught the look and her face lit up in a brilliant smile.

Hapu cleared her throat. “Shall we resume filming and remove to the Tapu's den?” she said politely.

“Oh, yes, right.” Lillie fumbled with the camera for a few moments, then nodded at Hapu to signal that it was on.

“Having solved the puzzle instantly with the power of video editing,” said Hapu, waving her hand at the completed block-puzzle, “we will now enter the den of Tapu Fini herself.”

She turned and strode toward the stone archway on the other end of the room. A curtain made of shells tied onto strings blocked them from seeing inside; Hapu went straight through, brushing them out of her way. Lillie and Hau quickly followed, and Moon and Gladion trailed after.

Tapu Fini's den was surprisingly cozy. The floor was wooden and man-made, much to Moon's surprise; and the walls were lit by torchlight, rather than iridescent moss and coral. Wooden steps led up to a higher platform, where a small stone altar stood with a statue of Tapu Fini at the top, emerging from her swordfish-head shell.

Hapu went up to the higher platform, motioning for all of them to follow. Her tranquil gaze flickered over all of them for a few moments, then came to rest on Moon.

“Marion Hawkins,” she said quietly, holding out a sheaf of paper. “Would you mind reading the script once more? Normally, your place would be taken by the previous kahuna; but under the circumstances that is not possible.”

“Um— sure, yeah. I'd be honored.” She swallowed and took the offered script. Hapu pointed at where she was supposed to start, and Moon cleared her throat and began reading. “Hapu Kahonua, sixteen years of age, a protected citizen of Poni Island— you have completed your journey faithfully and well. You have learned much about Alola and its people, and you understand the needs of your island. Tapu Fini has shared some of her voice and power with you, to aid you in your youth until such a time as you are deemed worthy to take on the full power of the kahuna. You have used this power wisely, and it is decided by Kahuna Hala Akiona, Kahuna Olivia Wala'e, Kahuna Ishmael Nanu, and Professors Maleko Kukui and Elizabeth Burnet in the place of former Kahuna Ikaika Kahonua that you are worthy to take on Tapu Fini's power. Stand before the altar and—”

Moon's breath caught as she read over the line.

“Yes?” said Hapu, after a few moments.

“Stand before the altar and face Tapu Fini, to take your vows and face her in battle.”

Hapu nodded and walked over to the altar, kneeling for several moments. She closed her eyes, and the air seemed to still around them.

“My friend,” she said softly. “Will you receive my vows and accept my challenge?”

“Fini-fi.”

The soft, whispery voice filled the room, and Tapu Fini rose from behind the altar, revolving as she emerged from her shell.

Moon swallowed, staring up at the guardian deity. Like Tapu Koko and Tapu Lele, she was smaller than she appeared to be— dark face and body curling into the shell. Her long, pale-blue hair spilled around the base of the shell, obscuring her feet.

“The vows, Moon,” Hapu reminded her.

“Oh, right.” Moon forced her gaze back down to the words. “Hapu Kahonua, successor to the title of Kahuna of Poni Island. Tapu Fini, guardian of Poni Island and protector of Alola. Join hands and make your oaths.”

Hapu reached out to Tapu Fini; the deity returned the gesture, slim black fingers wrapping around Hapu's wrist. It was oddly reminiscent of the Nihilego reaching out to grab Moon's arm, but she pushed the memory aside and continued reading from the script.

“Hapu Kahonua, do you swear to serve the people of Poni Island and the people of Alola with honor and humility?”

“I swear,” said Hapu firmly.

“T-” Moon choked slightly, but quickly recovered. “Tapu Fini, do you swear to serve the Pokémon of Poni Island and the Pokémon of Alola with honor and humility?”

I swear.

The voice was thin and soft and unmistakably feminine. Moon jumped, badly startled; she only barely kept from dropping the script.

“It's all right,” said Hapu softly. “It's just Fini. She won't harm you.”

Something knowing in her eyes gave Moon the impression that she knew about the Nihilego, the invasion of the mind that Moon had already experienced.

A gentle hand landed on her shoulder; Gladion, expression impassive. It was something real and solid, when everything around her felt oddly dreamlike. She looked at the script, finding her place again.

“Hapu Kahonua, do you swear to work with Tapu Fini as a friend and a partner, to protect both the people and Pokémon of Poni Island and Alola from any being that would wish harm upon them?”

“I swear.”

“Tapu Fini, do you swear to work with Hapu Kahonua as a friend and a partner, to protect both the Pokémon and the people of Poni Island and Alola from any being that would wish harm upon them?”

I swear.

“You have taken the vows required of you by Poni Island and Alola. May you live up to the honor of your titles— Tapu, or Guardian Deity; and Kahuna, or Protector. Make your own promises to one another.”

Hapu cleared her throat. “I am young and I have much to learn,” she said, steadily looking up at Tapu Fini's bright, beady blue eyes. “I will ask for your wisdom, when I am foolish. I will ask for your aid, when I am weak. I will ask for your protection, when I am in danger. I represent not only myself, but the people of this island. I will protect them as I would my own child. I ask for you to extend your blessing upon me to all of them, in some small measure. In return, I will serve you faithfully and do my best to accommodate your wishes and fulfill your will.”

There was a slight pause; but then Tapu Fini's head bobbed once, in a single nod.

I have seen many kahuna come and go. Ikaika was a gentle one, sometimes too gentle. He let me lose some of myself to the storm on my brother's red island, and I have yet to reclaim it. I know there is evil afoot in Alola, though it eludes me when it finds its way to the colourless island it has built for itself. With the aid of you, a new kahuna, and the aid of my brother and his kahuna— both the old and the new— we will crush this evil for good. I am the flood and the storm, and I protect my own. I will protect my beasts, and I will protect your humans.

It was a simple enough promise, but every word of it chilled Moon to the bone. There was a low note of warning in it, a whisper of retribution— of feminine rage, long repressed for the convenience of others. But it was her turn to read again.

“With these promises, you are bound in word and in spirit to one another.”

The room lit with an eerie light— blue and violet, in combination. Hapu's thick plaits rustled as though a rough breeze had washed over her; and the light where her hand was clasped with Tapu Fini's grew brighter and whiter until Moon had to squint and look away, blinking back tears.

A soft chiming noise sounded, and Hapu laughed— the same childlike, carefree laughter that Moon had heard in the puzzle room. The light faded back to the torchlight, and Tapu Fini pulled back her hand to show a violet mark, shaped like a teardrop, on Hapu's arm.

“My badge of office,” said Hapu, still laughing as she patted the mark. “Thank you, Fini.” She turned to the rest of them. “She and I will battle on the floor below. You will all be safe enough up here, but do not worry if you get a bit... wet.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than Tapu Fini leaped high over their heads, spinning as she fell; streams of water rushed through the shell-curtained doorway. Hapu turned, reaching for a Pokéball at her belt that was open, and pressing the button on it before grabbing another and sending it out.

A bright white blur wisped into the room and went into Hapu's open ball before she closed it; the one she had sent out was her Gastrodon, damp and snarling.

Waves of water splashed through the room, slamming into the Gastrodon; but it was a tough little thing, and bore up admirably under the barrage. Tapu Fini was able to retaliate with what looked like Ice Beam, and the Gastrodon was knocked out.

Moon had never seen such a ferocious, such a powerful battle as this one. Hapu's expression was fiercely, triumphantly happy; her every move was confident. And Tapu Fini was pure energy— she was the ocean, rushing in with glowing moss and mushrooms out into volcanic rock and the bones of dead fish. She was both ocean life and ocean death, the protector and the decayer.

Tapu Fini took out Hapu's Pokémon one by one— each fighting valiantly, but ultimately losing to the sheer power of the deity. There was only one Pokémon remaining, and Hapu sent out Epicentre— who must have rushed back as insubstantial data-bits through rock and water when she recalled him.

The massive Mudsdale snorted, pawing at the wet ground.

Hapu spun and crouched, slamming her fist into the ground. “Epicentre, use Tectonic Rage!” she shouted.

Epicentre reared back on hind legs, and the earth exploded before them— figuratively speaking, as the wooden floors were not affected; but stone and earth and rock appeared from nowhere and exploded, sending great drafts of dust all over the room. Something red-hot and angry spewed from the explosions before pressing down on Tapu Fini, pushing her down, down, down—

I yield.

The mind-voice was as happy, as amused, as Hapu herself seemed to be. Hapu immediately recalled Epicentre, and most of the debris of the battle vanished. Tapu Fini waved a hand, and the waters recalled themselves, rolling back out throught the shell-curtains into the puzzle room.

Tapu Fini crossed over to Hapu, reaching out to brush a hand against her cheek. Moon had the vaguest sensation that Fini was speaking, but it was for Hapu's ears alone. The deity turned to regard each of them, but settled her gaze on Lillie.

Bring forth the little one, please.

This voice was for all of them to hear.

“I didn't know you could talk to us,” ventured Moon, as Lillie reached into her pocket and pulled out the waterproof container where she had placed Nebby, wrapped in a handkerchief as though it were a blanket.

Under the circumstances, I find it is acceptable. Tapu Fini's eyes were fixed on Nebby, and she held out her tiny hands to receive her. There is destiny among you, strangers and intruders though you may be. Bulu has made his choice; Koko bides his time, ever the prankster. Lele has given her blessing to the little one's guardian, her striping of pink; and I shall give you some wisdom, though you are not truly my child.

She studied Nebby, then leaned over and made a noise that sounded like a soft puff of air. The rainbowy aura briefly flickered back around her, and this time— in addition to navy blue, pale-blue, gold, pink, red, and orange— there was purple, swirling with the other colors as though it had always been among them.

Do not be afraid for her. The abuse did her no favors but she is well enough now. She is nearly ready.

The Tapu handed Nebby back to Lillie, then turned and glided away.

“Was that the wisdom?” inquired Moon, slightly disappointed.

Tapu Fini did not stop or turn around. Your wisdom is to listen and learn and draw your own conclusions. You are quite good at that, I hear.

And with that, she disappeared. Moon looked accusingly at Hapu.

“I believe that's Tapu gossip,” said Hapu, holding up her hands in defense. “I wouldn't have told her anything like that, and I certainly wouldn't have phrased it that way even if I had.”

“Fair enough.”

“Congratulations, Kahuna Hapu,” said Hau.

Hapu grinned again— the young, happy grin. “Thank you,” she said brightly. “It's really quite invigorating. Fini had been talking with me and letting me share some of her powers, but now I have access to everything and it's— well, I can't really describe it in words.”

The puzzle room was still and quiet, though the bored-looking Machamp waved as they passed; Moon waved back without thinking about it, because she was so lost in thought about Tapu Fini's advice, about listening and learning and drawing conclusions— where would the guardian have heard something like that?

She was not quite preoccupied enough to not notice that she and Gladion were trailing behind again, and that his hand slipped into hers quite automatically as they entered the dark hallway separating the puzzle room from the flooded cave. They hadn't laced fingers, or done anything couple-y; it was just a gesture of comfort, of guidance through the darkness. All the same, his hand was warm and gentle, wrapping around hers; and a small corner of Moon's mind committed that feeling to memory. She would take it out on bad days and smile to herself over it.

They all fixed their scuba gear back on, and Hapu distributed the rope once more. Moon took the last loop again, but this time Gladion grabbed her hand before they descended, pulling her along to stay with him as they dove through the glowing violet-green lights of the tunnel. She noticed things she hadn't seen on the way in— a bed of Clamperl, snoozing along the dark, sandy floor; a series of glowing, leafy weeds that swayed in the current; and a human skeleton, tangled amid a patch of sharp, spiky pink coral. Hapu paused to point at it before shaking her finger emphatically at Lillie and the camera, and they kept swimming through.

Once they were out of the tunnel and back in the dark ocean, it was a simple journey up and back around to the coast; however it didn't seem to get much brighter, and Moon was very surprised to discover that night had already fallen as they surfaced. Their backpacks were located exactly where they had been left, with Rotom standing guard; and after they had shed the extra scuba gear Hapu turned to face them, letting Epicentre out of her ball.

“I shall return to my home,” she said plainly. “It is a quick enough ride on Epicentre. If you would like to join me, you may call your own Mudsdale by Ride Pager. However, you may wish to return to Seafolk Village, instead. Tapu Fini tells me that if you truly wish to help your Cosmoem, as well as those you have lost to Ultra Space, you must obtain the Moon Flute to go with the Sun Flute already in your possession.” Her mouth thinned. “It irks me that Nanu allowed the Sun Flute to be taken from its ancestral resting place at the Lake of the Sunne, but he has been running double duty for Poni Island for the last eight months and I cannot blame him for letting a few things slip. I will need to speak to him soon anyway, to let him know that I will be available to take on challengers. And I will need to speak to Olivia and Hala as well, though they probably already know that I have joined their number. The others will have told them.”

Moon glanced around at Hau, Lillie, and Gladion; they were all looking expectantly at her. “How far of a flight is it to Seafolk Village?”

“Ten minutes or less. You would probably get home before I do.”

“I think we'll do that, then.” Moon offered her hand to Hapu, and they shook. “Thank you for this opportunity. That was... well, like you said. There aren't words for it.”

“The moss and mushrooms and coral,” said Gladion quietly. “They're sources of light growing from the darkest, dullest place you can imagine.”

“Indeed,” said Hapu, a soft smile breaking across her face. “And so are you— all of you. You have grown from very different kinds of darknesses into what you are now. I see four beacons of light, each shining in its own imperfect, but beautiful way."

And Hapu, Moon thought as she clung to her Charizard, was one of the stars in her sky— a rather distant, rare star; but present all the same. Her parents were stars, and Red and Blue were stars, and the Professors and her teammates and Hau's family were stars— and Hau and Lillie were perhaps her sun and moon, respectively. Gladion was— something else. An entire constellation of stars, to which she drew ever closer. Perhaps they were both stars in the same constellation; or perhaps they were all just stardust, glittering and transparent on the wind.

Chapter Text

The next morning dawned grey and cloudy, and the winds tossed the sea into turbulence that slapped against the wooden docks of Seafolk Village; but it fit with the dreary sort of beauty that Moon had thus far observed on Poni Island. She sat at a window seat in the café area and munched on her cheese-and-tomato omelet and watched the waves. It was oddly soothing.

“Where do we find Captain Mina?”

Gladion sat down next to her with his own breakfast— one of the egg sandwiches on a Galarian muffin. Hau and Lillie had opted to take on Pokémon feeding duty, in the understanding that it would be Moon and Gladion's turn at lunch.

“I think her house is closer to where we docked when we first got here.” Moon met his eyes briefly, offered a smile, and looked away before her heart threatened to beat out of her chest.

“Oh— Char, stop that!”

Moon glanced over at Hau and Lillie, mildly alarmed. Lillie's little Cutiefly chirped brightly, wings working overtime as her little feet clenched firmly around one of BB's claws— lifting her into the air with no apparent effort, despite the fact that the Crabrawler was about four times larger than Charmant.

“That's really cool, though,” said Hau admiringly, holding his hands out hopefully; Char buzzed toward him. “She's probably a lot stronger than she looks, huh?”

“Cue, cue!” sang Char, and promptly began spinning in a circle— which in turn swung BB in a circle as well.

“Char, no!” Lillie lunged, but Char zipped out of reach, giggling; fortunately BB was also chuckling, and did not seem to mind being spun in circles.

“What are they up to?” wondered Moon, watching the spectacle in amusement.

Ben jumped up into Moon's lap, standing on hind legs to press his front paws into Moon's shoulder. “Vee vee vee,” he said quietly in her ear.

“What do you mean, their teams are taking matters into their own hands?”

Lillie was climbing onto her chair, trying to grab at the mischievous pair. “Char, if you drop BB then she's going to get hurt!”

“Yeah, okay, guys,” chuckled Hau, standing up and climbing on his own chair. The six inches he had on Lillie should have given him an advantage, but Char just went higher. “You're stressing Lillie out, knock it off.”

“Cu-tie, cu-tie, cuuuue, tee,” called Char. Her tone perfectly imitated any human who might have said “Neener, neener, neeeeeeener,” and Moon began laughing before she could stop it.

Lillie, pink-faced and cross, bent her knees slightly before jumping high into the air, hand wrapping triumphantly around BB's other claw; but what went up must eventually come down, and her foot caught in the chair.

“Ahh—!”

She tripped, flailing; but Hau, just stepping off his own chair, reached out and caught her at the waist. Lillie gasped, hands automatically going to Hau's shoulders to steady herself.

“Oh,” realized Moon, understanding what Ben meant. “Taking matters— that's clever.”

“What's going on?” said Gladion, confused.

“Hau's and Lillie's teams are in cahoots.”

He blinked at her, still not understanding; Moon jerked her head in the direction of Hau and Lillie, whose faces were only a few inches apart as they stared at each other, seemingly surprised at their proximity. Gladion watched them for a few moments, then loudly cleared his throat.

Several of the collective Pokémon turned and offered Gladion dirty looks— most notably Char, BB, Sonar, Poppy, and Lapin; but also— much to Moon's surprise— Ariel, Macbeth, and Null. Hau and Lillie both jumped, startled, and Hau carefully set Lillie on the ground but didn't immediately let go of her waist.

“Careful,” he said softly. “Wouldn't want you to get hurt, babe.”

Lillie blinked up at him, wide-eyed and flushed, before half-smiling and looking shyly away. She detached Char and BB from one another, not seeming to notice their smug expressions.

Moon silently pressed a hand to her heart. “My ship is sailing,” she said, quietly enough that neither Hau or Lillie would hear her. Gladion offered her an unimpressed expression, but didn't say anything in response.

Breakfast was finished, in a rather more subdued fashion than it had begun. Moon kept an eye on Hau and Lillie, who kept looking at each other and smiling as they ate and supervised the feeding of twenty Pokémon.

After breakfast they set out to find Mina, to inquire after the Moon Flute and Exeggutor Island. Hau and Lillie held hands, as they usually did these days. Gladion did not try to hold Moon's hand the way he had done the day before, but Moon wasn't too offended. She figured it had something to do with the special circumstances. The underwater cave was almost part of another world, and it made sense to want to cling to something familiar in such an alien environment.

They found Mina sitting on the docks outside of her home, barefoot and lying on her stomach, happily drawing in a sketchpad. She rolled over and looked up as they approached.

“Oh, it's you!” she said cheerfully. “Did you manage to find Kahuna Hapu?”

Moon grinned. “Yes, we did. I guess you've heard that she's official, then?”

“She called me this morning to let me know.” Mina sat up, stretching from side to side. “Tapu Fini is something else, isn't she? They pick kahunas who are really special, but they also like to suggest trial captains. Kahuna Ikaika chose me, and we went to Tapu Fini's den to confirm it. It was very nice. She was very kind to me.”

“That sounds awesome,” agreed Moon. “She was pretty nice to us, too. Um— Hapu said we should ask you about getting hold of the Moon Flute?”

“Ah.” Mina's gray eyes lost some of the dreaminess, focusing sharply in on her. “And what do you want with the Moon Flute?”

“We're going to the Altar of the Moone, like it said in the letters. We already have the Sun Flute.”

Mina nodded slowly. “So you mean to summon Lunala?”

“Um— yeah.”

“Hmm.” The trial captain fell silent, studying Moon for a few moments. Moon wondered what was going through Mina's mind; the older girl was totally unreadable under the speckles and stripes of paint. Her hands were smeared with something metallic and shiny— probably graphite, based on the greyscaled drawing in her sketchbook. Moon squinted at it; it seemed to be a sketch of the giant mangrove tree in the middle of Seafolk Village.

“Can I trust you to protect the Moon Flute?” Mina's voice was quiet, recalling Moon to the conversation. “It is usually Nanu's task to protect the Sun Flute, as his territory includes the Lake of the Sunne; but he has been... busy, of late. Distracted.” Her eyes flicked to Gladion, who went pink and frowned, shoving his hands in his pockets. “But it is my duty to protect the Moon Flute, as Exeggutor Island falls into my territory. If it is damaged or destroyed, I must answer to the powers that be.”

Moon swallowed and nodded. “We'll protect it,” she promised. “It will be safe with us.”

A small smile appeared on Mina's face. “All right,” she said, with a nod. “I will trust you. Thank you.”

“You're welcome.”

Mina nodded again before turning to walk away from her house. “Let's go talk to Seamus,” she said calmly.

“Who's Seamus?”

“The chief of the seafolk.” Mina waved her hand around the village. “I do the trials and I care for Pokémon, but the chief settles arguments between people, and takes care of things like public transportation— the category into which a trip to Exeggutor Island falls. He will arrange for you to go.”

They followed her across the wooden docks to one of the larger house-boats, carved in the shape of a big blue Wailord; a sign proclaimed the boat to be home to The Sea-Pickle Bar and Grill. Mina went straight inside, and they followed her but were promptly stopped at the door.

“ID?” said a wizened old woman, scowling at them with her arms crossed.

“Lay off, Olga, they're with me,” said Mina bluntly.

“They don't look old enough to drink, I'm not letting Josey serve anyone who ain't legal—”

“They're not drinking, Olga. It's nine o'clock in the morning.”

“That don't mean nothin'.” Moon noticed that Olga spoke with a heavy, twangy accent— she'd heard it a few times in passing, from the locals who worked at and used the Pokémon Center; it seemed to be an accent native to Poni Island, but neither Mina, Hapu, nor Akela had used it.

Mina sighed heavily and put her hands on her hips before taking a deep breath. “SEAMUS!” she bellowed.

“Oi!” protested Olga, clapping her hands over her ears.

“Who the fuck is yelling at me!” roared a distant voice. “It's nine in the fucking morning, Arceus fucking hell!”

“It's Mina, I've got an errand I need you to run and your mother is being difficult!”

“I ain't being difficult!” screeched Olga. Moon winced, clapping her hands to her ears. “I'm being sensible, the last time we let underagers in the Sea Pickle they all got into the ale and Josey got a citation from Ishmael!”

Footsteps and hard thumps sounded, and from the rhythm Moon was only slightly surprised when a huge man with a wooden leg rounded the corner into the main room. His eyes were slightly bloodshot but still sharp, and his eyes flicked over to survey them before turning to Olga.

“Ma, if you're so pissing paranoid about the ale, you kin go sit guard yourself.” He beckoned to Moon, Hau, Lillie, and Gladion. “Come in, sit yourselves down. I'll get Josey to whip you something up. JOSEY!”

The shout was unexpected and Moon winced again; Hau, Lillie, and Gladion were making similar faces. Mina grinned at them, folding her arms.

A young man popped up from behind the counter, blinking and rubbing at his eyes. He had gingery-blond hair and a moustache that twirled at the ends. “Hi, I was definitely totally not sleeping on the job. Just resting my eyes.”

“Yep, sure you were,” said Seamus, sarcasm dripping from his voice. He turned to look at Moon and company. “Ever had mocktails? Curly Cherrim?”

Moon shook her head, and so did Hau and Lillie.

“Skiploom rickey soda?”

“I don't think so.”

He squinted, nose wrinkling. “Bounsweet daiquiri?”

“Daiquiris are deffo alcoholic,” said Josey helpfully.

“Not if you make 'em without the fucking alcohol, dumbass.” Seamus rolled his eyes.

Gladion cleared his throat, and they all turned to look at him. “Curly Cherrim for her,” he said, pointing at Lillie. “Pinap colada for him.” That was Hau. “And a Skiploom rickey soda for her.” He waved a hand at Moon.

“Why are you ordering for us?” said Lillie suspiciously.

“Trust me, you'll like it,” said Gladion vaguely.

“And what do you want?” said Seamus, folding his arms. Josey was already picking bottles and cups out from the shelf.

Gladion held up a card between two fingers. “I'll take a Suffering Bastard.”

Seamus took the card and squinted at it for a few seconds, then grunted and handed it back to Gladion. Josey gave them a thumbs-up before picking up and shaking a metal container with both hands.

“Seems a little on the nose,” remarked Hau, with a grin.

“Is yours alcoholic?” said Lillie, with a frown.

Gladion promptly turned to Mina. “So, about Exeggutor Island.”

“Right, yeah.” Mina gestured to the four of them. “They need to go to the island and borrow the flute. Can you arrange for them to go?”

“Yeah, that's not a problem.” Seamus scratched his head. “Woulda been nice to know yesterday, if you wanted to leave right away.”

“We can go tomorrow if that's easier for you,” offered Moon.

Seamus shrugged. “It'll be an overnight trip either way. We'd dock at Exeggutor around, mm, nine in the evening, if we left at noon or so. I ain't got a fancy speedboat, so we'd be sailing at the mercy of the winds.”

Josey skirted out from behind the counter and placed a bright red drink in front of Lillie, a pale-yellow one in front of Hau, a clear one in front of Moon, and a brown one in front of Gladion. “Enjoy,” he said cheerfully.

Lillie was still frowning at Gladion's glass, but when he picked it up and took a sip, he turned to stare at Josey. “This doesn't have alcohol in it.”

“Like we'd believe your fake fucking ID,” snorted Seamus. “When ya play bitch games, ya win bitch prizes.”

“Worth a shot.” Gladion shrugged and took another sip, ignoring the slice of Oran berry floating on top. Moon picked up her own glass, examining it; there were a couple slices of green Sitrus berry mixed in with the ice. Lillie's had a Cheri berry at the bottom, and Hau's had a chunk of Pinap berry sitting on the rim.

The Skiploom rickey soda was actually quite good— tart-sweet but mostly sweet. Hau and Lillie seemed to like their drinks as well.

“You've got the morning to pack,” said Seamus, folding his arms and staring at them. “Bring your own food— there's nothing to cook with on my boat. We'll leave at noon. Look for the boat painted like a Sharpedo. Get to the island 'round nine. It'll be dark, so you should just bunk in the boat and wait for morning to get the flute— it's a bit of a hike up to the pedestal. In the morning you kin grab it and we'll head back, hopefully get home around seven or eight at night. Sound all right?”

“Sounds perfect, thank you,” said Moon politely.

They were still pretty much packed from their travels with Hapu the day before, but they had to get food for themselves and their Pokémon for two days. Moon, as usual, provided the beans; in turn, Hau paid for a twelve-pack of Cheri cola and a flat of water bottles, and Lillie and Gladion pitched in for eight pre-wrapped sandwiches— today's dinner and tomorrow's lunch— and a collection of snacks to fill everything in between. Then they bought fresh sandwiches for lunch and ate before hauling everything down to the docks where Seamus waited, with a large sailboat painted like a Sharpedo.

“It's a one-room cabin, but I'll kip outside, I always do,” he said, in lieu of greeting. “Only one bed and one couch, you kin sort that out amongst youse. Hop on and stow your things and we'll get going.”

He didn't seem to be inclined to wait much longer, so Moon ventured to the edge of the dock and gingerly climbed onto the boat, as there wasn't a plank or steps to connect it. Hau followed, turning to help Lillie; and Gladion passed them the case of soda and the flat of water before bringing up the rear with the plastic picnic cooler that held their food.

The cabin did, in fact, have only one room; there was a slender door labeled Toilet that was basically a seat with a hole cut into it. There was a sink at least in the main room, as well as the aforementioned bed and couch. The bed was a full, which meant it could hold two people; and the couch should have had two reclining seats but Seamus informed them, sticking his head down into the cabin, that only one of them worked.

“Well, this will be cozy,” remarked Hau.

“Girls on the bed and we'll take the couch?” said Gladion, surveying their quarters unenthusiastically.

“Sure,” said Moon, but she pulled Rotom out and typed a message.

chat: sprechen zie cousins?

lovestruck fool #1: If you watch a movie with Lillie after dinner and accidentally on purpose fall asleep on the bed, I will do the same on the couch

lovestruck fool #1: Who's the relationship guru NOW huh

relationship guru: if that wasnt a BRILLIANT idea id b offended lmao

The cramped sailboat cabin was not nearly as comfortable as the Aether speedboat, but Moon didn't mind because she had Rotom and several new volumes of poetry to read. Hau and Lillie both sat on the bed, talking quietly and doing something with their Dex and phone; respectively; and Gladion curled up at the other end of the couch with his noise-cancelling headphones and his own phone. He also seemed to be reading, but Moon couldn't tell what it was without sticking her nose in and being abominably rude.

But she was also getting kind of sleepy, and since this was part of her general plan she closed Rotom and curled up on her side, closing her eyes. The couch was definitely not comfortable, and there was no way she was going to make Hau sleep on it when he would clearly be happier snuggling with Lillie.

She tried rolling over to face the back of the couch, but that was not comfortable either; neither was lying on her back or her stomach. There was a spring digging into her that she was too compacted to avoid entirely, unless she wanted to curve her whole body around it and wind up with her head hanging off the middle seat. Waking up with a headache didn't sound nice at all.

“Why do you keep wriggling?”

Moon sighed, tired. She had forgotten that Gladion was also on the sofa.

“'M sleepy, but there's a spring that keeps poking up,” she explained, punching at said spring. “Don't like it.”

There was a short silence, and then she heard a sigh before two hands wrapped around her upper arms and tugged her gently backward until her head was resting against something solid. It gave her enough room to arrange her body around the spring. Something soft brushed along her scalp, and she sighed contentedly before slipping into the anticipated nap.

She woke up when someone shook her— Gladion, again; and when she sat up she realized that in her half-asleep stupor he'd pulled her over to rest her head against his thigh, and she'd repaid the favor by fucking drooling on his jeans.

“I'm so sorry,” she mumbled, feeling herself color up.

“Like I haven't had worse things on me than a bit of saliva,” said Gladion, rolling his eyes. “Imp had a whole phase with Lick about a year ago. It was disgusting."

Moon winced in sympathy, rubbing her eyes to clean them from sleep. Hau and Lillie were handing out sandwiches and sodas, but Lillie shot her a knowing look, gaze flicking briefly to Gladion before raising her eyebrows. Moon glanced over and saw that his face had gone pink.

“I wasn't snoring or anything, was I?”

“No, you were just being your usual cute little self,” said Hau, grinning at Gladion.

Moon glared at him. “Hey, just because I'm the shortest one out of the four of us—”

“See what I mean? Cute.”

“They're trying to get a rise out of me,” said Gladion, calmly unwrapping his sandwich. “I recommend you ignore them.”

But he was still pink-faced, and Moon was not entirely sure why; the only thing she was certain of was that she was the cause, which was immensely flattering.

As Seamus said, they arrived at Exeggutor Island around nine or so at night. The sun had set, and from the gentle pattering sound on the cabin roof it had begun to rain. Moon stuck her head out to check on the grumpy sailor, but he had a tarp pitched over the boom and held down with rocks to form a little tent over his sleeping bag.

Everyone politely looked away as they took it in turns to change into pajamas, and Hau pulled up a movie on his Pokédex to watch with Lillie, still sprawled across the bed. Moon stole Gladion's seat on the reclining half of the couch, eating from a bag of chips as she continued to read her poetry. Gladion did not seem to mind, frowning down at his own phone with the headphones on.

And, as Moon had planned with Hau, both he and Lillie fell asleep watching the movie. They weren't even properly cuddling— just holding hands— but around midnight when Gladion looked up from his phone and saw that they were both asleep, he frowned.

“Just leave them,” yawned Moon, before he could say anything. “I don't mind the couch, and Hau's really way too tall to sleep on it.”

The frown deepened, but Gladion didn't argue the point. Moon, satisfied that her point had been made, put Rotom down and pushed the recliner back as far as it would go, closing her eyes.

There was a silence, and then Gladion cleared his throat.

“I think I may also be too tall to sleep on this couch.”

“You're not that much taller than Lillie, are you?”

“Don't fucking remind me.”

Moon opened one eye to see that Gladion had to pull his knees up at a very awkward angle to rest his head on the other arm of the sofa without touching her.

“Dude, just switch sides,” she suggested, though her heart and stomach tumbled pleasantly at the idea. “I was practically napping on your lap earlier, and this way you can let your feet hang off the edge.”

For a few moments he did not move or respond; but then he shifted, turning on the couch and placing his pillow so that his head rested next to Moon's leg.

“I suppose this is easier,” he muttered, folding his hands over his stomach. “Even if that spring is sticking right into my ass.”

Moon swallowed. “Um... if it's more comfortable, then— then you can put your head, um, in my lap?”

There was another long pause, and then Gladion tilted his head to look up at her.

“Are you sure?” he said warily. “I don't want to invade your personal space or anything.”

“Yeah, it's fine. Come on.” She patted her thigh, awkwardly, and immediately wished she hadn't.

Gladion sat up, scooted closer, and laid down again; this time, his head rested on her thigh, with the pillow to ease the strain on his neck and back. Moon breathed— this was fine and frankly awesome, there was nothing to worry about except maybe scaring him off— and closed her eyes again.

She vaguely remembered, in a half-asleep way, that he'd run his hand through her hair when she was taking a nap and reached out to do the same; but the moment her fingers met his scalp a hand wrapped around her wrist.

Moon half-opened her eyes. Gladion had turned to look at her.

“Don't do that.”

“You did it to me,” she pointed out, but she laced her fingers together, letting them rest on her stomach once Gladion let her hand go.

He mumbled something, which Moon wasn't quite sure she heard correctly so she had to clarify.

“Did you say you're ticklish?”

“Yes, and that is not an invitation.”

“Not right now, anyway,” said Moon, closing her eyes again. “I can tease you about it someday.”

He sighed, but it sounded more fond than anything. “I'm sure you will.”

The morning came, and with it even more rain. Moon put on two pairs of socks beneath her sturdy boots, wrapped her backpack in the rain-tarp she'd used in Po Town, and buttoned her raincoat up to her chin. Seamus, wearing a raincoat of his own, sat on a wide stool and cast a fishing line out into the ocean to occupy himself while he waited for their return. Gladion, having resided in Po Town, also had plenty of rain gear; but Hau and Lillie only had raincoats, so they elected to leave their backpacks on the ship and take only their Pokémon and a couple of small bags that would fit beneath the coats. Thus equipped, the four of them made their way onto Exeggutor Island.

They were anchored at a tiny wooden dock on a small beach, but a clear path wound into thick jungle, with a sign that indicated Moon Flute Pedestal This Way.

The hike was largely uphill, which was annoying; but the hill sloped shallowly enough that it wasn't a very strenuous exercise. All of them were used to walking long distances, being Pokémon Trainers. Moon led the way, glancing back occasionally to see Gladion nearly keeping pace and Hau and Lillie bringing up the rear, hand in hand. They hadn't fallen asleep cuddling, but they had definitely woken up cuddling, and Moon had watched them fondly for a few minutes before they realized they had an audience. There hadn't been anything happening, but they seemed embarrassed all the same.

The path led them up to a large, clear meadow that Moon thought at first was populated with singlar palm trees; but then it became clear that the palm trees were walking around and were, in fact, the Alolan long-necked variety of Exeggutor. Despite the rain, they were slowly plodding around.

“Pins... pins...”

The closest Exeggutor swung its head wildly, shaking it back and forth; Moon and Gladion had to duck to keep from being clotheslined.

“Did you hear that?” she said, squinting up into the rain at the distressed Exeggutor. “There was a sound before it started shaking around.”

“Something's wrong with it,” concluded Gladion. “It sounded like a Pokémon cry to me. I bet there's a Bug-type or something predatory in the tree, bothering it— watch out!”

He lunged toward Hau and Lillie, pushing them out of the path of a second Exeggutor, which was stomping angrily in circles, tail waving frantically.

“Right,” said Moon, with a frown. “Gladion and I have more battling supplies in our backpacks than the two of you. You should go and wait—” She looked around and spotted the path that led further up the hill, next to what appeared to be a small hollow underneath a rocky cliff. “Over there, in that little cave thing.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Lillie, tugging on Hau's hand. “Come on, we can get out of the rain.”

Moon took Ariel's ball from her belt. “Fly up and see what's bothering the Exeggutor,” she ordered.

“Cana tou!” Ariel soared upward through the rain. Gladion had let out Imp, who went to investigate the same phenomenon on the second Exeggutor.

“Pins pins!”

A pair of ugly Bugs with wide, snapping pincers flew out of the Exeggutor's leaves. Ariel cawed threateningly, batting one of them down to the ground; Imp dive-bombed the other and it dodged downward as well, hissing angrily.

“Oh, it's just Pinsir,” said Gladion, wrinkling his nose. “Making nuisances of themselves like usual, I don't doubt— just like the people that train them. Imp, use Acrobatics.”

“Hit it with Beak Blast, Ari! Were you shading Guzma just now?” inquired Moon, glancing over at Gladion.

His smirk was answer enough. Moon laughed, and they easily defeated their respective foes. However, the other Exeggutor also seemed to be bothered by Pinsir, and it wouldn't have been very nice to just leave them to suffer; so Moon and Gladion worked their way through the entire field.

Moon finished with her final Pinsir before Gladion finished with his, and she turned around to check on Hau and Lillie in the cave; but what she saw nearly made her stumble before she retreated to peek out at them from behind a large shrub.

Hau and Lillie were standing very close. Moon could only see the back of Hau's head, but Lillie's eyes were wide and her face was flushed, and her hands slowly slid up to Hau's shoulder's.

“You done?” said Gladion, behind her.

“Shh!” hissed Moon, flapping one hand at him.

“What're you—”

“Hau and Lillie, look!”

He fell silent, coming to stand next to her. Lillie was speaking, saying something to Hau with a very nervous expression; but then Hau laughed, just loudly enough that Moon could hear it over the rain, and brought one hand up to cup Lillie's cheek.

“Oh my god it's happening it's happening!”

“This is very fucking weird, just so you know,” said Gladion flatly. “You're— fangirling, over my little sister and her sort-of boyfriend, who is your cousin.”

“I've been watching this not happen for six fucking months, let me have my moment.”

In the distance, Hau's head bent, and Lillie's eyes fluttered closed. Moon couldn't see exactly what they were doing because Hau's hand blocked the view, but the gist of it was quite clear.

“Oh, my heart,” she sighed happily, pressing one hand against her chest to indicate the organ in question. “God, they're cute. Fucking finally.”

“You'll have to forgive me if I don't share your enthusiasm.”

“Are you happy that she's happy?”

Gladion blinked at her for a few moments. “Well, yes, obviously.”

“Then you don't have to be enthusiastic. That's just, you know, me.” Moon grinned at him before turning back to see what Hau and Lillie were up to. Still kissing, it would seem; but they'd had a good twenty or thirty seconds so she cleared her throat, walked out from behind the bush, and screamed, “Hau and Lillie, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G—”

Hau looked up, grinning stupidly; Lillie let out a squeaking noise and buried her face against his raincoat-clad and probably damp chest. “There's no tree here, silly. You got everything else right, though.”

“You're both so obnoxious,” said Gladion, shaking his head. “Someone remind me why we're friends.”

There was a moment's pause, during which Gladion went suddenly beet red, staring at the ground.

“Thanks, man,” said Hau warmly, after a few moments. “Coming from you, that means a lot.”

Gladion nodded once without looking up. After a few more moments of silence, Moon cleared her throat.

“Let's keep moving,” she said, turning toward the path that led further uphill. “I think we're pretty close, actually.”

In silent agreement they fell into step behind her. Gladion trudged along, occasionally turning to wrinkle his nose at Hau and Lillie, who were quietly giggling about something in the way that lovey-dovey new couples often did. Moon reminded herself to pull Lillie aside soon for a bit of girl talk; she wanted to hear about Lillie being happy, but she also had a lot of feelings about Gladion she needed to vent to someone. If she knew where she stood with Molly and Rogelio, she would talk to them about it; but the events of the last few weeks had put their friendship into a strange limbo, one she wasn't sure how to break.

The thickly forested path opened up onto a final clearing. Moon was surprised to see the rough outline of a battle arena marked on the ground, but the pedestal at the other end contained their prize.

Moon had only briefly seen the Sun Flute at Aether, before Lillie had carefully wrapped it in a silk bag and put it into her backpack; but the Moon Flute, slick with rain, gleamed pale-blue. A marking shaped like a crescent moon adorned the end of the flute.

“What's it made of?” she wondered, staring at it.

Lillie carefully pulled a washcloth and another silk bag from her pocket, wiping down the Moon Flute before sliding it into the silk bag. “I'm not sure,” she admitted. “They both feel like stone to me, but they're far too light for it.”

“And you'll hang onto that one, too?”

Lillie nodded, but her face was thoughtful as she tucked the Moon Flute inside her raincoat. “I can't quite explain it,” she said, fiddling with the damp washcloth, “but I have a feeling that the Moon Flute... it's meant for me, somehow.”

“A feeling?” said Moon, frowning. “What kind of feeling?”

“It feels right in my hands. The Sun Flute felt a little off, but the Moon Flute feels right.” Lillie shrugged. “I learned to play the oboe for a few years, before Mother decided she didn't like the sound of it and made me stop. So I do understand the basics of the flute, and I think I ought to play it at the Altar of the Moone. Especially since I've been caring for Nebby.”

“Who's gonna play the Sun Flute, then?” Moon crossed her arms. “I don't have a musical bone in my body, so it probably shouldn't be me.”

“I played the trombone for six months but I was terrible,” offered Hau. “That was in like third grade though. I don't remember any of it.”

Gladion's nose wrinkled. “I play piano. I don't know anything about wind instruments.”

“Do you still play?” said Moon, curious. “Did they have a piano in Po Town, or something?”

“They had a piano,” said Gladion, in the same tone that one might use when saying They had a fungus-covered toenail infection. “It was horribly out of tune, and nobody wants to waste money on a piano tuner in a town that's constantly damp— you'd practically have to have them come every month. But Jeremiah had a keyboard along with his soundboard stuff, because he wants to be a DJ. He let me play with it sometimes.”

“So, it's probably me?” Hau looked less than enthusiastic. “Man, I'm gonna have to practice first. I bet trombone is way different from flute.”

“Good luck with that,” snorted Moon.

“I'll teach you,” Lillie promised, smiling softly up at him.

“Yes, ma'am.” Hau bent quickly to peck her on the lips before straightening up, expression innocent.

“Gross,” said Moon, expression deadpan.

“That's very inconsistent with what you've said so far about the whole concept of us,” said Lillie, indicating herself and Hau.

“She's definitely teasing us.”

“I'm definitely teasing you,” agreed Moon. “Meanwhile, you're so in love over there that you probably haven't noticed that it's stopped raining.”

Hau, Lillie, and Gladion all looked up, bemused.

“So it has,” said Hau, after a few moments. “Look, a rainbow.”

Moon smiled. The rainbow made her think of a lot of things— colorful moss and mushrooms in a dark cave, light at the end of a dark tunnel, the feeling of a warm hand in hers. She thought of Molly and Rogelio for a few moments— because rainbows were a symbol that they and others like them had adopted, in a world that had not let them have all that much— and hoped that somewhere, somehow, they were okay.

And yes, there were still struggles that happened even when it stopped raining. Hiking downhill could be especially perilous when the path was all mud and rocks— water seeped into the earth of Alola in a way it never would have done in Kanto. A wrong step sent Moon tripping downhill twice before Gladion crossly grabbed her wrist and refused to let go of it, sighing in annoyance and yanking her back whenever she stumbled. Hau and Lillie, behind them, spent the rest of the walk back giggling at them, and Moon could hardly blame them even if it wasn't really holding hands per se. But the skies were blue, and a bright spectrum spread across the sky— almost as if to signal that they had really taken another important step in the journey to restore things to how they should be.

Chapter Text

It just so happened that when Moon, Hau, Lillie, and Gladion arrived back at the Alolan Regional Hospital, Hapu was outside of her house, speaking quietly with four other people. One of these was Akela, sitting comfortably in the arms of one of the Machamp; another was a tall, sturdy-looking woman with a gentle smile; and the other two were clearly brother and sister, so alike that they must surely have been twins. As far as Moon was aware, Hapu's parents had passed away when she was quite young, and she did not have siblings; but the sturdy-looking woman had the same gray eyes and button nose as Hapu, and the probably-twins were both short and had dark hair.

“Ah, hello!” called Hapu, as Moon and Gladion disembarked from their Charizard. The other people turned to look at them. “Were you successful in your quest to Exeggutor Island?”

“We were. Thank you for your help in getting us there,” said Moon, because it deserved to be said. “Are we interrupting you?”

“No, not at all. My grandmother you have met. This is my aunt, Maia Kahonua; and these are my cousins, Jordan and Jay Kahonua.”

“Hi!” chirped Jordan and Jay in unison. Maia nodded in greeting.

“Since I have become a fully-realized kahuna, I will need to be either away from home or very available to leave my home at any time. In that light, I asked my aunt and cousins to move here to help my grandmother with the house, and to run the Mudsdale and Machamp Ride Pager training programs,” explained Hapu. “I will, of course, be employing them a living wage for their services; just because they are family does not mean I should expect them to work for free! Jordan and Jay both chose to study Pokébiology in their pursuit of higher education, and are thus very qualified to run the Ride Pager training program. It would be remiss of me to ask them to work in a field that is uniquely suited to their talents without offering them the opportunity to earn money from it.”

“You've said so, a whole awful lot,” said the female twin— Jordan, as Moon was fairly certain she'd been introduced before her brother. She spoke with a rather twangy accent that Moon had heard a few times already— Josey and Olga at The Sea Pickle Bar and Grill, as well as a few of the locals, used it. “And it's like we keep telling you, we got no call to ask for extra money just 'cause you're kahuna now. It ain't right.”

“What's not right is expecting you to work for free,” said Hapu, shaking her head. “You needn't spend the money I give you, but rest assured I will be giving it to you. I do not intend to begin my term as kahuna by leading anyone to believe that I am cheap or unwilling to pay well for honest work.” She coughed, clearing her throat. “Anyway, that is family business, and it appears that our guests are in the midst of their travels. Are you headed toward the Vast Poni Canyon?”

“Yeah, that's our next stop.”

“Very good. And I imagine you have flown directly in from Seafolk Village, so I suspect you have no need of extra supplies. If you do find that you are running low on anything, please feel free to fly back here. The four of you are welcome to use any of my stores, at no cost.”

“It seems like deja vu,” said Moon, straight-faced, “but if we use your stuff we're just going to leave money at your house even if you don't accept it from our hands.”

Hapu sighed. “If you really insist, I will accept your coin.”

“Put it toward kahuna expenses,” suggested Hau. “The salary really isn't as good as people think it is. The budget is big, but the salary is just barely respectable.”

“I suppose you would know, being the grandchild of a kahuna yourself.” Hapu's eyes flickered in amusement. “It is interesting, the things you find in common with people. But I do not wish to keep you; we will have plenty of time to communicate during your travels on my island.”

“Are we going to see you again?” inquired Moon.

“I have agreed to offer a canyon tour to Captain Phyco and Private Soliera, at the request of the acting vice-president of the Aether Foundation.” Hapu's eyes twinkled. “She asked me to be sure you are all eating your vegetables and having fun.”

Gladion snorted loudly. “Of course she did.”

“In other news, the footage you helped me shoot has been properly compiled and edited, and you will be able to watch it tomorrow evening on the news, if you have access to a cable signal this far out in the wilds. I have been told to expect... ah, a surprising amount of comedy.”

“Who edited it?” said Moon skeptically.

“I believe it was a joint effort from Captain Sophocles, Captain Acerola, and Molayne Parker.”

“Oh, god,” muttered Gladion, sighing heavily.

“Do you know any of them? I thought you only maybe knew Acerola.” It occurred to Moon that Acerola— with her frequently accurate metaphors and generally omniscient behavior— had probably known of Lillie and Gladion's identities the entire time they had known her.

Gladion's nose wrinkled. “I have no complaint about Sophocles but Molayne is a troll, and kind of a low-key sadist.”

“Mr. Parker has indeed been known to enjoy a good joke, occasionally at the expense of those around him,” agreed Hapu. She lifted one hand to wave to them. “I wish you luck and safety in your travels. If you get into a tight spot, don't hesitate to call upon Tapu Fini. She will be watching out for you while you are here, at my request.”

“Really comforting,” said Moon under her breath, thinking of the alien voice of the Tapu echoing in her mind.

The path that led further along the Ancient Poni Path was well trodden, and it seemed to be a crossroads for much of the island. About a mile and a half along the road from Hapu's home and the hospital, they came to the same split in the path that had originally led them down to the Poni Breaker Coast and the Ruins of Hope. Moon could see the dark beach down the steep hill that they had traversed. She hadn't paid much attention to the other paths before, but this time they had a different destination. Their obvious option, by far the most used of the paths, turned north toward the Vast Poni Canyon; but several signs pointing toward a maze of crumbling adobe walls indicated that Poni Grove was also nearby.

“What's in Poni Grove?”

“I think that's the path that leads to the plainlands and Tree Town,” offered Lillie. “When I worked in the hospital back home, I often treated patients who had been injured there. It's off-limits to anyone who hasn't passed the island challenge.”

“With good reason, it's scary as fuck,” said Gladion darkly. “The Pokémon are very strong and very annoying.”

“Have you been?”

“Unfortunately.”

His disgruntled tone led Moon to believe that a further line of questioning would not, at this point, be welcome. Instead, she turned northward to face the part of the Ancient Poni Path that would lead to the canyon, which was already visible from the crossroads. It barely loomed over the treeline, but from what Moon had read in The Traveller's Guide to Alola, the canyon had very much earned its descriptor vast.

“Apparently, the canyon used to be home to a river and a lake,” she informed them, holding the book open as they walked. “And the Altar of the Moone used to be surrounded by water.”

“Kind of like the Lake of the Sunne,” said Hau, nodding thoughtfully. “It was super lush and green there, though— on the coastal side of Lanakila.”

That made sense. “The Altar of the Moone is further inland, so it's probably dried up over a long time.”

Lillie shook her head. “It's fairly recent,” she informed Moon. “It was in the last ten years or so. The canyon has been quite barren for much longer, but the Altar of the Moone was still a lake when I was born. I've seen pictures.”

“From Dad's expeditions?” said Gladion absently.

“Exactly.”

They all fell quiet for a time— Lillie and Gladion probably thinking about their father, and Hau remaining silent in respect; but something occurred to Moon.

“What if,” she ventured, “the drying up of the lake here has something to do with Po Town?”

“Oh,” said Gladion, eyebrows rising. “Oh. God, I'd never thought about that before.”

Hau frowned. “Thought about what?”

“Ten years,” said Moon, because those had been the words to spark her theory. “Ten years ago, the lake here dried up. Ten years ago, Po Town got a permanent rainfall. And when we were in the Ruins of Hope— I don't know how much you heard, but Tapu Fini said something about losing some of herself to the storm on Po Town. What if the water, and I guess magic needed for that, comes from the Altar of the Moone? It's water, it's from Poni Island— it makes sense to me.”

Lillie's eyes went round. “We should tell someone about that,” she said firmly. “It's probably harmed the ecosystem on Poni Island a lot, and I imagine that the ecosystem around Po Town isn't much better off. And it seems that Tapu Fini doesn't want for the storm at Po Town to be really permanent, anyway. After ten years, they've probably learned their lesson.”

“I doubt it,” muttered Gladion, scowling. “Not if Guzma was enough of an asshole to partner up with fucking Lusamine.”

“Wanting to take care of family isn't asshole behavior, asshole.”

The voice was one that was unfamiliar to Moon, and their group came to a halt as three gangly teenage boys in the garb of Team Skull emerged from behind a boulder ahead of them, blocking their path. They wore Kantonian-style face masks with screen-printed skeleton teeth, so Moon could only distinguish them by their hair colors, which were surprisingly subdued for Team Skull: dirty-blond, dark brown, and a cool, silvery grey.

“Oh, for fuck's sake,” sighed Gladion. “We don't have time for this, kids.”

The blond one bristled. “Watch yourself. We're not kids.”

“You're literally sixteen, Jeremiah. Sit your ass down. What do you want?”

“Just to talk.”

That was a familiar voice, and it was with both dread and anticipation that Moon turned around to see three faces she knew well, walking up to them from behind. Molly, Rogelio, and Cassie strode forward. Molly's face was hard and angry; Rogelio's was carefully blank; and Cassie, as per usual, looked bored.

“This doesn't look like talking,” said Hau, indicating Molly's hand that was clenched around one of her Pokéballs.

“What do you want,” repeated Gladion, hand going to his own belt.

“Like I said,” said Molly flatly. “We're just talking.” Her mouth thinned. “In person, seeing as how you can't be bothered to communicate with any of us online.”

Guilt surged through Moon's stomach, but she didn't know what to say. She was glad to see that they were okay, but there was something off about all of them. Molly's anger was not ordinarily so visible, and there was something on Rogelio's neck that looked like—

“Holy shit, did someone try to strangle you?”

Rogelio's eyes shifted away, and he didn't answer.

“I don't see how that's any of your goddamn business,” said Molly nastily.

It hurt, hearing her friend on the defensive. Moon sucked in a breath and tried to compose herself; a hand came down to gently rest on her shoulder.

“What did you want to talk about?” said Gladion. His mouth was just as thin as Molly's. “I don't see how standing here and insulting people is going to make for a productive conversation, and I assume a productive conversation is what you mean by talking. Unless you came to say mean shit, in which case you can fuck off because we're on a schedule.”

Molly took a deep breath, jaw working for a few moments.

“What's happened to Guzma?” she said, finally.

Moon blinked at her. “You don't know?”

“No,” snapped Molly. “No, I don't fucking know. Because he walked into that big house on Aether Paradise, apparently, and he never fucking came out. The rest of them scarpered before the security got called, but nobody bothered to get in touch with us and let us know what's been going on. And the last time we saw the only person who could have been talking to us about it, she was incredibly short with us because her fucking boyfriend was throwing a tantrum, despite the fact that we saved her goddamn life the night before.”

“I—”

“I thought we were friends, Moon!” screamed Molly, taking three steps forward. She was shorter than Moon, but her rage was just as terrifying as Guzma's, for all it was more controlled. “We risked our fucking lives to keep you safe in Po Town, and then you just say 'I don't have time to explain,' and go! Not so much as a call or a text, to let us know that you're safe, let alone what happened to fucking Guzma!"

"She doesn't owe you shit!" shouted Gladion, stepping forwards with fists clenched. "We've all been through some bullshit, in case you haven't noticed, and we're fucking busy. It's not like you called or texted to ask us about how we were doing, either!"

"I told you," murmured the kid with silvery hair, frowning at the blond kid. "I told you we should have texted Gladion and asked! Just because he quit Team Skull doesn't mean he hates us now!"

Molly glared at the silver-haired kid, then sighed. "Do you have any idea how goddamn worried we've been about the both of you?"

"Oh, you're really fucking showing that you're worried," snapped Gladion. Moon wondered if she should assign him a penalty for that; but the thing was, he was right. She didn't necessarily owe Molly information. As a friend, of course she felt bad for losing touch, and wished she'd contacted Molly earlier; but her hesitation to do so seemed now to be justified. "So what the fuck is going on that's got a goddamn palm tree shoved up your—"

"Gladion," mumbled Moon, and he glanced at her but fell silent, lips pursed.

Molly held up her hand, ticking off fingers as she spoke. "Well first off, half of Team Skull's gone fucking apeshit bonkers because Guzma's not there to keep them separate from the Foxes. And now those assholes are taking over the house and ruining shit, and we had to run for our fucking lives because fucking Kohaku and Emmett decided to play 'hunt the gays' with actual fucking weapons, which is the answer to your question about whether someone tried to kill Rog. He had to leave his greenhouse and he's in mourning over it!"

"Molly, that's my business," said Rogelio softly, and somehow Moon felt even worse; usually, Rogelio didn't mind if Molly shared things about him with other people. They had that sort of best-friendship. If he was asking Molly not to say anything to Moon, it was because he didn't feel comfortable with her knowing.

"Fine," said Molly, rolling her eyes. "There's plenty of other shit going on. Trinh and Uilani got all of the kids under eighteen over to Aether House so they wouldn't get fucking kidnapped into some kind of sex dungeon shit, because the Foxes actually do that, and they were pissed and tried to kill them as revenge. And Plumeria couldn't control any of the Foxes anymore and Cassie's only one fucking person who can use a gun so there's nine of us crammed into a shitty-ass trailer at Haina Junction and trying not to freak the fuck out because none of us have any idea what the fuck is going on!”

There was a long silence. Moon didn't know what to say— she wasn't sure that anything she could say would be enough to make up for all the ways she had let down her friend.

“Holy shit,” said the one of the boys behind her. “Moonie, you catch that on film?”

“Not you,” said Cassie, before Moon could respond. “He means Ki-moon.”

“I wasn't going to film Molly having an epic mental breakdown. I don't think any of us want to relive that, thanks,” said another voice, which was presumably Ki-moon.

“Do you,” said Molly, ignoring all of them, “have anything to fucking say for yourself, Moon Hawkins?”

“I'm sorry.” It fell out of her mouth, rushing out like the water that should have been on Poni Island. “I'm sorry, Molly, I'm so fucking sorry— I-I had no idea and I didn't think, I wasn't thinking, I was worried that you guys were— that you were going to hate me because we went up against Team Skull or because Gladion quit or something like that, and I have been worried about you, but I was scared and that was dumb, I should have contacted you and I'm so sorry, I'm so so sorry—”

She choked on a sob.

Rogelio, who had remained silent this entire time, took several steps forward to join Molly. He put one hand on her shoulder, and then he took another step forward and hesitantly opened his arms to Moon.

“S'all I needed to hear,” he mumbled.

Moon wrapped her arms around him, now crying in earnest. Rogelio patted her back gently.

“Sorry for guilting you,” he said softly. “Plumeria's kind of in her head these days, so Molly's had to play big sister to keep us all fed and watered. And she's been really worried, too.” He turned, and frowned at her. "That being said, Gladion is right. You were being a jerk."

Molly opened her mouth indignantly, but then paused. "Yeah," she sighed. "Okay. Sorry for all that, Moon. I probably should have been venting to other people."

"It was manipulative guilt-tripping bullshit," said Gladion coldly, "and you of all people should know that I will call that out when I see it."

She winced. "Yeah, okay. Point taken."

“Well,” said Lillie briskly, “I think that explaining what has happened to us, as well as to Guzma, will go a long way toward easing everyone's minds about what's happened.”

It was very practical advice, very Lillie; and it was Hau who suggested they all move to the side of the road and take an early lunch. Molly, though she was still stone-faced, sat down, flanking Moon along with Rogelio. Gladion went to sit with Cassie and the three boys, and Hau and Lillie, as usual, leaned on one another.

It was the third time now that they had told the story, and Moon had the presence of mind to get out Rotom and have it quietly record the tale, with no commentary; it would save them on further explanation. The retelling was easier this time: Lillie and Nebby were kidnapped by Faba and Plumeria, Moon and Gladion left on Charizard, they picked up Hau and made their way to Aether. They learned bone-chilling secrets about all of the nasty shit that Aether did in the privacy of the ocean and the funding of the government, they defeated Faba's wave of Aether minions; and Null evolved and broke her helmet (this merited demands for proof, and Gladion seemed to gain back some points with the boys as they petted Null and fed her beans). They fought Kohaku, Emmett, and Jack in the courtyard, and Kohaku attempted to kill Moon but Gladion jumped in; Moon faced down Guzma for the second time that day and accidentally triggered what Cassie knowingly referred to as “beast mode boss man”; they found Lillie and Lusamine in the mansion and watched, sick, as she revealed herself to be a master manipulator and abusive parent; and Nebby, screaming in pain, was made to open an Ultra Wormhole— into which Lusamine went, and Guzma followed.

Thre was a long silence at this revelation, only broken when another familiar voice said flatly, “You have got to be fucking kidding me.”

Moon wasn't sure when Plumeria had arrived, but there she was, perched up in one of the trees. She resembled a pheasant, with bright neon yellow and hot-pink ponytails like long tail-feathers.

She jumped down, landing on the ground in a crouch before straightening up and crossing her arms.

“You're kidding me, right?” she repeated, staring at Moon. “Guzma jumped into an Ultra Wormhole? Seriously?”

“That would be fucking Lusamine's fault,” said Gladion, scowling at the ground. “She said something about him 'earning that ten billion.' ”

Plumeria regarded him for a few moments, but then she let out a soft, defeated sigh.

“God fucking damn it,” she mumbled. “When will he ever learn to see when he's being played? I knew that chick was trouble. I told him she was no good.”

“But you still went with it,” retorted Gladion

Plumeria's mouth went flat and tight. “I guess you'd know how she is, as she's your mother,” she said flatly. “She promised us a lot of money, but it was more than that. She's got a silver tongue, that one. She knew exactly what to say to flatter his vanity, and if I tried to point that out then I was a hater. So I had to shut up and go along with it, because I'd be damned if any of the kids got hurt over it. She's a fucking puppetmaster, and my idiot man handed her his strings.”

Moon's eyes widened. “The mural,” she said, turning to look at Molly and Rogelio. “Trinh's mural, with the skeletons. I asked what it was about and you guys said Skull business.”

“Long live the dead,” quoted Rogelio. “Puppets of bone, on the string of a ruthless queen. Yeah, this is what that was about.”

Plumeria nodded, casting a critical eye first over Hau, and then over Moon. “You like Shakespeare, so you'd understand what I mean when I say there's something rotten in the state of Po Town.”

Moon snorted. “I figured.”

“Team Skull isn't the only organization being sponsored by Aether.” Plumeria's eyes turned back to Hau. “I don't know if you can do fuck-all about it, but it probably wouldn't hurt to ask old man Hala to look into how the Foxes are making money. They do a lot of nasty shit, under cover of the rain. They wanted Guzma to take the Aether job, and even if he'd listened to me about Lusamine— which he didn't— he would have been swayed by them.”

“I can mention it. Is— Guzma one of them?” said Hau cautiously.

Plumeria's mouth quirked. “In name only. He deals with the Team Skull end of things... kind of like the PR, weirdly enough. You wouldn't peg him as a public relations kind of guy by talking to him. I'd be more Fox than him... if I chose to acknowledge that part of my past.” She sighed. “I wanted nothing to fucking do with Aether. They're the opposite of everything Team Skull stands for.”

“What does Team Skull stand for?” asked Moon, honestly curious.

Plumeria crossed her arms again. “Freedom,” she said simply. “Rebellion against bureaucratic bullshit. A safe haven for the people who can't chase their dreams, for whatever reason.” Her eyes flicked to Gladion. “I told you once that you would find it hard to fit into Team Skull. I meant that, because it ain't what it should be. Yeah, we go tagging, and we like messing with the trials a bit because a lot of Trainers have sticks up their asses; but that's harmless, and everyone knows it. The really bad shit— Slowpoke Tails, and drug running, and weapons? That's the Foxes creeping in. What Team Skull should be is what you needed, when you came to us. We couldn't give you that, and I'm sorry.”

There was a long silence, but then Gladion nodded once. “That's fair,” he said shortly.

Plumeria turned to Lillie. “And I owe you an apology, too—”

“It's okay,” said Lillie softly.

“Seriously?” said Hau and Gladion in unison.

“I could tell you didn't want to be there,” said Lillie, ignoring her boyfriend and her brother. “I could tell you didn't like Faba, not at all, and anyone who doesn't like Faba is, as Hau says, good people.”

Moon snorted. “If that's your measure for whether someone is a decent human being then you're way too nice for your own good. I've never met anyone so unlikeable in my entire life.”

“Kohaku,” Gladion reminded her.

“Kohaku,” agreed the three Team Skull boys.

“Fuckin' Kohaku,” concluded Molly, and for the first time in the entire conversation her mouth relaxed into a smile.

“I should have thrown him out on his ass ages ago,” admitted Plumera. “But I didn't want him to go to the Foxes, because he'd be so much worse with access to their shit. I gotta protect all my fuckin' kids, even the ones who are total numbskulls.”

She cleared her throat, turning to Moon. “So. My dumbass boyfriend walked into an Ultra Wormhole with a fuckin' psychopath— sounds like the start of a sick joke.”

“She's not technically a psychopath; she has either narcissistic personality disorder or borderline personality disorder,” corrected Lillie. “When you understand that she believes she's the center of the universe, a lot of her behavior starts to make sense.”

Plumeria rolled her eyes. “Okay, but what's being done about it? Are y'all just leaving him to die while you go on your island challenge?”

Moon shook her head. “No, we didn't get to that part of the story yet. Um— the Aether Foundation, specifically Ms. Wicke, asked us to go to the Altar of the Moone, to try and open an Ultra Wormhole and rescue them.”

“You can do that?”

“Yeah. Um, there are some people from another planet who got here by Ultra Wormhole, and they've gone back and forth a few times. So it's totally doable, but the wormhole will be more stable if we open it at the Altar of the Moone— we need Lunala to open it, and she's summoned at the Altar.”

“Are you talking about the blue people?” said the silver-haired boy excitedly. “I totally met them! It was like, a month or two ago. The dude was asking me about a lot of science shit and I wanted to call Rog and ask him because he's the science guy, but I'd left my phone at the house so I couldn't get in touch with him.”

Plumeria frowned. “Your partner should have let you use theirs, Almas. Who were you with?”

Almas's face fell. “Trinh and Emmett,” he admitted. “Trinh just wanted to go home, and Emmett wouldn't have let me use his phone. So I couldn't talk to the blue people about anything, but they were really nice.”

“Yeah, and we're helping them with something else too,” said Moon. She didn't bother with details regarding Necrozma— it probably didn't matter to Team Skull what else they were doing, as long as they got Guzma back. “But getting Lusamine and Guzma back is the priority, for us at least.”

There was a long silence, but then Plumeria moved so that she was kneeling instead of sitting, and dug in her pocket for a few moments; then she offered her open hand to Moon. Two vividly purple crystals sat on her palm.

“Is that—”

“Poisonium Z,” confirmed Plumeria. “Who knows— maybe you can use it. One for you, one for Hau.”

“I wanted to battle you for it!” protested Moon, but she took the crystals anyway, handing one to Hau. “This feels like cheating. I didn't earn this.”

“The fuck you mean, you didn't earn this? As far as I heard, you've had to deal with a lot of shit in the last few weeks. You can fight me any old time, but as Gladbags said— you're on a schedule.” Plumeria mockingly saluted Gladion, who glared at her. “Consider it a present, for rescuing my insufferably stupid boyfriend.”

“I would have done that anyway, but thank you.”

Sliding the Z-Crystal into the correct slot on her Z-Ring reminded Moon of how she had strangely discovered Psychium Z, which Hero still held. She glanced over at Hau, expecting to see a blank space in his Z-Ring—

—but he also had Psychium Z.

Moon blinked a few times, confused, and thought back to— shit, less than two weeks ago, when she'd first discovered that the crystal had appeared on her wrist. Hau hadn't had one then, but he'd also been very... suspicious. He wasn't a good liar, and he and Lillie had been keeping a secret from Moon.

The only other secret they'd been keeping from her was that Gladion had rescued her in the Haina Desert. Hau hadn't figured out the sibling relationship; Moon had to reveal that. But he'd known something, and she would be very, very surprised if the Z-Crystal had nothing to do with that.

“OH my god!”

Molly's excited shout, much more reminiscent of her cheerful group-chat capslock spam, recalled Moon's attention to the present.

“Yes?” said Lillie patiently, though she was flushing.

“You two!” Molly was pointing at her and Hau, leaning against one another with a scrubby palm tree at their backs. “Moon sent us a picture of you holding hands before shit went down at Po Town. It was cute as fuck. How's that going?”

“Oh, boy is it going,” cackled Moon. Lillie turned, burying her tomato-red face in Hau's chest; but Moon could see the edge of a smile at her mouth so she wasn't too concerned about really embarrassing her friend. Hau was grinning, pulling one arm tighter around Lillie's waist. “They're like painfully cute.”

Of all the things Moon might have expected to happen next, Plumeria rising to squat on her feet before somersaulting forward to land about a foot away from Hau and Lillie was not it. Hau's eyes went round, and Lillie squeaked in surprise.

“Y'all are a thing?” she said, eyes boring into Hau's face.

Hau swallowed. “Um— yes, ma'am.”

Plumeria snorted. “You don't need to ma'am me, I'm not fuckin' Lusamine.” She turned to look at Lillie, who was still blushing. “Are you happy?”

“Yes,” said Lillie shyly. “I— yes, so happy.”

Plumeria studied her for another long moment, then nodded before letting her gaze drift back to Hau. “And are you happy?”

“God, yes.”

That produced a brief flicker of a smile. “Good. Stay cute and cheerful, don't fight about stupid shit, and for Arceus' sake, don't solve your problems by fucking. Makes for a super dysfunctional relationship. I'm gonna be working on that when my dumbass boyfriend gets back.” Her head tilted to one side. “Got it?”

Hau and Lillie both nodded, wide-eyed.

“Is this when we get to remind him that we've actually disposed of bodies before?” wondered the dark-haired Team Skull boy— who Moon had to assume by elimination was Ki-moon.

“Yes, this is absolutely when you get to remind him,” said Cassie, dryly amused. “But if anything happens, I will be the one pulling the trigger.”

“Oh my god, I really am getting the shovel talk,” said Hau, somewhere between horrified and amused. “By my own ex-girlfriend, her boss, and her minions.”

“Ex-girlfriend?” shrieked Jeremiah, eyes going round.

“Oh my god y'all dated?” said Almas excitedly. “Cassie and Hau? When was that?”

“High school, mutual breakup. We're friends.”

“Somehow I feel like you should be on my side,” pointed out Hau. “Seeing how you knew me first? Who's going to give Lillie the shovel talk?”

“Nobody needs to give Lillie the shovel talk, she's perfectly capable of killing you on her own if you fuck up,” said Plumeria pleasantly.

“Oh— really, I don't think—”

“You are.” Plumeria's golden eyes bored into Lillie. “Anyone who has the courage to run screaming to tackle a grown man to get her Pokémon back is brave enough to kill a man, if necessary. Don't put yourself down, kiddo. You're way tougher than you look.”

Lillie blinked a few times. She was still flushed from earlier, but now, with everyone scrutinizing her and Hau, she went from tomato to beet, turning back into his shoulder to hide again.

“Thanks.”

Hau beamed at Plumeria. “You're tough too, but you're also super nice. Thank you.”

“Sure, sure.” She waved him off, leaning back and getting to her feet. “Well, kids, this has been nice; but I've got some fucking work to do.”

“Plumeria,” said Gladion suddenly.

She stopped, slowly turning to look at him. “Yeah?”

For a few moments, he struggled to speak, mouth working. Moon couldn't tell if it was just frustration or if other emotions were involved.

“The business with the Foxes,” he said finally. “Wait on that.”

Plumeria's brows wrinkled together. “Are you trying to tell me what to do?”

“No, of course not. But um— I've got some resources. To help you with that. And you're going to need Guzma to help. So— wait until he gets back.”

“All I need for Guzma is for him to be alive, so I can make him see a goddamn therapist like I should have been doing. Daddy issues to a hundred, the fucker.” Plumeria sounded oddly fond.

Gladion swallowed. “If it were just the Foxes, and it were about revenge, I'd say go ahead and do whatever,” he said quietly. “But— there's some other stuff. It's important, and it's— it's kind of my problem to solve, and it's kind of Nanu's problem to solve— but it's also Guzma's problem to solve. You shouldn't have to clean up our messes.”

Plumeria's eyes went soft. “That's considerate of you, but I've been cleaning up Guzma's messes for years.”

Another swallow. “Maybe— maybe that's the problem.”

Moon sucked in a breath; she heard Molly and Rogelio doing the same. Jeremiah, Ki-moon, and Almas were round-eyed.

For a few moments Plumeria was rigid, motionless; but then she nodded slowly. “Yes,” she said, after a few moments. “Yes, you're right. I'm not just going to leave my kids in danger, though.”

Gladion shook his head. “You don't have to. Can you get them all out?”

“Out of Po Town?” Plumeria scratched her head. “Sure. I can get in touch with Raquel... maybe Jack, but Kohaku's probably got him at the moment. Raquel's usually pretty sensible, and she can send people off on fake missions and things. But there's nowhere to put everybody. Alola isn't going to take kindly to a hundred-odd homeless delinquent teenagers.”

“Send them to Aether Paradise. Wicke will put you up. And Lusamine owes Team Skull that ten billion Poké anyway.”

That produced a sharp grin. “Oh, I like that. We won't have to worry about getting arrested or anything?”

“I'll explain things to Wicke. She'll cover for you and send transport to— let's say Malie City.” Gladion paused. “I'm also telling her that Kohaku and Emmett, if they decide to come, aren't allowed anywhere fucking near Conservation, Medical, or R&D. If there's anyone else you'd be worried about, along those lines, you can send me a list and I'll let Wicke know to restrict access.” He indicated Molly, Rogelio, and Cassie. “You and these three get full access to everything I have access to, except for Lusamine's rooms.”

“Dude, seriously?” said Molly, eyes growing round.

Gladion nodded. “You should shadow Wicke,” he said, turning to look at her. “She does what you've been doing for Team Skull, but on a much bigger scale. In terms of career, you arguably have two and a half years of practical experience in financial administration and business. If you wanted to go to school for that, like a business degree and eventually an MBA? An internship at the Aether Foundation would open a lot of doors for you.”

Molly's jaw dropped. “Oh my god,” she said weakly. “I- I never thought of it like that before.”

“Rogelio— the conservation area is a huge greenhouse at the top of the Paradise, but Aether also has outdoor gardens and stuff.” Rogelio's eyes went round, and Gladion coughed nervously. “You would technically be interning with Faba, but Wicke has him leashed up tighter than a Houndoom so you'd probably report to someone else. It's not enough to replace your greenhouse, but it's something to work with. And Cassie—”

“Are there people for me to kill?” said Cassie humorlessly, crossing her arms.

He rolled his eyes. “I refuse to believe that's your only interest in life. Aether has a huge library and a billion things to do. You'll have access to the firing range in Security, but Wicke was the one who taught me to play chess so you can match her if she has the time for it.”

“Goddamn,” said Molly, shaking her head. “You think of everything.”

Plumeria took several steps toward Gladion, then reached out and rested one hand on his shoulder. “I forgive you,” she said softly. “I'm hoping maybe you'll forgive me too, someday.”

“Yeah,” he mumbled, turning as red as Lillie. “Yeah, I forgive you too. Thanks.”

Shortly after this, they parted ways with the Team Skull contingent— though not before Jeremiah, Ki-moon, and Almas had talked their way into a new group chat with Molly, Rogelio, Cassie, and Moon. Plumeria's number was also now saved in Moon's Dex as a proper contact, not just a chat name; and Moon had a sneaking suspicion that Plumeria had formed another chat with Lillie and Gladion, but there wasn't really a way to prove it so she didn't belabor the point.

Besides, she had some things she wanted to discuss with Hau, Lillie, and Gladion.

“So, I saw you have Psychium Z on your Z-Ring.”

Hau stiffened, but didn't say anything. Neither did Lillie or Gladion.

“When I asked you about it on Route Fifteen, you said you didn't have it. Were you lying to me?”

He breathed out a defeated sigh. “Yeah.”

“That's my fault, I'm afraid,” said Gladion, before Moon could say anything. “Psychium Z is found in the Haina Desert, rather close to Tapu Bulu's den. I ran into the pedestal before I ran into you, and it occurred to me that neither of you would probably want to return to the desert any time soon. I picked up two crystals and gave them to him.”

Moon folded her arms. “Nice try,” she said, frowning at him, “but I definitely checked my Z-Ring on Route Thirteen, and I didn't have one then. I'm pretty sure I didn't get Psychium Z until after I beat Acerola's trial.”

Gladion sighed. “It's a half-truth,” he said, a touch shortly. “I did get the Z-Crystals, but I didn't give yours to you when Tapu Bulu and I brought you out of the desert. I gave it to you on the day you challenged Acerola's trial.”

For a few moments, Moon's heart stopped.

“You weren't a fucking hallucination!”

Gladion slowly shook his head.

“I really saw you, on the beach. I really talked to you. I thought I might have been seeing things.”

“You were not.”

“And you— what, you exorcised Foxglove? With fucking C4, or some shit like that?”

“Yes.”

“With Acerola's approval?”

“With her genuine glee. Foxglove's shade has been harassing Trainers for years, though you're the only one who was ever actually in danger from him.” Gladion sighed. “This has to do with the thing I told you about, with Tapu Bulu.”

“What thing with Tapu Bulu?” inquired Hau, curious.

“I'll tell you when I'm ready to talk about it.” Gladion waved him off. “Getting rid of Foxglove for good was something he wanted, and I was made to help. Nanu called me in, said he had a job for me and I'd been— specially requested. Molayne and Sophocles were there too. They got hold of the C4 for us.”

Moon digested all of this information. “So— you gave me Psychium Z when, exactly?”

“With that Cleanse Tag I gave you at the trial. I gave his to Hau when Tapu Bulu and I brought you out of the desert.” Gladion shifted. “In the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you that Acerola essentially used your trial to bait a trap for Foxglove, so he would be easier to destroy. When you were in the desert, Tapu Bulu healed you a little bit. Enough to relieve the pain. He... ah, said something about residual toxins.”

“Nihilego,” said Moon automatically. “I— huh, I hadn't noticed that.” Her wrists hadn't bothered her at all since the desert, now that she thought about it; and recent circumstances would definitely have made them act up if they were still having issues.

“So you still had some of that healing in you, when you went in for your trial and ended up facing Foxglove. He could sense that.”

Moon nodded slowly. “He said as much. What was with the red coat?”

Gladion's mouth twisted. “That's Nanu's fault,” he muttered. “Said I needed to look the part, whatever the fuck that means.”

“It looked really cool. Do you still have it?”

“Nanu has it. I borrowed it from him.”

That made sense to Moon. Gladion was a little taller, and not quite as broad in the shoulders as Nanu; but they were still about the same size.

She sighed. “I'm kind of annoyed that you all kept this from me.”

“This is the first I heard about the stuff with your trial,” said Hau, holding up both hands. “All I knew was that Gladion said he'd get you your Psychium Z somehow, and not to worry about it.”

Moon felt her mouth pinch— Hau had still had more access to the information than she had. “Are there any other secrets that directly concern me that any of you want to come clean about?” she said, a touch waspishly. “If it's got nothing to do with me, fine, but it's kind of annoying to be left out of things that involve me.”

“That's honestly it, Moon,” said Lillie softly. “I'm sorry, I really am. I wish I could have told you earlier, but I promised I wouldn't.”

Gladion cleared his throat. “Not quite,” he said. “I forced Lillie to make that promise, so it's on me, not her. And there is one more thing, but I have no idea what it means.”

Moon squinted at him. “What's that, then?”

“Tapu Bulu's got a— soft spot, for me.” He folded his arms. “He's hinted that all the Tapus have some kind of plan for you, Moon. They aren't letting anyone in on it, which is why the kahunas haven't said anything to you. But I'm not a kahuna, and I have no idea what the plan is. All I know is that they're watching you closely.”

Moon swallowed, mouth suddenly dry. “So they've seen me be about a thousand different kinds of idiot?”

A soft, chiming laugh immediately sounded, echoing all around them— a laugh that Moon instantly recognized as Tapu Fini's laugh.

“Holy shit,” said Hau, awed. “That's so cool, though!”

“No, it's fucking not!” The volume of her own voice surprised her, but before she could stop to think about it she was still talking, with a voice that cracked and broke but did not falter. “I didn't know about it, and I've been just stupid as hell, and I've gone through— not nearly the amount of shit that the two of you have, but recently quite a lot of shit all the same. Is this— chosen-by-the-Tapus kind of thing supposed to make up for that? How many goddamn times have I embarrassed myself in front of them? Is it some kind of game or something? Let's see how long we can go without telling Moon anything, because it's funny to watch her make a total ass of herself!”

She took a quick breath, intending to shout more; but then three people were hugging her tightly. Gladion had come first, unexpectedly pinning her arms against her sides so she couldn't hug him back. Lillie and Hau followed in short order.

The words died, and the anger with it; all that remained were tears, and she left quite a few of those on all of their shoulders.

“Oh, Moon, no,” said Lillie softly. “It's not like that at all. Tapu Fini spoke to you, don't you remember? She said to listen and learn and draw your own conclusions, and more importantly she said you were good at that.”

“Yeah, because I'm a nosy parker, and, and a know-it-all, and—”

“You're your own worst critic, cousin.” She felt Hau's hand on top of her head. “You're curious and smart. You know how the Tapus have offering plates in front of their dens?”

Moon blinked. She really wasn't sure where he was going with this. “I— um, yes?”

“People leave offerings for them. Pokémon too, sometimes. It's usually food, or something they've made. But the thing is— the Tapus are perfectly capable of hunting for food on their own. So people don't really need to leave offerings, do they? The Tapus would get along fine without them. The point is that people are making an effort. They're showing the Tapus that they're grateful, that they're trying. I think maybe you're supposed to— I dunno, put yourself on the offering plate? Not literally. It's more like what Tapu Fini said. Listening, and learning, and drawing your own conclusions. I think that the Tapus probably want to see what you can come up with.”

“Like— a test.”

“Yeah.”

Her breath came out shaky. “What if I fail?”

“Then you try again, but you're probably still a better person for having tried in the first place.”

Gladion's voice was nearily inaudible. “If nothing that's happened so far has managed to break you, then this won't either.”

“We won't let it break you,” said Lillie staunchly. “You're not alone, Moon. You have us. You'll always have us.”

Chapter Text

The canyon was huge. Vast was the right word for it, decided Moon, looking up— and up, and up. The cliffs, striped in various layers of brown, gray, white, and gold rock, loomed at least a mile above their heads; the path before them gently sloped downhill to at least another half-mile deep before bottoming out in a pebble-strewn gulch. Small, scrubby trees grew at the edges of the gulch, as well as along various high ledges on the canyon walls; but other than that there wasn't much in the way of life or, frankly, Pokémon.

“I don't like this,” said Hau, with a slight frown. “I know I can fit inside easily, but it looks super narrow.”

“It's just because it's tall,” Moon reassured him. “Total optical illusion. It will probably feel better, the further in we get. Especially because the walls aren't quite as sheer, when you get further and further up.”

“That or I just get used to it.” Hau, rather uncharacteristically, let out a soft sigh; but then he straightened up, beaming. “Which I'm gonna have to do, if I want to finish my island challenge! So let's go, already!”

They began walking, but Gladion squinted at him, with eyes still bleary from being woken up. “You are entirely too goddamn cheerful for this hour of the morning.”

“Thanks, I try!”

Moon frowned slightly at Gladion, who seemed to recall the penalty game in that moment and responded with his own frown. She held up one finger, and he nodded, looking away.

However, the penalty game itself would have to wait— Moon wanted to talk to Lillie, and that meant pulling her away from Hau before they got too entangled in one another. She skipped further up to Hau and Lillie, already walking ahead of them, and linked one arm through Lillie's.

“Mind if I steal you?” she said teasingly to Lillie. “We haven't had the chance to talk in a while, what with all the kidnapping and rescuing and journeying that's been going on.”

“Aw, man,” said Hau, pretending to pout; but his mouth twitched and his eyes sparkled with laughter. “I guess I've gotta go do bro time with my bro.”

“Oh my god please say that to him and take a picture of his face,” snorted Moon. “I need it. For science.”

“That's probably not the only reason,” said Lillie archly, but she released Hau's hand and kept walking arm in arm with Moon. Hau ran around in front of them, making them stop; he reached out, gently cradled Lillie's face in his hands, and firmly kissed her once before winking at Moon and walking back to join Gladion. Once his hands were gone Lillie's face began fading back to its usual color from Cherrim-red.

“So how's that going,” began Moon, waggling her eyebrows.

“D-don't you want to talk about Gladion?” sputtered Lillie.

“I mean, sure, eventually. But I wanna hear about you, too.”

That earned her a soft, shy smile; but Lillie remained silent for several minutes. Moon knew that Lillie was thinking of an answer to her general query, so she didn't say anything. Once she understood that Lillie and Gladion were introverts, it was much easier to let them have time to think about how to answer questions.

“He makes me feel safe.”

Moon's heart warmed. “Yeah?”

“It's— it's nice. I've never had someone like that in my life before. Gladion, to an extent— in that he nearly always tried to take the blame for anything that either of us did wrong, even though Mother was inclined to blame him anyway.” Lillie's eyebrows creased in a frown. “So he tried to protect me, but it didn't always work. I feel safe with him because I know he'll try. And I felt safe with Wicke, because I suspected she had something to do with Gladion running away and I was fairly certain that she would help me if I needed to do the same thing.

“And I feel safe with you, Moon.” Moon blinked, surprised. “You encourage me to take risks and try new things and stand up for myself, because you make sure you're there to catch me in the event that I fail.”

She fell silent for several moments, and the soft smile returned, smoothing away the frown; her eyes lost focus, sliding into some sweet and dreamy thought.

“But Hau... I will admit that part of it is because he is— um, physically imposing. He's six inches taller than I am, and much heavier and more muscular. So I feel physically safe with him. But he's so gentle, too. He... holds me like I'm made of glass. I don't feel like I will break when I'm with him.”

“Do you feel like you're going to break a lot?” wondered Moon.

“Less now than I used to,” admitted Lillie. “Your friendship— yours and Hau's— has contributed a lot to that. But as we've returned to Aether, there's been a bit of regression. I know I can always ask him to help, if I'm feeling particularly fragile.”

“That's awesome, Lillie.”

“He lets me cry,” continued her friend, unprompted. “It's funny— I've probably spent more time crying on him than anything else, when we're alone. But he doesn't ever complain. He just— he rubs my back and tells me it will be okay. That I can let everything out, and it will be okay.”

Moon sighed wistfully. “That's awesome,” she repeated. “Seriously— I'm so glad he does that for you.”

Lillie nodded, and the eyebrow-crease and frown returned. “I wish I had something I could do for him,” she murmured. “He never seems to want anything. Do you have any advice?”

“I mean— I really haven't known him much longer than I've known you. A few weeks, at the most.”

“But you're observant,” said Lillie, turning to look at her. “So am I, but we might be observing different things. My anxiety and other issues may be coloring my view, so a second opinion is quite welcome.”

“Fair enough.” Moon considered this for a little bit, but then it occurred to her that she had a fairly similar relationship example to draw from.

“So, between the two of them, Blue is way more extraverted and friendly than Red.”

Lillie blinked. “Um, okay?”

“Hang on, I'm going somewhere with this. Blue is also really, like— tactile. He's touchy. When he and Red are in public they almost never touch, because Red is super private and the media would throw a shitfit anyway.” Moon rolled her eyes. “But when they're at their apartment, or at Red's mom's place? Blue turns into this giant clingy man-baby. He's always got to be holding hands or cuddling or just in contact with Red, all the time.”

“Um— are you saying I should—”

“Obviously, don't do anything you aren't comfortable with,” said Moon quickly. “But whenever Red initiates affection instead of Blue, he just like, lights up. Red doesn't always get the opportunity because Blue is so touchy. If you initiate sometimes with Hau, I bet he'll do the exact same thing.”

“I have done, sometimes,” murmured Lillie. “I'm just— self-conscious, I suppose. My brother is usually right there.”

“Don't worry about Gladion,” Moon reassured her. “He and I have a system, and if he tries to make either of you feel bad about being affectionate, he's definitely gonna pay the consequences.”

“That sounds a little ominous.”

“It's nothing like what your mother ever did, no worries.” Lillie snorted at that, and Moon grinned. “It's half penalty game, half therapy. Not that I'm a qualified therapist or anything, but talking about stuff is always good.”

“Oh, that makes sense.” Lillie sighed, relieved. “I think what you suggested will help, and I suppose I can always ask him about it too.”

“Yeah, that would be good. Kind of makes sense— the best person to ask about Hau is, well, Hau.”

For a few moments they walked in silence, but Moon had a question she was dying to ask. “So, he calls you babe,” she said, grinning when Lillie flushed again. “He mentioned you didn't really like 'Lills' and he was going to have to come up with something, so I guess that's it?”

“Well— he's tried a few things,” murmured Lillie. “But that one... um, we both liked that one. Sometimes he calls me very silly things, just to try and make me laugh.”

“Oh my god that sounds so cute.”

“The most memorable one has been 'tater tot.' We both laughed until we cried, and agreed never to use it again.”

“Oh my god.” Moon began cackling.

“What are you laughing about?” hollered Hau, a good ten yards behind them.

“Nothing!” answered Lillie, her tone perfectly sweet. “It's just girl talk, you don't need to worry about it!”

“Can I please call him that at least once,” begged Moon. “I just want to see the look on his face.”

“Didn't you said that earlier, regarding Hau's line about spending bro time with Gladion?”

Moon opened her mouth to reply, found she couldn't really defend herself, and frowned. “I did, didn't I.”

“Why don't we talk about him now?” said Lillie archly. “How is everything going with the two of you? Don't think that Hau and I didn't notice you holding hands in the Ruins of Hope.”

Moon squirmed, feeling heat rise to her face. “Um— it's, it's going, I guess.” She cleared her throat. “I'm kind of letting him dictate the pace. He knows I'm interested, obviously. And, um— he's made it pretty clear that he's interested, too.”

“I'll say.” Lillie's eyes twinkled with mischief. “Want to know a secret? He probably didn't say anything to you about it, but he's thought you were pretty almost since the first time he saw you.”

“You mean in— what was it, Paniola Town?”

Lillie nodded smugly. “He texted me later that night. I've got it in my phone, I'll find it... hang on a second.” She pulled her phone out and began scrolling back through texts.

“You can't just tell me what he said?”

“I think you'll be more impressed with the physical proof.” Lillie held out her phone and Moon took it, squinting down at the screen in the sunlight.

chat: Gladion

Lillie: Did you make it back to your hotel?

G: I did.

G: Your cute friend is kind of terrifying when she's upset.

Lillie: You think Moon is CUTE??? \(°0°)/

G: Of course THAT'S what you got out of this.

G: ...But yes.

G: Obviously.

Moon, wide-eyed, turned her head back to stare at Gladion. He was speaking to Hau, a surprisingly animated expression on his face; but when his gaze flicked forward to her she quickly turned back around, face burning even more than usual.

“Oh my god,” she mumbled, but she could feel a ridiculous, stupid smile pasting itself onto her face. “He— holy shit, and he gave me such crap about being attracted to him. What a fucking hypocrite.”

Lillie put her phone back into her pocket. “Moon, he doesn't like asking for things,” she said, turning to look at Moon with a rather serious expression. “So letting him dictate the pace— a good idea in theory, given the emotional abuse we've been made to suffer in the past; but there's probably a part of him that believes you don't like him, if you aren't being forward about it.”

Moon hadn't considered that. “So I should be a little more—”

“Affectionate,” said Lillie, nodding. “Just as you told me to do. It's the same advice for two very different people, but if he doesn't want you to touch him he'll let you know.”

Moon thought of Seamus's boat, and how Gladion had grabbed her wrist to prevent her from running her hands through his hair. “Right.”

There was another long pause, and then Lillie let out a soft chuckle. “Since you gave me a hard time about pet names, it's my turn. I understand most of it, but I want the whole story about 'sunshine.'”

Moon groaned. “It's stupid,” she muttered, staring down at the ground. “He doesn't call me sunshine in person. It's what he has me saved under in his phone.”

Lillie grinned. “Very cute.”

“I've had him as a couple of names in my phone— I think he's currently 'nerd,' because he's been indulging me when I talk about poetry.”

“He likes poetry more than he lets on,” said Lillie. “When we were little, our father used to read us Goodnight, Lunala every night before we went to bed, and he always wanted to hear it twice, sometimes three times. He liked the rhymes.”

The mental image of toddler-age Gladion, wearing flannel footie pajamas and carrying a Bewear plushie, popped into Moon's head and refused to leave.

“Anyway, he bought you that necklace?”

Moon nodded. “For my birthday, even though we weren't on speaking terms at the time.”

“Because you're his sunshine.” Lillie's grin only grew wider. “And I have to turn it around on you— do you have a nickname for him?”

“I've been trying to come up with something,” admitted Moon. “I'm trying not to be like, disgustingly sappy at him. But it would be cute if I found something he liked, wouldn't it?”

“It would be.” The grin softened into a genuine smile. “I'm so glad that the two of you like each other. I've always wondered what kind of person my brother would fall for; the fact that it's you eases my mind, because I already know what kind of person you are. You're good for him, Moon. I've never seen him put this much effort into trying to fix the things he doesn't like about himself— and I can see you're making an effort, too.”

Moon swallowed. “He makes me want to be a better person,” she mumbled, feeling her face catch fire. “So it's mutual.”

“Are you happy with how things are going?”

“Yeah.”

“Then keep doing what you're doing. It will all work out when you're both ready,” Lillie reassured her.

They stopped for lunch a little before noon, sitting down in the shade at the edge of the canyon. The gravel and pebbles didn't make for comfortable seating, but Moon did her best to ignore that as she put together ten peanut-butter-and-Rawst-berry-jam sandwiches, with Lillie helping her in a sort of assembly line fashion as Hau and Gladion fed all of the Pokémon.

Moon noticed that her own teammates seemed to have strong opinions on Gladion. Ben clearly didn't like him, but then again Ben didn't like anyone. Macbeth was very shy, but she seemed to like the fringe of Gladion's hair that wafted down across his face. She reached out to touch his head a few times before growing timid and pulling back her claw. Hero was quite comfortable with Gladion, oddly enough— it had surely known him for the least amount of time, among Moon's teammates. Ariel also seemed to be impressed, from where she sat with Null— they were good friends, as many of the collective Pokémon were due to all the time they spent around one another. The Toucannon chirped approvingly at Gladion whenever he did something even remotely nice, like patting Nox's head or slipping a few extra beans into Lapin's bowl. But Puck stared suspiciously at Gladion, hooded brows wrinkling closer together in a frown. It occurred to Moon that Puck, more so than any of her teammates, bore the same loyalty for her that Null did for Gladion; and therefore that Puck might be understandably wary of the rekindled relationship, since he had dealt with the fallout. She resolved to have a chat with all of her teammates about the matter as soon as possible; they would have no say in her personal life, but she wanted them to be aware of what was generally going on all the same.

After lunch they continued to plod along the canyon, striped walls looming overhead for miles before and after them. Moon couldn't really even see the trees outside of the canyon anymore; and around five in the afternoon, the daylight was rapidly fading, owing to the high walls that left most of the canyon in dim lighting; but a darker, more massive shadow crept along the ground like long, thin fingers that looked very much like a monster's claw. Moon looked up to realise that the sky was opening up into a larger, wider pocket of the canyon that centered around a tall, dead tree— the source of the skeletal shadows.

“Let's camp here,” she decided, looking up at what remained of the bright blue sky above them. “I don't think we'll get much further than this in the dark, and I remember Hapu saying something about this tree— I think the path turns into a cave, and I'd rather explore that during the day when I'm fresh.”

Nobody had any objections, so they took off their backpacks and Hau, who had taken it on himself to carry the larger tent, unfolded the bundle and began setting it up with Lillie's assistance; Rotom, unasked, floated over with a bright white screen to light their task. This meant it was Moon and Gladion's unenviable task to look for places to conduct personal hygenic business— they hadn't yet ventured far enough in the canyon to find one of the outhouses-slash-shower-sheds that were scattered every seven miles or so.

The tent was soon ready, and all of them went inside. Lillie hung her lantern at the top of the tent, so that they could all see by it. It was a bit early for dinner, but Gladion sat at the mouth of the tent with the camp-stove and the teapot to boil water for ramen or MREs. Moon and Lillie, again, fed the Pokémon— except for Puck, Ariel, and Imp, who ventured out into the gloom to look for Bugs; and to Moon's surprise Null, who simply went off her own.

“She's technically a carnivore,” explained Gladion, when she glanced at him. “I remembered it from the files we had, but there wasn't really a viable way for me to feed her. Steaks are expensive, and if she hunted on her own she could kill with claws, but not fangs, because of the helmet. I suppose I could have learned to butcher, but she likes beans and didn't have trouble digesting them— so it wasn't an issue. Now that the helmet is gone, she can hunt as she likes.”

“Aren't you worried about her by herself?”

He snorted. “You forget that she's genetically designed to be a hunter. She's more than capable of handling regular wild Pokémon. And if there are any hostile humans, she can take care of them too.”

It struck Moon as odd that none of the three foxes had opted to go hunting, even though they as well as Null were at the very least omnivorous; but then again so was Macbeth, and she was entirely happy with beans, or even leftovers when Lillie couldn't quite manage a full MRE packet. And Poppy and BB both ate fish, but went without willingly enough in the sparsely-vegetated canyon.

“Oh,” said Rotom, suddenly, even as he began to vibrate rapidly. “You have four— excuse me, eleven— new messages from chat: 7 DWARVES.”

“Who now?” said Hau, snickering.

“That would be Molly, Rogelio, Cassie, and the three boys,” said Moon, promptly opening her phone; the updates continued to vibrate Rotom's casing. “I didn't expect it to get this chaotic this quickly, but I suppose they're probably settling in from day jobs or whatever.”

“Moving over to the Paradise, more likely,” said Gladion, and that made sense.

chat: 7 DWARVES

song request: so like... why is this chat named what it is

diamond: FINALLY i've been waiting for someone to message first so i didn't have 2

curly: oh my god you're both fucking idiots

like and subscribe: ^

song request: moonie :(((((((

like and subscribe: Jeremiah, I love you but you're a dumbass.

song request: MOONIE :(((((((

I'd kill you for a single chicken nugget: Friendly reminder that we have two people called “Moon” in this chat so we should probably figure out some way to distinguish that.

like and subscribe: I'm not “Moon” though. I'm Ki-moon.

diamond: moonie if ya nasty

herbalist: i can hear all three of you cackling through the wall, pipe the fuck down

shakespeare jr: FINALLY, a name I recognize

like and subscribe: Ah, you must be the other Moon.

like and subscribe: Hello, fellow Moon.

like and subscribe: Are we feeling gibbous or crescent today?

diamond: what the fuck is a gibbous

song request: it sounds like a pokémon

like and subscribe: I repeat: I love you, but you're a dumbass.

shakespeare jr: I'm getting really confused, pls explain @users and how I can remember who is who

herbalist: okay EVERYBODY SHUT UP while I do this

herbalist: obviously I'm rogelio

herbalist: molly changed her name to @curly, for obvious reasons

curly: yo

herbalist: the shut up applied to you too

herbalist: ANYWAY @I'd kill you for a single chicken nugget is cassie, b/c she can literally kill people

herbalist: @song request is jeremiah b/c he's a dj

herbalist: @like and subscribe is ki-moon b/c he vlogs and takes pictures and shit

herbalist: @diamond is almas, because that's what his name means

diamond: also i like sparkly shit

herbalist: true but irrelevant

shakespeare jr: Ok I think I get it now but I'm probably going to mix Jeremiah, Ki-moon, and Almas up at least once, sorry

song request: all good fam don't worry about it

song request: i did kind of want an answer to the og question tho?

I'd kill you for a single chicken nugget: It's literally because there are seven of us, there is no other reason.

curly changed the chat name to 5 chaotic gays ft. 2 allies

diamond: oh MUCH better

song request: approved

song request: A+

song request: two thumbs up

song request: 100% on rotten tamatoes

song request: signed, sealed, delivered, i'm yours

song request: i mean i'm only moonie's but u get the idea

I'd kill you for a single chicken nugget: Jeremiah.

song request: ...

song request: yes, cass?

I'd kill you for a single chicken nugget: I say this lovingly.

I'd kill you for a single chicken nugget: SEND ALL OF THE DAMN JOKES IN A SINGLE MESSAGE BECAUSE I'M TRYING TO FUCKING WATCH THE KAHUNA CEREMONY INTERVIEW THING BUT I CAN'T BECAUSE OF ALL THE FUCKING NOTIFICATIONS.

shakespeare jr: Omg I'm in that

curly: WAIT WHAT

herbalist: ?????

shakespeare jr: Yeah Lillie is holding the camera and I'm reading questions and shit

I'd kill you for a single chicken nugget: Oh, I thought the voice was familiar.

I'd kill you for a single chicken nugget: I'm going to turn off notifications for this chat now.

like and subscribe: She's not doing too badly with the camera. It's got that shaky handheld vibe and the lense is kind of odd, but everything is caught on film and it's not super blurry.

shakespeare jr: It's one of those wearable action cameras

shakespeare jr: It was like strapped onto one of her shoulders

shakespeare jr: But I'm also going to watch the interview thingy so I'm going to turn off notifs for like an hour as well.

“Hey, so Hapu's kahuna ceremony is being televised right now,” she said out loud, looking up at Hau, Lillie, and Gladion. “Do you want to watch it?”

“I'm not sure I can bear the cringe,” said Gladion flatly, but he as well as Hau and Lillie gathered around Moon as Rotom obligingly pulled up the interview. How it maintained a Wi-Fi connection in the middle of deadass nowhere was beyond Moon, but she was very grateful for it.

They tuned in as Moon's voice (distorted and oddly stringent to her ears, as it always was in recording) finished asking another question. “— future personal goals, besides those you've set for yourself as the kahuna?”

“An understandable question, as I am quite young,” said video-Hapu placidly, nodding once. “I will be taking online courses from Celadon University, and I intend to double-major in Ecology and Geology, both of which will prove very useful in my career as kahuna.”

“And totally has nothing to do with your type specialty, right?”

“That's not an interview question.” Hapu's mouth quirked. “But sarcasm aside— yes, I chose those majors because I am a Ground-type specialist, and that knowledge would aid me in battle.

“Super cool.” Moon's voice in the video paused for a few moments— probably reading more questions and trying to find an unobjectionable one— “Do you think that your relation to Kahuna Ikaika had any effect on Tapu Fini's decision to appoint you as the next kahuna?”

“I think there must have been some connection, yes,” admitted Hapu. “Not a very large one, but I had accompanied my grandfather to Tapu Fini's den at least once before his passing, so it was likely that she knew who I was. But I firmly believe that I was chosen because I am, or will be, what Tapu Fini needs. And anyone who finds themselves chosen by a Tapu— for any task or reason, not just to become a kahuna or trial captain— may rest assured that they are, or will be, what that Tapu needs.”

It was an answer to a question that Moon hadn't, at that point, had; and she wondered if perhaps Hapu knew something about what the Tapus had in mind for her.

Most of the interview was familiar, because she'd been asking the questions; but once the walking interview had ended the clip cut to Hapu, facing the camera and speaking soberly about the scuba-diving session that had had occurred between takes. In the background, Moon, Hau, and Gladion were adjusting oxygen tanks, all of them wearing the same black wetsuit; Hau had pulled all of his locs back into a giant bun on top of his head. Moon frowned at her image on the screen— there was nothing objectionable about her appearance, but she hadn't realized how ridiculously tiny she looked next to Hau.

“You look like a little doll,” snickered Hau, having come to the same conclusion.

“No, you look like a giant Golurk,” retorted Moon.

On-screen, Hapu distributed the rope, gave final instructions, and waded into the water. The camera easily adjusted beneath the water, and Lillie's headlamp was able to provide some extra lighting so that viewers could see what was happening. Hapu swam before them, her flippers wafting expertly back and forth as she guided them down and around the coast. A lot of the “swimming in the dark” footage had been cut, because suddenly they were in the luminescent cave. There was a pause as Hapu pointed out a skeleton stuck in pink spiky corals— Moon was fairly certain that clip had been taken on the way out, but she supposed it didn't matter. A warning in text flashed across the screen:

All hopeful visitors to Tapu Fini's den must apply with the kahuna to receive  scuba-diving lessons and an escort, or you risk a slow and painful death. Thank  you! :)

“The smiley face is either Molayne or Acerola, but I don't know which,” observed Moon, squinting at the screen. “They're both weird enough to put one down; Sophocles isn't.”

“It's Molayne,” said Gladion grimly. “Acerola doesn't see death as an impediment to enjoying life— Ghost-type user, you'll remember.”

The film carried on through the coral tube, ending with all of them emerging into the cave with the glowing moss; but Moon was surprised to see that the camera had captured Gladion squatting and reaching out to help her out of the water; and she was further surprised that when she peeled off her scuba mask— shaking wet hair out of her face before pushing her hand impatiently back through it to get it completely out of the way— Gladion on-screen was watching her, expression impassive and eyes oddly gentle.

“You have notifications turned off, bzzt,” said Rotom, without pausing the video, “but I thought you'd like to be aware that chat: 5 chaotic gays ft. 2 allies has updated with forty-seven messages, twenty-nine of which occurred in the last forty-five seconds.”

“Of course it has.”

Lillie frowned. “What does that mean?”

“It means that all the Team Skull kids are watching this and being dicks,” said Gladion.

“They're not being dicks, they're just— um, enthusiastic.”

He snorted. “They're probably shrieking about you and me in badly spelled, poorly formatted texts, with capslock spam for good measure.”

“I mean, you're probably right, but that doesn't mean they're being dicks.”

The film then cut to Hapu opening the door to the Ruins of Life; Lillie and her camera followed shortly afterward. There was darkness for some time, and more text flashed on the screen: We apologize for the lack of lighting, but this tunnel is for some reason light-resistant. Flashlights and headlamps do not work here.

Eventually the camera turned a corner to reveal the Ruins themselves; Hapu was already walking over to the side of the room, turning back to look at the camera. The camera itself swiveled, rotating to reveal Hau, very close behind Lillie; then, a few moments later, Moon and Gladion walked out hand in hand but immediately let go as soon as they were in the light.

Rotom made a sound that resembled a cough, even though it was a Ghost-type Pokémon possessing a Pokédex and therefore, did not technically need to cough. “Chat: 5 chaotic gays ft. 2 allies has updated with sixty-three new messages, bzzt.”

Moon rolled her eyes. “Okay, smartass.”

The video neatly skipped over the solving of the puzzle, and they once again followed Hapu into Tapu Fini's den. Moon watched herself assist Hapu and Tapu Fini with the vows. Tapu Fini's voice was nonexistent on screen, thankfully; and after Hapu's impressive battle, the film cut to Hapu, peering into and adjusting the camera before turning back to sit in a high-backed armchair, back at her house.

“So there you have it,” she said placidly, holding up her arm to show the violet teardrop-shaped mark. “I am Hapu Kahonua— kahuna and protector of Poni Island. You may reach me at the Poni Island webforum and send me a message online, or you may find me in person at my home, located next to the Alolan Regional Hospital and the Poni Island Training Ranch. Those wishing to challenge me in the Grand Trial must have previously received the appropriate Z-Crystals; I will check when you meet to schedule with me. I wish you all a prosperous day or night, depending on what time it is when you see this video; and I look forward to meeting and helping as many of you as I can in my service to the Tapu and to the island. Thank you.”

She reached out to turn off the camera, and the screen went black.

“That was cool,” said Hau appreciatively. “Kind of different, seeing it from the camera's perspective.”

“I'm just glad I didn't say anything too stupid.” Moon let out a hefty sigh and pulled up the chat; she had two hundred and thirty-two messages. The first twenty or so were along the lines of “OMG IT'S MOON” and “wow we stan a CELEBRITY” and so on; but then one from Molly caught Moon's eye.

chat: 5 chaotic gays ft. 2 allies

curly: ARE WE NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE FACT THAT MY SHIP IS SAILING

herbalist: wrong chat molly

curly: moon already knows we ship her and gladion, she's probably going to read this and laugh herself silly

herbalist: but plumeria isn't in this chat

curly: she's busy rn we can show her later

song request: WAIT

song request: WAIT WAIT WAIT

song request: DID YOU SAY

song request: MOON

song request: AND GLADION

song request: ???

I'd kill you for a single chicken nugget: PUT ALL OF THE REACTIONS IN ONE TEXT YOU LITTLE SHIT

song request: it's called visual drama

diamond: jer. honey. that was such a bad idea

diamond: cassie's gonna strangle you

like and subscribe: It was nice dating you, Jeremiah. I'll meet you in the next life.

song request: relax she's not gonna kikaslkf d adba

diamond: miss keisha??? miss keisha????

like and subscribe: Why, Almas?

diamond: oh my fuckin god, she fuckin dead

curly: no tired-ass memes in the chat please

curly: the fucking point is

curly: HE WAS LOOKING AT HER LIKE SHE WAS HIS ENTIRE WORLD

curly: I'M NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING

curly: MAY WE ALL FIND A LOVE LIKE THAT

herbalist: but may it be slightly less taciturn and angsty than gladion lmao

diamond: OH SHIT

I'd kill you for a single chicken nugget: and may it be slightly less reckless and impulsive than moon

curly: she might be offended when she gets around to looking at this, but it's true

curly: sorry moon lmao

Moon snickered and scrolled further through the messages, looking for their reaction to the hand-holding; it was easy to find, owing to the excessive capslock.

herbalist: DID YOU SEE THAT

curly: IS IT THE SAME THING I SAW

herbalist: REAL QUICK BEFORE THEY CUT TO TALKING ABOUT THE PUZZLE

curly: YES

I'd kill you for a single chicken nugget: You mean when they came out of the tunnel holding hands and let go right away?

I'd kill you for a single chicken nugget: You know, because it was very dark and probably kind of difficult to navigate without another person nearby if you haven't already been there?

curly: cassie why you gotta be a buzzkill

herbalist: they were still holding hands and that is the important thing here

herbalist: periodt

diamond: awwwww cute

song request: the camera cut away too quick but i think they were both blushing

diamond: yea I thought so too

curly: gladion was definitely blushing, it's easy to tell on him because he's so fair

herbalist: moon on the other hand is brown so it's kind of like ehhhhhh... maybe?

diamond: she's not that much more brown than you are, my dude

curly: also we don't actually spend a whole lot of time with moon like, in person

curly: so we haven't learned to tell yet

herbalist: once the live feed is over we'll go back and watch that at 0.25x speed about ten times to analyze it

like and subscribe: That's oddly disturbing.

herbalist: THEY'RE CUTE OKAY

curly: they're also like painfully stupidly in love and they need to hook the fuck up

curly: @shakespeare jr when you see this

curly: GET ON IT

“I'm never going to complain about Hau playing matchmaker ever again,” laughed Moon, scrolling to the very end of the conversation to type her reply.

shakespeare jr: Lmao at all of you, we are taking things super slow because we fucked it up so bad the first time

“I assume they're being weird about things,” said Gladion languidly, looking up from his own phone.

“I mean, it's not that much different from how I've been about Hau and Lillie. It's just that there's more of them. It's a whole cheerleading squad.”

He eyed Rotom warily. “Do I want to know?”

Moon held Rotom out. “I dunno, do you?”

There was a long pause, but then Gladion sat up, reached out, and took Rotom, scrolling back through the chat. His eyebrows rose higher and higher, and his face went pink.

“It turns out,” he said, handing Rotom back to Moon, “that I did not, in fact, want to know. The newest message, from who I believe is Cassie, recommends you do not look at the comments under the video feed.”

“Oh, god,” said Moon, immediately pulling up the comments.

pikaforever3015826: omg the glowy coral tunnel tube thing is AWESOME

+1.3k -25

40 hidden comments

skyattack: Makes me want to go scuba-diving, wow!

+756 -13

13 hidden comments

bewearofhugs: ok but that dark-haired girl and the blond guy are totally fucking or smth???

+4.7k -190

286 hidden comments

tsareenatropkickYEET: @bewearofhugs i totally see it, chemistry off the charts

+2.3k -84

249 hidden comments

mantine-surf-n00b: get u a man that looks at u the way the blond dude looks at the dark-haired chick

+5.8k -387

414 hidden comments

hangryhangryhippopotas: srsly the way he was looking at her is making ME blush and I'm just sitting up here in my room eating cheese puffs and watching a fucking news interview, what the fuck

+3.9k -102

194 hidden comments

tentakewl: okay but like when blond helped brunette out of the water, did anyone else imagine like a whole fantasy where he like spins her around in a ballroom dance twirl and does like a dip thing? nobody? ok clearly i watch too many dramas

+9.2k -541

756 hidden comments

“Oh, god, Cassie was right.”

Hau and Lillie were both laughing at this point; and Gladion's mouth quirked up in one corner— definitely a smirk, not quite a smile. It was beginning to bother Moon, that she hadn't ever seen him smile.

“In conclusion,” said Hau, stretching out to the tune of several cracks and pops in his back— Lillie and Gladion winced in unison— “everybody in Alola thinks the two of you should get together.”

“That's it?” said Moon, amused.

“That's it. Though that ballroom dance thing was hilarious. Gladion, do you happen to know how to ballroom dance?”

“No, and it's staying that way.”

“I have two left feet, it totally wouldn't work,” agreed Moon.

“But the fact that you're thinking about whether or not it would work—”

“Oh my god you can shut up, I'm going to bed now!”

Hau's laughter echoed through the entire canyon.

Chapter Text

The sun went down early and rose late in the canyon, because of the high walls; Moon had gone to sleep fairly early and was expecting to wake up early, but a very loud neigh startled her from sleep— followed by a metallic greeting from Hero, who did not seem need to sleep the way the other Pokémon did, and was therefore often deputized to stand an overnight watch.

She scrambled to her feet and padded over to the zipped-up tent, rubbing her eyes as she opened it and found herself face-to-face with Hapu, Epicentre, Phyco, Soliera, and two other Mudsdale.

“Hi,” she yawned.

“I'm so glad we found you before you got to the caves,” said Hapu cheerfully— it was still quite dark, save for the pale crack of sky above them; but she sounded wide awake. Moon was a morning person, but even this was a bit much. “I wanted to ask you for a favor.”

“A favor? Um, sure. Is this a discussion that involves the group?”

“If you like.” Hapu regarded her with some curiosity. “I have been rather under the impression that you are in charge.”

“Well—” Moon scratched her head, trying not to blush. “I mean, I do make a lot of decisions and stuff. But usually we all talk it out.”

“Moon's good at making decisions,” said Lillie, immediately behind her; Moon jumped and moved over, to share the tent-opening with her friend. “Hau is usually happy no matter what we do, Gladion is usually unhappy no matter what we do, and I just don't like making decisions. Moon's the one with opinions.”

“I can see that,” said Hapu, a touch dryly. “Well, you can all set about your morning ablutions; I have brought you bribery in the form of malasadas—”

“Yes, whatever it is you wanted,” called Hau from within the tent.

“At least hear what she has to say, dude.”

“I don't need to. Malasadas speak louder than words.”

There was a sharp clapping noise from inside the tent, which Moon decided was probably Gladion facepalming. Lillie sighed, but it was soft and fond rather than exasperated.

“Well, after you are dressed and ready, come out and eat, and I'll discuss what I'd like to ask you to do for me.”

“Will do. Thanks.”

Moon zipped the tent back up, and as per usual picked up one of her blankets and held it up so that Lillie could change; she knew Gladion or Hau would be doing the same for the other, behind her. Then they swapped places. Ordinarily, Moon wouldn't have been inclined to wear a dress when she was going to be hiking— chafing didn't just happen between feet and socks, after all— but the day was a touch chilly and she was thinking about wearing her fleece-lined tights more than the dress; and the caves, when they got to them, would undoubtedly be cold. Lillie quirked an eyebrow at her as she consciously put shorts on over the tights; but the feather-and-arrow-patterned-dress, which she had bought during the shopping spree on Aether Paradise, hit her mid-thigh and the shorts were not visible. She had a thin pair of socks under the tights, and a thicker pair over them; over the socks went hiking boots. The dress was short-sleeved so she pulled on a cardigan and fluffed her hair before jamming her usual black baseball cap on over it.

“Special occasion?”

“I can put on pants later if I really need them, but it's probably going to be cold in the caves.”

Lillie frowned. “I hadn't considered that.”

“You've already got jeans on, so just throw on a jacket and you should be fine.”

Lillie nodded and, abruptly, dropped the blanket to go over to her backpack. Moon blinked at her, surprised; but Lillie's eyes flicked over to her brother and Moon followed her gaze just in time to see Gladion whirling around, with suspiciously red ears and neck as he bent to dig through his own backpack.

“Cute dress, Moon,” said Hau cheerfully.

“Thanks, man.” Moon fist-bumped him when he offered it. “Gotta change it up every once in a while.”

“Cute face, Lillie.”

Gladion sighed. “That wasn't smooth at all.”

Lillie had gone pink, but cleared her throat. “Thank you. I was born with it.”

“Now that was smooth,” said Moon.

“Agreed.” Hau wrapped his huge hand around Lillie's tiny one and gently led her outside. Moon was about to follow when a different hand caught at her wrist.

She slowly looked up at Gladion, whose expression was carefully blank. “Can I help you?”

Gladion blinked several times; she saw something like panic in his eyes before he let go. “I don't know why I did that,” he muttered, clenching his fists and taking a step back. “Um— sorry.”

Moon nodded and was about to turn to go out of the tent, when she remembered Lillie's advice from yesterday, about being more affectionate. She pause, watching him fidget restlessly with something in his pockets— probably, if she was reading him right, wanting to recover in privacy after being embarrassed.

She took a step closer to him, holding out her hand. Gladion looked at it for a few seconds, blinking, then up at her face.

Moon smiled at him. “Good morning,” she said, looking him in the eye as she reached out for his hand— she really did like his hands, but at the moment she was more interested in the reaction. “Don't be sorry, and don't worry about it. I don't mind at all.”

She let him have a few seconds to digest before squeezing his hand once and letting go— giving him the time alone he would undoubtedly want to compose himself, as she exited the tent.

Epicentre and the other two Mudsdale were grazing in the slim pickings around the giant dead tree, which looked a bit smaller in daylight but was still enormous. Hapu, Lillie, and Hau were eating malasadas— Hapu had, thankfully, anticipated a Hau-sized serving so there were a good six boxes— and to Moon's surprise so were Phyco and Soliera, though they seemed to be rather wary, nibbling and examining and becoming very, very surprised when the pastry revealed Oran marmalade and caramel custard, respectively.

“Do you have any Nomel jam?”

“Indeed I do. I took note all of your preferences from Ms. Wicke, and the Swirly-whirl in Seafolk Village was most accomodating despite the early hour.” Hapu pointed her to the correct box.

“These are very sugary,” said Phyco, though that didn't seem to be stopping him from eating his malasada. “Do all flavors have the cinnamon sugar on the outside?”

Hau, the malasada expert, nodded. “You can ask for plain granulated or powdered sugar, but mostly everyone likes cinnamon unless they're allergic— in which case they probably don't eat malasadas period, because of cross-contamination.”

“Unless they make them at home.”

Hau turned to look at Moon, blinking with huge eyes.

“Oh my god,” he breathed. “How in my life have I never thought of making malasadas at home?”

“Well, you do get half-off at every store in Alola.”

“I— okay, that makes sense, but still. Holy crap, I know what I'm doing once I get done with my island challenge.”

“As in a career?” said Lillie, blinking at him. “Or just for fun?”

“Maybe both. Who knows? Oh my god, I have to think about this, holy crap. Holy crap.”

Gladion finally emerged from the tent, expression still unreadable; but he made eye contact with Moon and nodded once, walking over to the malasada boxes.

“Leppa jam are in the third box from the left,” she told him, before turning to Hapu. “Did you account for feeding Pokémon with these numbers?”

“I did, so do feel free to share them out. I'd as soon not carry anything back, except the boxes to throw away.”

As all of their Pokémon were tucking in, Hapu finished her own malasada and cleared her throat.

“The favor I wish to ask of you is quite simple,” she said earnestly, looking at each of them in turn before returning her gaze to Moon. “Phyco and Soliera may travel to the Altar of the Moone whenever they wish, and have done so; but have also expressed interest in looking for more Cosmog.”

Lillie stiffened.

“Not to capture,” said Phyco hastily. “I much prefer to observe Pokémon in their natural habitats, and we never had the opportunity to do so while we were in the employ of President Mohn. Ms. Wicke, on the other hand, has encouraged us to get more data from different sources.”

“Cosmog tend to make their homes closer to the Altar of the Moone— specifically several meadows located just before Dragon's Pass.”

“Dragon's Pass?”

“It is a smaller, slightly more enclosed section of the Vast Poni Canyon— one might reasonably call it a cave, but there are some holes in the ceiling where sunlight shines through. It is the final section of the canyon before it opens up to the Altar of the Moone.”

“Gotcha. Why is it called Dragon's Pass?”

“Many Dragon-type Pokémon make their home there,” said Hapu— and was that a twinkle in her eye? “If any of you are interested in a Dragon-type companion, it would be an ideal place to look.”

“I'm still holding out for Poipole,” said Moon, shaking her head and grinning at Soliera.

“We've each got six, and I have a dragon anyway,” said Hau, indicating himself and Lillie.

Gladion merely shrugged. He had the smallest team of the four of them, so it wasn't an unreasonable assumption that he might want to catch a Dragon-type.

“At any rate, Phyco and Soliera do not have Pokémon strong enough to protect them here in the canyon; so I ask that when you reach those meadows you get in touch with me or with them, and they will do their observations with the four of you to guard.”

“We're kind of in a hurry, what with Guzma and Lusamine maybe being eaten by alien jellyfish,” pointed out Moon.

Lillie, Gladion, Phyco, and Soliera all winced at her description, but Hapu merely snorted. “It is likely you would have to camp in the area anyway; and they assure me they will not need to observe for very long.”

“What if you don't find a Cosmog?” said Lillie acidly.

“It is very likely that we will, actually,” answered Phyco. “They will sense the approach of Cosmoem, and will want to investigate; Cosmog as a species are prone to curiosity.”

“So you're using us as bait?”

“It isn't a trap; but yes, we would be using you to attract the Cosmog.”

“We were sort of going to agree to be bait anyway,” pointed out Moon. “They asked Hau and me about it in Tapu Village, remember? Necrozma can smell the Z-Crystals or whatever.”

Phyco and Soliera both looked suddenly guilty. Lillie stared at them for a few moments, then got to her feet and stalked back into the tent. Hau, after a few seconds, got up and followed her.

“Nebby was going to be the bait for that too, wasn't she,” concluded Moon, resigned.

“Yes, though we were not lying about the Blinding One's attraction to Z-Crystals. It's just that the Cosmog's aura would have been much stronger.” Phyco's mouth thinned. “I was not happy about it, though I know Miss Lillie will not believe me when I say so. President Mohn was being particularly demanding at that point; it was not long afterward that she gave the order for the kidnapping, to draw Moon away while Mr. Faba and Miss Plumeria were sent to retrieve Miss Lillie.”

Gladion snorted. “Plumeria would laugh herself silly if she heard you call her 'Miss.' ” But his tone was cold. “Given the way you've treated Lillie and Nebby, do you really think you have the right to ask any of us for a favor?”

“No,” said Soliera plainly. “But our world and the people we love are in very great danger; and yours will be as well, if Necrozma is further allowed to wreak havoc. The Blinding One goes where she wills, but leaves destruction in her path. Have you not also stolen and lied to keep safe one you love?”

Gladion's hand went to his Trainer belt automatically, though Null was quietly eating malasadas with the rest of the Pokémon.

“We'll do it,” said Moon firmly.

All eyes— Gladion, Hapu, Phyco, and Soliera, turned to her.

“You will?” said Phyco, clearly surprised.

“Yeah. If Nebby were still a Cosmog, it would be something else. But she's a Cosmoem now, and she probably isn't going to care what happens around her as she's sleeping or hibernating or whatever. And if people are in danger and this could help, then of course we'd do whatever is necessary. But you better start thinking of ways you're going to pay Lillie back. You owe her.”

After a few moments, Phyco nodded. “That is more than acceptable. I am not altogether sure what Miss Lillie might want, and I think she is unlikely to wish to tell us at the moment; but we will begin to think of something.”

“The basement.”

Gladion's tone was hard, and Moon turned to look at him.

“You've been down there,” he said, staring at Phyco and Soliera with glittering eyes. “You've seen them, in the cases. Cryogenically frozen.”

Moon realized he was talking about Lusamine's lab, and the glass tanks with what she had thought were dead Pokémon— but god, that was so much worse.

“Some are dead, some aren't,” he continued— and somehow, it had gotten even worse than before. “The dead ones— see them honorably put to rest. Wicke can help with that. The live ones were frozen for various reasons. Some were perfectly healthy, frozen because she thought they were beautiful.” His voice grated on the word. “Some have specific medical issues she wanted to research. Many of them are terminally ill, either naturally or as a result of experimentation. Those should be put to rest as well; they've suffered long enough. Those who can be healed should get the treatment they need. All of the survivors will probably need to undergo treatment through Aether's Pokémon therapy and rehabilitation program. The files will be in the computer down there. Removing them from the cases and sorting who goes where is a sensitive project, and can't be trusted to delegation. It would have had to be Wicke or Lillie or me. Wicke doesn't have the time, and Lillie and I don't have the emotional fortitude to spend much time down there.”

His voice dropped as he spoke, but his expression remained defiant, fixed on the aliens.

“We are more than capable of doing this work,” said Soliera, before Phyco could say anything. “And we have access to off-world medical technology that may assist even those Pokémon who would otherwise be categorized as terminally ill.”

“Soliera, we cannot just—”

“We need to compromise, sir.” Soliera's voice was steely. “We have done Lillie— and  Gladion great wrong. We have been reticent about Ultra Wormhole technology because we knew Lusamine would misuse it, but we can trust Lillie, Gladion, and Ms. Wicke not to misuse the medtech.”

“Haven't you already used some of it anyway?” pointed out Moon. “When I was attacked by the Nihilego, you had some stuff for me to use.”

“Alien technology for an alien injury; but you do have a point.” Phyco sighed. “The Coterie will not be pleased.”

“The Coterie,” said Soliera primly, “can bleat about prime directives and unnatural societal progressions all they like; but they ought to kneel and thank the young ones of this world for saving them from the Blinding One, and if that thanks includes medtech then so much the better.”

“Another good point.” Phyco sighed again, but turned to Gladion. “We will do as you ask. Will this be enough to appease Miss Lillie, or will more be required?”

“I'll ask her and see,” said Gladion, but he didn't move. It was a clear dismissal.

Moon glanced at Hapu, wondering if she was offended at the way they'd reacted to the favor she was asking of them; but she only wore a faintly amused smile on her face. “Thank you for your assistance,” she said politely, turning and walking back toward Epicentre. “We will allow you to get along with your journey. Lillie, at the very least, has my contact information. You may get in touch with either me or with Ms. Wicke, since Captain Phyco and Private Soliera dwell at the Aether Paradise; and we will get in touch with them and relay times and locations.”

“Will do, and you're welcome.”

Moon and Gladion watched the three of them ride off (Hapu confident in the saddle, Soliera slightly less so, Phyco sitting like a sack of flour and jolting uncomfortably up and down) before turning back to the tent.

It opened as soon as they turned, and Lillie's mouth was thin; but she had a relieved expression on her face.

“Sorry,” said Moon quickly. “For making a decision without you.”

“It was a good decision, don't be sorry.” Lillie waved her off, turning to Gladion. “And you're definitely not who I'm upset with, anyway. You're having them dismantle Mother's lab?”

Gladion shrugged. “I thought you wouldn't mind if neither of us had to do it.”

“I don't, but I anticipated Wicke delegating other things and putting in the time herself. She's better at emotional detachment than either of us.”

Moon thought of Wicke's emotion, usually so carefully hidden behind soft eye-smiles and brisk competence, and wasn't so sure; but Lillie and Gladion both knew her better and Gladion nodded.

“She still shouldn't have to do it,” he said shortly. “She's done enough for us. And maybe they'll get something out of it, too.”

* * * * *

“Oh, you seriously weren't kidding about the caves,” said Hau, staring in dismay at the dark cave-mouth that loomed before them.

They had been travelling for about three hours, approaching late morning; by common consent they stopped just outside of the cave, letting out Pokémon so that all could eat an early lunch. Visibility would be limited inside and, according to The Traveller's Guide to Alola, it was likely that they would be spending at least one night, probably two, inside the cave system. None of them liked the prospect at all, but there was apparently a part of the cave that many people used for overnight camping on the first night— a round, isolated platform, connected to the main path by a thin trail with a drop of about forty feet beneath; after years of traditional use by Trainers and travelers, it was one of the places where the kahuna before Hapu's grandfather had installed the first of several shower-sheds and outhouses, as well as torch brackets with a large supply of torches. It wasn't possible to stake a tent into the rock, but there would be plenty of regular old rocks around and they could certainly borrow a few to weigh down the corners of the tent. The second night wouldn't have the same off- the-path area, but the path itself was wide enough to allow for a similar camping setup, minus torches and hygenic facilities.

“Oh, right— you're kind of claustrophobic.”

“Yeah, a bit. It hasn't bothered me a whole lot, but it's worse when it's dark. I can't see anything so I just imagine walls closing in on me.” Hau shuddered. “No thanks.”

“Well, we won't be just blindly walking in the dark,” said Lillie firmly, unclipping her lantern from the hook that let it swing from the side of her backpack. “I'll have my lantern, and at least a few of our Pokémon should be able to learn Flash— I'll bet Char can, and as she's a flyer that will come in very handy. Perhaps Esper, too.”

“Ben can, but unless I have Macbeth out too he's going to be moody,” said Moon, with a dry smile for her Jolteon; Ben glared at her but was honest enough not to deny it. Macbeth patted him soothingly, pushing a handful of beans toward him. “And she's a slow walker, so I think she'd prefer to ride in her ball.”

“Uila can learn Flash. So can Ollie. I haven't tried it on BB, though.”

The Crabrawler looked up, raised one skeptical eyebrow at Hau, and returned to her lunch.

“Guess that's a no, then. What about your team, Gladion?”

Gladion shrugged. “Nox can probably learn it, though I've never had occasion to teach him.”

“Well, anyone who can learn it probably should,” decided Moon. “And if we have them take it in turns, nobody will get exhausted. Plus when we get to the camping spot, we'll be able to do torches.”

It turned out that Uila, Ollie, Nox, Esper, Char, and surprisingly Snowfall could all learn Flash. It was about eleven thirty in the morning, and The Traveller's Guide to Alola estimated that the camping-site was about eight hours in. Divided into shifts, by six Pokémon, it came out to an hour and twenty minutes of continuous Flash per Pokémon, which all of them could handle without difficulty. Gladion surprised them by volunteering Nox to go first, and the little robo-platypus chirped brightly, lighting up as they made their way into the cave.

The further away they got from the mouth of the cave, the colder it got; and soon Moon's fairly thin cardigan was not nearly enough to keep her from shivering. Gladion, ignoring the indignity of a brightly shining Nox sprawled cheerfully over his backpack and head, glanced over at her and promptly stopped walking.

“Jackets would probably be a good idea,” he said brusquely, setting Nox down before pulling off said backpack and rummaging through it.

“I'm good,” said Hau, which was probably true— he was one of those people who ran at a comfortable billion degrees and could wear shorts in the winter, if winter in Alola weren't like a pleasantly balmy spring or fall afternoon somewhere else. But Lillie was also beginning to look rather cold, and she was thinner than Moon; she got out gloves and put on a pink hoodie, drawing the hood up over her ears. Hau stuck his hand in the hood and pulled her braids out, but Lillie grabbed his hands and held them against her face for a few moments.

“You're warm,” she explained. The reason didn't really matter, because Hau's grin was probably bright enough to light the cave without Nox's assistance.

Moon pulled on her own jacket, the purple one with Puck's Rowlet-prints. She liked her baseball cap more than a beanie— but she'd lent one to Gladion when they had flown together on Charizard, so she pulled it out and turned to offer it to him.

“That looked like something out of a romantic comedy film,” said Lillie promptly.

The moment Moon turned, beanie in one hand, she found herself face-to-face with Gladion, who was wearing his nice gray jacket and holding out a wine-red, rather lopsided scarf.

“Trade you?”

He nodded once, but instead of taking the beanie he stepped forward— very much in her personal space— and looped the scarf around her neck. Moon waited, letting him work and looking him in the eye; when he finished tucking it in place she stood on tiptoe and pulled the hat down over his hair. The fringe was covering his eye, and his nose wrinkled; but in a sudden burst of confidence Moon pushed it over to the side, tucking it underneath the cap and behind his ear.

“Thank you,” she said, smiling up at him.

His mouth twitched and he nodded once. Moon supposed it would have been too much to ask him to smile back.

They kept walking. Hau and Lillie held hands, frequently switching sides so that Lillie could benefit from the natural warmth. Gladion had his hands jammed in his pockets and seemed preoccupied, but not necessarily stressed— his eyebrows and nose were free of the worry-wrinkle that seemed to plague them quite often. Moon kept her hands in her own pockets and tried not to stare at him, because even if he was pretty staring was weird.

The day wore on, long and cold and dark; and Moon was tired long before they reached the campsite but eventually Snowfall, trotting slightly ahead of Lillie and Hau with the bright glow of Flash lighting up the area around them, let out a soft yip as the path branched. A stone tub of unlit torches was fixed to the ground next to two free-standing torch brackets, which marked the beginning of the little bridge, about four feet wide, that would lead them over the forty-foot drop to the campsite area. Hau let out Ollie, the only one of any of their teammates who knew a Fire-type move; with a quick spurt of Flamethrower they lit up two torches and set them in the bracket.

Moon could see the gap yawning below them, and forced herself to keep her eyes level, looking straight across the bridge as her stomach churned. Hau and Lillie, neither of them troubled by heights, each took another lighted torch in hand, and Ollie and Snowfall trailed them across the bridge. Gladion waited, looking at her with memory slowly returning to his face.

“Ah, you don't like heights.”

“Not really, no.” Hau was right— the dark was so much worse, because it could be forty feet or three hundred feet or an entire fucking mile, and she would still think about falling down to the bottom and landing with a splat.

“I need your help with something, once we're across.”

Moon turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow; Gladion held a lighted torch in one hand and had an unlit one in the other. “What is it?”

“My stitches are starting to dissolve. The cut's been healed for a couple of days, but they're itchy and I want to pull them out.”

“Sure, I can do that.”

“Good. Take this.”

He held out the unlit torch. Moon took it.

“And this.”

She stared at him in confusion for a few seconds before the penny dropped, and she reached out to take his empty hand. He held it tightly, but not painfully; a reassurance.

“Do you trust me to lead you across safely?” Green eyes, glittering in firelight, searched her.

Moon nodded; her own eyes were damp, and she wasn't really sure why.

“Then close your eyes. I won't let anything happen to you.”

It was a lot to ask, but Moon took a deep breath and closed her eyes, focusing on the warm, gentle tug of his hand. One foot in front of the other, that was all it took; she would be fine. It would be fine.

It felt like years, but eventually they came to a stop and Gladion said softly, “We made it.”

He didn't let go, and he sounded very close; Moon dared to open her eyes.

Gladion wasn't smiling (of course), but there was something very warm in his eyes. “We made it,” he repeated.

Moon nodded— she didn't trust her voice not to crack, or do something equally embarrassing; and on impulse she wrapped her arms around him, closing the gap and pressing her face against his shoulder.

He seemed to understand, but he didn't say anything— simply extricated one arm to pat her on the back. And she was probably getting his shirt wet, but Lillie had a point about crying with someone who made you feel safe— with someone who went out of their way to make you feel safe.

Hau and Lillie were already at work setting up the camp, having placed their lit torches in two of the five brackets along the wall; Gladion took the one that Moon had carried and lit it with his own, then went to hang them up. Moon took a deep breath and walked over to put her backpack down.

“I think we need one more torch,” said Hau, threading tent poles through the appropriate fabric-tubes with precision.

“I've got it,” called Gladion, walking back toward the bridge.

“Thanks, man.”

“Mm-hmm.”

The tent went up, and Moon decided to make herself useful by investigating the outhouse and shower-shed that had been installed two kahunas ago. Both were rather bare and a touch dusty; there were no Bug-types making nests, not even spiders— for which she was exceedingly grateful. They were lit very cleverly— the closest torch-bracket was just outside the shower-shed and there were small, oddly-placed mirrors to catch and cast light everywhere. And the water worked immediately, when she turned on the tap in the little outhouse sink; it took a little while to turn warm but that was fine.

“Who wants first shower?” she called, walking out of the shower-shed. “It's a little dusty, but water will probably take care of that quick.”

“Is there hot water?” said Hau.

“Yeah, but I'm not sure how much there is.”

“Then I think Lillie better go first, because she needs the heat more than any of the rest of us.”

“Oh, Hau, I really don't—”

“Seconded,” said Moon and Gladion in unison, before looking at each other in surprise.

Lillie went pink. “Well, if none of the rest of you want it...”

None of them did, and Lillie went to test it out. Moon would have wanted Gladion to go next, but he insisted that she go first. If Hau wouldn't have died laughing at them then Moon might have pushed the argument more, but decided that accepting defeat would be the lesser of two evils, and gathered her own things to get herself cleaned up. Gladion and Hau followed suit.

Dinner was the usual, MREs and cup ramen as well as tea or instant cocoa; the Pokémon fed on beans in the dim torchlight and Hero, possessed of infrared vision as well as needing little to no sleep, plodded over to the bridge to fold its legs beneath itself and sit guard.

The day had been long, and Hau and Lillie began getting ready for bed; but Gladion caught Moon's eye, jerking his head toward the doorway of the tent. She followed him out, zipping up the tent behind her, and he walked over to the torch bracket furthest from the tent and sat down on the cave floor, shrugging both jackets off one shoulder to give her access to the bandages.

Moon sat down next to him and unwrapped the bandage. Gladion had been correct— his injury was healed, a shiny pink line instead of an open cut; and the dark threads of the stitches were beginning to come loose.

“Do I just— pull?”

“No, I brought nail scissors. Cut the visible stitch first and then pull. If you don't get everything it's fine, they'll dissolve anyway.”

He held out a pair of nail scissors— Moon was surprised he had something that delicate, but figured it was for medical purposes and not aesthetic ones. She carefully wiggled one blade beneath the first stitch and cut it loose.

“Feels weird.” He spoke in a half-whisper— along the bass end of his vocal register, which made the hairs on Moon's neck and arms stand up in a delightfully ticklish way. She pulled bits of stiff thread out of his arms and discarded them on the cave floor.

“It doesn't hurt or anything?”

“No.”

Moon nodded. “Will you need the antibiotic?”

“I probably should. I'd rather not deal with an infection.”

“Should I—”

“Sure, whatever.”

He never interrupted. Moon glanced up at him to gauge the unusual response and found him flushing, avoiding eye contact.

“Are you okay?”

There was a long silence; but then he let out a frustrated breath, reached into one pocket, and handed her the tube of antibiotic cream. Moon uncapped the tube and began application.

“I'm very confused,” he said plaintively.

“What about?” She tried to keep her tone gentle.

“All— all kinds of things. I don't know.”

Annoyance bit into his tone, and Moon did her best to hide a smile because that would have been mean.

“It's okay,” she said, focusing on her work. “To be confused about things. I'm really bad at it, because I like having answers. When I'm confused I get mad. I know I shouldn't, but I do anyway. I should work on that.”

He was quiet for a few moments. They were both, Moon decided, well aware that the antibiotic cream had been entirely absorbed by now.

“I don't know if I can put this into words,” he said, after a few moments. “It's fucking stupid. I hate it. I just want a lot of things all at once and at the same time I don't want a lot of things, and I feel like I'm going to explode.”

“You explode and Lillie breaks— sounds familiar.” She looked up at him. “You know we'll be here, right? All three of us. If you need to explode, we'll help you pick up afterward.”

She did not expect him to tear up, so when he turned away, scrubbing roughly at his eyes with one sleeve, Moon reached out and pulled his wrist away before— god, this was nervewracking— reaching up and blotting away telltale dampness.

“Fuck,” he mumbled.

“I'll listen,” she told him. “Arceus knows I'm a chatterbox, but I can shut up long enough to listen.”

A huff of laughter. “You've got enough on your plate.”

“Sure, but we're all sitting at the same table.” Moon frowned. “Never mind, I don't like that metaphor.”

“It got the point across.”

He threaded his arm back into the ratty black jacket, then the nice grey one; the hoods went back up, and he held out his hand for the nail scissors and antibiotic. Moon handed them over.

“I'm not good at this.”

He sounded annoyed again.

“Good at what?”

“Good at— at people. At friends.” He swallowed, looking away. “At relationships.”

“Dude,” said Moon, keeping her face deadpan. “Have you met me?”

That provoked a startled chuckle out of him. He had half-smiled or smirked or laughed often enough that Moon was beginning to see what he would look like if he were really smiling; but she wanted confirmation.

“You're better than I am.”

“I've had a few really good teachers.” Her parents, Red, Blue, Hau, Lillie, Molly, Rogelio— even Hapu, and perhaps Acerola. Plumeria as well, on a good day. “But trust me, dude, you're doing fine. We can't all be Hau and Lillie.”

His nose wrinkled. “I don't aspire to that level of cute, thanks.”

Moon batted her eyelashes obnoxiously. “What if I do?”

“That's your problem.”

The banter seemed to be a reassurance, bringing normality back after a serious conversation.

“Ready to go back in?” she asked.

For a moment he hesitated; but then he nodded, firmly enough that she didn't think it would help to call him on it. They'd made a lot of progress that day. Lillie had been correct that Gladion would respond better to more obvious affection, and while he was clearly overwhelmed at the moment, he seemed to be gaining enough poise to admit when he was struggling. Moon knew, from experience with both Red and Lillie, that it could take a lot of courage to do that.

“Good night, then,” she said, grinning at him before turning to walk over to the tent.

“Good night—”

The last word was mumbled, almost whispered; Moon didn't think that he knew she had heard it, and she pretended she hadn't; but when she'd brushed her teeth and washed her face and zipped herself into her sleeping bag, with Puck and Ariel and Macbeth cuddled around her for warmth, she let out a muffled scream into the pillow. Some things were just too goddamn much to handle, and if they ever got to a point where he called her sunshine in person, to her face, without any shame or fear— she might explode too, but in a good way.

Chapter Text

“Thank Arceus, it's sweet sweet sunlight at last!” proclaimed Hau, falling to his knees and blinking hard in the bright light that met them as they at last exited the first of Poni Canyon's caves.

“We could totally take a break,” suggested Moon, checking the time with Rotom. “It's not long until we'd be eating lunch anyway.”

Nobody raised objections to this, and the four of them made their way over to some low, flat boulders that had clearly been used for seats by Trainers— there were scratches in the rock, primarily in the form of initials— with accompanying tally-marks to indicate the number of Pokémon with the owner of said initials. Moon amused herself by scratching MTH and five tally-marks into a clear spot off to the side, using a sharp smaller rock to do so. Hau wrote HMA with six tally-marks, and would have been content with that; but Lillie took the rock from him, carefully enscribed LKM and six more tally-marks, and enclosed both names in a heart.

“Awwww,” said Moon out loud.

“Hey, Gladion, what's your middle name?” said Hau, grinning.

“No,” said Gladion, without looking at them.

“It's Arthur,” said Lillie promptly.

He huffed out an annoyed breath, got to his feet, and walked over to the cave mouth.

“Did I go too far?” wondered Hau.

Lillie waved one hand dismissively. “Oh, you're fine. He always does this, he's just going to sulk for a while.”

Perhaps it was that they really had not spent all that much time in company with both Lillie and Gladion, but Moon found that Lillie's response did not sit well with her. But Hau did not, as he had implied, write Gladion's initials near Moon's own; instead he pitched the rock further down the pathway and drew Lillie into lunch preparations.

Gladion came back for lunch, quietly eating a peanut butter sandwich like the rest of them; but he was very pointedly not looking at Lillie, and answered questions only in monosyllables. It was quite plain that he was still upset, but Moon— only just beginning to trust her gut again— didn't think it was entirely about something as trivial as writing initials on a rock, or even being teased about the relationship that they were dancing around.

Even worse was the fact that Lillie was at least as observant of this as Moon or Hau— probably more so; but she seemed to be more annoyed than anything. Moon tried to draw Gladion into conversation, to distract him; but he remained unresponsive and matters were made much worse when the monosyllabic answers were accompanied by disdainful sniffs from another quarter.

About fifteen minutes of this went on before Hau said flatly, “All right, this is garbage.”

Moon turned to look at him, surprised and a little grateful. She was accustomed to being the person who called Lillie and Gladion out on things, and she'd been thinking she would have to say something sooner or later.

“What's garbage?” said Lillie, her tone sweet as sugar. “Is it that my older brother— a grown man, mind you— is sulking like a child, because I teased him a little bit?”

“That's not why I'm fucking upset,” snarled Gladion, turning to glare at Lillie. “The teasing was fine until you just— walked over my goddamn no, like it didn't even exist. Do I need to remind you who else in our lives has a problem with respecting personal boundaries?”

“You're making a huge deal out of nothing.”

“Or is it just another case of 'not my circus, not my Aipom,' like when you never once fucking stuck up for me with her?”

“Oh my god, you know why I never said anything!”

“Yes, I'm very well fucking aware of that, thank you very much!”

“Then what is your problem?”

“The problem is that I've been away from her for three years and I finally have the goddamn perspective to realize exactly how wrong that was!” bellowed Gladion.

A hurt look passed over Lillie's face. “You saving me from her wasn't wrong!”

“Yes, it fucking was! I— I shouldn't have had to do that.”

His voice broke as he spoke, and his whole face twitched with a sudden strained effort— and Moon realized that he was trying not to cry.

“So you think you should have just left me to deal with her?” Lillie's mouth trembled; it was easier to see “trying not to cry” on her, because Moon had seen her cry more often. “The way you already did?”

“That's not it at all.”

“Do enlighten me, because I'm failing to see how you're being anything but selfish at the moment.”

Gladion took a deep breath, and when he spoke his voice was precise, controlled and cold. “Neither of us should have had to deal with protecting each other or ourselves from our own fucking mother.”

Lillie opened her mouth, but suddenly looked lost, and closed it.

“We were children,” continued Gladion, pressing his advantage. “We still are. I might be nineteen but I'm not a goddamn adult, no matter what I pretend to be to get under Faba's skin. I don't know how to be an adult. It's your parents' job to teach you that, and obviously mine did not do her fucking job.”

A long silence fell over the group. Moon glanced at Hau, who shook his head slightly, eyes wide with confusion and more than a little bit of panic.

She cleared her throat, and both Lillie and Gladion turned to look at her. “Do you mind if Hau and I butt in, or do you want us to stay out of it?”

Gladion shrugged. “It can't possibly get any worse,” he said dully.

“All right. Let's head out, and I'll talk while we walk.”

They finished cleaning up lunch in silence, and once they were on the road Moon began. “So— it kind of looks like one of the problems here is communication, or the lack thereof.”

“There's a lot more than just communication issues going on,” muttered Gladion.

“Maybe if you shut up for a minute, you might find out what they are,” said Lillie acidly.

“Maybe if you both shut up and listen to Moon, we won't have another argument,” suggested Hau, but he took Lillie's hand and squeezed it, trying to take the sting out of the remark.

“I'm talking about the specific thing that happened today, anyway,” clarified Moon. “The other stuff isn't relevant to the argument, or it wouldn't be if it hadn't come up.” She took a breath. “So— I dunno if Hau has a different perspective on what happened, but it sounds to me like Hau was teasing Gladion, but he drew a hard boundary. He didn't want either of you to do his initials on the rock. Right?”

Hau and Gladion both nodded. Lillie pursed her lips, but didn't raise any objection to the statement and Moon took it as confirmation.

“Firstly, Lillie was kind of in the wrong by saying Gladion's middle name. Were you actually going to let Hau write his initials, or was it just a joke?”

Lillie had to think about that for a few moments. “I don't know,” she said slowly. “It was just— it was part of the banter, to me. I didn't really think about what Hau would do.”

Moon glanced at Hau. “Would you have written his initials, if he hadn't said no?”

“Yeah, because I'm a lot less patient than you when it comes to watching that not happen.” Hau waved at Moon and Gladion.

“I have experience being patient with this sort of thing,” said Moon dryly, thinking of Red and Blue and the two years it took them to actually get together. “Gladion, did you think Hau would write your initials?”

“Yes.”

“And since Hau said he would, it was a legitimate concern.” Moon turned to look apologetically at Lillie. “So yeah, you were in the wrong here.”

Lillie nodded, but there was something bitter in her eyes. “How was I supposed to know he didn't think it was funny?”

Gladion waved one hand at Moon. “I've got an answer for that one, if that's okay?”

“Sure.”

He met his sister's eyes. “It was the kind of joke she would make. I said no, and that's a boundary. She doesn't respect our boundaries.”

After a few moments, Lillie nodded again. “I didn't think about that,” she said quietly. “I'm sorry.”

“It's fine. I know you didn't really mean it, the way she would have. And I used to make shitty jokes too, but after Plumeria told me off about it I stopped doing that.”

“The more I hear about your mother, the less I like her,” remarked Hau.

“It's just—” Gladion sighed, frustrated. “God, I didn't want to talk about this, but it's a perfect opening and something you should both know, since we're all friends.”

“Dating, you mean.”

“I don't just mean the two of you, or me and Moon, dumba—” Gladion caught Moon's eye and coughed. “Uh— I also mean that you and I are friends. And that Moon and Lillie are friends.”

“Oh,” said Hau, mollified. “Yeah, okay.”

After a few moments, Gladion sighed again. “Lillie's talked to Wicke, and Wicke's talked to me. Mo— Lusamine isn't formally diagnosed, because obviously she's perfect and nothing is wrong with her.” His voice dripped with sarcasm. “But she ticks a lot of boxes for narcissistic personality disorder. Exaggerated sense of self-importance, excessive need for admiration, lack of empathy, fragile ego, inability to take criticism, belittling others, fixation on power fantasies, huge sense of entitlement... I could go on but it's a long list, so I'll spare you.”

“And losing our father was very hard for her,” said Lillie softly. “She loved him very much, and she had to take over the Aether Foundation immediately after his death.”

“She was delusional,” retorted Gladion. “She thought— still thinks, actually, that he's alive. There's no fucking way.”

“Why would she think that?” said Moon, bewildered.

“Because seven years ago, he walked into an Ultra Wormhole and never came out.”

Moon took a moment to digest this. “So that's why she's so obsessed with making Ultra Wormholes?”

“Exactly. It's been seven years. If he were alive, he would have come back by now.” Gladion rolled his eyes. “She was a narcissist before that, though. Dear old dad was nice enough, but too wrapped up in his fucking research to notice anything remotely like abuse.”

“Gladion!”

“It's the truth, Lillie, and you know it.” Gladion's face twisted. “They say not to speak ill of the dead or whatever, but he was the absent-minded professor to beat absent-minded professors. Lusamine was in charge of finance and PR and that sort of thing, while he took care of the science. He did the work, and she took the credit, and he was so whipped that he didn't do a goddamn thing about it. It was always like that.”

Moon glanced at Lillie, expecting a denial; but to her surprise Lillie remained silent, though her mouth was trembling again in the trying-not-to-cry way.

“That's not the point though.” Gladion suddenly looked tired; an old man, peering out from a young face. “The point is, Lusamine's a narcissist, so the whole world revolves around her. And that includes her relationship with me versus her relationship with Lillie. It ought to have been the same thing, but it wasn't.”

Lillie frowned. “Wait, Wicke never mentioned anything about that.”

“No, she wouldn't have. You're not going to like hearing this.” But Gladion's face was set; he seemed to have made up his mind to speak. “We're Lusamine's kids, and fifty percent of our DNA is hers; so that means we're extensions of her. That means that we have to be like her, or we're nothing.”

Lillie's eyes were wide. “Gladion—”

“I've always been more like my father,” continued Gladion, ignoring her. “Or I would be, if I hadn't been fucking abused. We're different, of course. But we're both introverts, we both like science— Pokébiology for him, medicine and chemistry for me. Blond and green-eyed, obviously. He could get wrapped up for days at a time in a project, and I used to be like that. Not so much anymore. So even when Dad was around, Lusamine was playing favorites. Guess who was her favorite.”

Moon glanced at Lillie before she could stop herself; Lillie's eyes were full of tears and one trailed down her cheek. Gladion wasn't looking at any of them.

“She could dress her up like a little doll,” he said dully. “Lillie was her mini-me. She was a chance to do life all over again, but pulling the strings from behind. We weren't her children, we were her puppets. And Lillie was the favorite, and I wasn't. After Dad died she hated the fact that I looked like him, that I reminded her of him. So she made me cut my hair and started dictating what I wore, the same way she'd always done for Lillie. And anytime I did anything like my dad I was punished for it. Lillie got treats and rewards and she was spoiled— not undeservingly, because you were a great kid.”

“G-Gladion—”

He fell back slightly, putting one arm over her shoulder; Lillie choked on a sob but they kept walking, Moon and Hau listening in horrified silence.

“But I was punished for every fucking stupid thing. Even if Lillie was the one who did something wrong or made a mistake, it was my fault. I was the worst, I was scum, I was an ungrateful, lying piece of shit and she wished I'd never been born and she hoped I would die in my sleep.”

“Did she actually say—”

“Not in those words, but it was implied. She's smart like that.” It seemed that the more he spoke, the more the words seemed to come out; and he was interrupting them by answering questions before they were finished. “But eventually, it got to a point where I realized that no matter what I did, she wasn't ever going to love me like she loved Lillie. So I went 'fuck this,' and I began doing things I wanted to do and just accepting the punishments for it. I didn't have money to pick out my own clothes, but I stopped letting anyone cut my hair and I skived off doing most of my homework and I never learned Kalosian properly, the way Lillie did— I kind of half-assed it when we lived in Kalos for six months, but I've forgotten a lot of it. I played a lot of angry piano and blasted music from my speakers, and I slammed doors and talked back and god, it felt good. Even when I got punished, it was worth it.

“But Lusamine's smart. She knew that the only person who could make me do anything at this point was Lillie. So she started a new rule: whenever I did anything wrong, instead of punishing me she punished Lillie.”

“What the fuck,” said Moon, appalled.

“Right?” He snorted, grimly amused. “See, you get it, because you're actually fucking sane. But that didn't matter to her. Nobody could see how she was parenting when we were always trapped in that house, and it was about control. She had to control me, however she could. I tried to scale back the rebellion, but it wasn't enough. Anything I did was wrong. And then once she started punishing Lillie, Lillie started to realize that it didn't matter what she did, either; it would always be my fault, and she would be punished for it. So she started acting out a little, too. And then Mother turned on her. Suddenly we were both scapegoats. We were ugly and stupid and ungrateful and unlovable and selfish, and if we tried to tell her she was being mean then we had no sense of humor. We were getting used to it, though. We were telling each other it would be okay, it would only be a few years until we turned eighteen and then we could get the fuck out; but then Null happened, and—”

He took a deep, shuddering breath. Lillie, now openly crying, stopped walking and buried her head in his shoulder, shaking like a leaf.

“—and for about forty-eight hours I was, honest-to-god, thinking about a murder-suicide, because then I wouldn't have to watch Null in pain, and I wouldn't have to watch Lillie be punished for what I did after the fact.”

“Gladion!”

“Dude, holy shit!”

Moon and Hau spoke in unison, and Gladion looked up at them. There was a dullness to his eyes that terrified Moon— a dullness that spoke to years and years of hurt and pain, and how it was possible to get used to anything if you endured it for long enough.

“Luckily, I knew enough to know that being suicidal meant something was wrong. So I went to talk to Wicke about things, and she did the paperwork and accounts and got Null and me out.” A dry half-smile quirked onto his face. “I stole Faba's boat to do it, as a big fuck-you. And Null helped me vandalize it, once I persuaded her not to kill me. I was taking a very big fucking risk by ever letting her out of the Pokéball unrestrained; but as you can see, it paid off. And all of that, about the way Lusamine treated us, is why I got very fucking pissy about a little joke.”

Hau pulled his backpack off, setting it down in the middle of the path; he took two long strides over to Lillie and Gladion and gathered both of them in his arms. At first Gladion seemed taken aback; but then he sighed and relaxed into it.

“Guess I kind of walked into that one,” he muttered.

“I don't know why you're complaining, Hau gives the best hugs,” said Moon, taking off her own backpack and coming around to the other side to enclose brother and sister in a hug-sandwich.

“Seconded,” mumbled Lillie, voice thick with tears.

“Perhaps I'm biased, but my vote lies with Moon.”

Moon flushed, and tried to ignore it. “And after all that,” she said carefully, as all three of her friends tensed, “she still doesn't understand what she did wrong?”

Gladion's huff of laughter was hollow. “Neither logic nor rules apply to narcissists. I read something once, called 'The Narcissist's Prayer': That didn't happen; and if it did, it wasn't that bad; and if it was, that's not a big deal; and if it is, that's not my fault; and if it was, I didn't mean it; and if I did, you deserved it.”

“I'm sorry,” breathed Lillie, through a fresh wave of sobs. “I w-wasn't thinking, and god now that I r-remember it I sounded exactly like Mother, I feel s-sick just thinking about it.”

“It's okay,” said Gladion quietly. “I didn't mean what I said either, about you never sticking up for me. You shouldn't have to stick up for me, and I shouldn't have had to take the blame for you, and you shouldn't have been punished for me. It was mean of her, and I was being mean because you did kind of sound like her and I reacted badly. I'm sorry, too.”

It was some time before they all let go of one another, and there was not a dry eye among them. Lillie dug in her bag for tissues and passed them out. And by unspoken consent, each of them brought out a few of their Pokémon— Puck and Ariel for Moon, though she patted her other Pokéballs apologetically and received reassuring vibrations in response; Uila and Ollie for Hau; Lapin and Esper for Lillie; and just Null, for Gladion.

Moon gazed at Null with a new respect. Gladion had told her in private that he had thought about suicide more than just once, and it seemed fairly obvious with context that the only one who would have been able to support him during those times was Null, as well as his other teammates once he had them. Null turned a beady blue eye on her— she had the Water Memory in, to counter the Ground- and Rock-type Pokémon that made their homes in the canyon and caves— and trotted over, sniffing at Moon's hand. Gladion watched this with interest, but didn't say anything to either of them.

None of them spoke much for the rest of the day, winding along through the canyon. This part was at a higher elevation because the cave had taken them quite a ways uphill; as a result it was much lighter where they were than it had been in the first part of the canyon, because the walls were not quite as tall; so they could travel a little further and camp later. They trained and battled wild Pokémon, as they were long accustomed to do while travelling; but it was not until they were in the process of setting up camp, with a fiercely scarlet sunset lighting everything with a soft orange glow, that something happened to disturb the calm they were all trying to maintain.

The hunting Pokémon— Puck, Ariel, Null, and Imp— had all gone out to search for their suppers, with Moon and Hau dishing out beans for the rest. The grass at the edge of their campsite rustled, despite Repel sprayed to deter such intruders; and emerging with a wrinkled nose and a set expression came a little Riolu, eyes fixed on Gladion.

“Hi, little one,” said Hau, waving.

The Riolu waved an absent hand, but it was still staring at Gladion, eyes widening slightly.

“Rotom, what's it doing?”

Rotom hemmed thoughtfully, floating over to examine the Riolu; it ignored the Dex, fixated on Gladion— who was beginning to look uncomfortable with the attention. “Well, Riolu is known as the Emanation Pokémon for a reason, bzzt. It has the power to see and understand emotional auras like happiness or anger, and it can tell how any person or Pokémon feels just by looking.”

“In that case, I'm not surprised by the reaction at all.”

The Riolu trotted carefully closer to Gladion, still staring; it looked up at him and placed one paw on his knee, letting out a soft purring noise.

There was a snarl and a blue-and-white blur, and Null had pinned the Riolu to the ground faster than any of them could move.

“Null, knock it off! It was just curious!”

But the Riolu's eyes only grew wider, and it carefully reached up to press the same paw on Null's leg— again purring.

After a few moments, Null blinked, seemingly startled.

“Rio ri,” said the Riolu softly. “Lu ri.”

“Yeah, see?” said Gladion, bending down to grab Null's leg, pulling it off the Riolu's shoulder. “It wasn't hurting me.”

Null obediently backed up, but now she and the Riolu were engaged in a silent, intense staring contest. The Riolu looked away first, not being as ferocious as its opponent; but it placed both paws on Null's face and began purring again, closing its eyes.

After a few moments, Null's eyes closed as well— and Moon could swear she saw something shining, at the corners of her eyes.

“Rio?”

Null's eyes opened again; she stepped back and nodded once, regally. The Riolu patted Null's nose and turned to look at Gladion, now crouched and frozen, staring at the two of them.

“Lu, lu, lu,” it said softly.

Moon exchanged wide-eyed glances with Hau and Lillie.

“Um—” Gladion's voice cracked. “Sorry, if it was bothering you. We've all been through a lot today. Did I wake you up, or anything?”

The Riolu quickly shook its head. “Ri lu, rio lu.”

“I— um, that's sweet of you.”

The Riolu nodded this time, then took a few steps closer and brushed its paw across Gladion's face— ever so gentle, with curiosity in its face. His eyes closed slowly— almost as though they were out of his control— and he let out a deep, heavy breath, followed by another, and another, and another; they might have gotten faster and turned into hyperventilation if the Riolu hadn't begun to purr again.

“I think it might have adopted you, dude,” said Hau.

The Riolu bobbed its head in a nod. “Ri ri.”

Gladion's eyes opened, lazily flicking over to Null. “You're the touchy one,” he said, holding out one hand; Null nuzzled into it, humming softly. “Are you okay with that?”

“Val,” said Null, in one of her rare moments of speech.

Gladion nodded, got to his feet, and went to his backpack; he came back with a blue-and-red Great Ball, and tossed it at the Riolu to catch; the ball had barely moved before the click of a successful capture reached their ears.

“Nice critical catch, bzzt,” said Rotom.

“Thanks, I guess.”

Like Lillie, Gladion didn't have a Pokédex; but he had the app on his phone and he opened it, silently examining the Riolu's stats.

“She's quite strong,” he said finally. “No wonder, given how sensitive she was to— well, me and Null.”

“Oh, a girl? What are you going to call her?”

Gladion considered for a few moments before glancing at Lillie. “Think Wicke would find Amelia funny?”

“That could be awkward, given that she's told us we can call her Amelia and probably wants us to.”

“Good point. What's Wicke's middle name?”

Lillie frowned. “Um— I don't remember. You can text and ask?”

Gladion nodded and rapidly began typing in his phone. Not thirty seconds later it buzzed.

“Eleanor,” he said out loud.

“I would have thought it would be more Kantonian, since she's from Kanto.”

“She was born there, but her family is Kalosian,” corrected Gladion absently. “I like Eleanor, though. It fits.”

And thus Eleanor was welcomed to the team; once out of her ball she crawled over to Gladion and wrapped herself around his torso, purring loudly.

“What is she doing?” asked Hau.

“I think she's sending out— a calming aura, or something?” Eleanor chirped agreement. “Yeah, a calming aura. It's been a rough day, but it doesn't feel quite so bad right now.”

Null seemed to agree, lying down on her stomach next to Gladion and closing her eyes. And Gladion did seem more relaxed; so Moon decided that Eleanor would be a very good addition to the group at large, and perhaps even a mediator for if any of them ever got into big fights like that again.

“Penny for 'em,” said Hau, recalling her attention with a wave; she'd been staring at Eleanor, who turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh— sorry. I was just thinking that she would have been nice to have when you and I were fighting.”

Gladion nodded ruefully. “That occurred to me, too; but I've forced myself to believe that everything happens for a reason. If I don't, I just get depressed.”

“Like you aren't already.”

He snorted, and Eleanor grinned at Moon, doing a little thumbs-up with one paw. “True.”

Moon laughed, partly in relief that the joke had landed— it was in questionable taste to begin with, given the day they'd all had— but the relief was soon overtaken by Eleanor sitting bolt upright, looking up at Gladion in alarm before turning to look at Moon in equal alarm.

“Oh my god,” said Lillie, the grin growing on her face. “She sees it too, doesn't she?”

“Well, she does see emotions,” pointed out Hau.

Eleanor climbed out of Gladion's lap, trotted over to Moon, and pulled on her wrist.

“Ellie, stop that.”

Cute, thought Moon helplessly; but she let Eleanor pull her over to sit closer to Gladion. Satisfied with her work, the Riolu looked at each of them, nodded once, and climbed back into Gladion's lap.

“Out of the mouths of babes and Pokémon,” said Hau solemnly, which sent Lillie into a fit of giggles. “Science is on our side.”

Gladion closed his eyes, resigned, and began scratching Eleanor behind her long, floppy ears. “You're lucky you're cute, because you've been part of my team for five minutes and you're already a menace.”

“Lu lu ri.”

“Did you just sass me?”

Eleanor blinked innocently at him. “Lu lu ri.”

“This is everything I have ever asked for and more,” said Moon, propping her chin on one hand to watch the staring contest. “Finally, I get to watch other people having disciplinary issues with their Pokémon.”

“You have been extraordinarily unlucky in that regard,” agreed Lillie.

Moon nodded emphatically, holding up a finger. “First I've got Puck, who was adorable at first and then aged into an still-adorable angsty teenager, followed by a grumpy old bastard. Even though he is still very young.”

“Hoo,” said Puck haughtily, stalking back into camp with Ariel at his heels.

“You're my grumpy old bastard, and I love you to bits and pieces; but you cannot deny that you are, in fact, a grumpy old bastard.” Puck considered this for a few moments, then nodded once and sat agreeably down on Moon's other side. “Then I've got Ariel, and she's pretty well-behaved but she's also dramatic and opinionated and bossy.” Ariel didn't even bother denying this, shrugging and hopping over to where the bean-eaters were finishing up dinner. “Ben— well, Ben is self-explanatory. A literal demon. Macbeth is very sweet of course, and I never have obedience issues with her. But then there's Hero, who I love and am endlessly grateful to for saving my life; but at the same time, it literally stalked me for a month despite my repeated requests for it to stop.”

“Yeah, you really have been kind of unlucky with personality clash,” laughed Hau.

Moon glared at him, though there wasn't any heat behind it. “The most you've had to deal with is Poppy being a bit dramatic and Sonar being a little mischievous.”

“Nebby, when she was mobile and energetic, was constantly getting into trouble,” said Lillie. “And Char's been showing a bit of propensity for trouble-making... she's still very tractable, but she likes to tease.”

“I don't want to hear a thing from any of you,” snorted Gladion. “I'll remind you all that Null has killed fourteen people, and if you weren't aware she's also tried to kill me a few times. Fortunately we're past that stage, but I'm pretty sure I win the entire category for 'most troublesome teammate.' ”

“Okay, yeah, that's absolutely fair.”

Over the rest of the evening Moon had to observe that Eleanor's general effect on team morale— not just for Gladion's team, but all twenty-two Pokémon and four people in their group— made a huge difference. She was only a Riolu at this point, but she was powerful enough to create auras, the way Lucario were often known to do; and she used her power well and often.

The most obvious effects were apparent in Gladion, of course. Eleanor was certainly making a greater effort with him and with Null than she was with anyone else. Gladion was quiet to begin with, but he had almost no patience and a sharp tongue, which was a terrible combination— especially when he was tired, hungry, or plain annoyed. Eleanor would hug him, or turn from her favorite perch (the top of Gladion's backpack, behind his head) and pat his cheeks from behind; and he would sigh and let it go.

But Eleanor could clearly calm Null as well, a rare feat; and she proved she could do even more than that the very next morning when everyone was eating breakfast. Sonar daringly stole a few beans from the pile that Snowfall had taken for herself. The Ninetales, furious, had chased the Noivern around the camp, with Sonar cackling madly as he flapped high above her reach. Eleanor had looked up from her own breakfast and trotted over to the disturbance— ignoring Hau apologizing to Lillie and shouting at Sonar to knock it off— and purred at Snowfall until she stopped barking and simply sighed instead. None of them had ever managed to discipline Snowfall, except for Lillie— and even she had only done so sparingly. Moon remembered Nebby telling her off, back when they were Cosmog and Vulpix; but that Nebby wasn't really anything much like Nebby now.

But Eleanor's abilities came in particularly handy, as they turned around a curve in the canyon and Moon stopped dead.

“Hell, no,” she said flatly. “That's not going to happen.”

Hau's eyebrows rose, in a manner that suggested he was less than impressed with her; but she had to run to make it back around the bend, so she could kneel down and close her eyes and not look at the fucking void of the ravine that had emerged on the right side of the path. The cave had been pretty bad, and she thought it would have been worse because she couldn't see how deep it was; but clearly she hadn't pictured this perspective of the canyon. The drop was probably a mile of the mile-and-a-half depth of the canyon, the path was only five or six feet wide; and there weren't any fucking railings.

“Who designed this goddamn path,” she said under her breath. Her stomach pitched. “Flying on a fucking Charizard is bad enough but this, this takes the fucking cake. Nope. Nope, nope, nope. They're going to have to take me to the Altar by drugging me, or I'm going to die out here in the wilderness. Arceus fucking hell.”

“Rio, rio, rio,” said a soft voice, and paws pressed to her cheeks which were, surprisingly, wet.

It wasn't calmness, exactly— Moon was fairly certain that not even a very powerful Riolu could create true calm, the way a Lucario could— but there was ease in her touch, and the panic and nausea faded into discomfort.

“Remember the cave?” said Gladion, his voice low and practically in her ear.

A shiver went down Moon's spine. Eleanor squeaked in surprise.

“Yes,” she said, to Gladion; and to Eleanor, “sorry about that.”

“You'll keep your eyes closed,” he said, in the same low voice. “I told Hau and Lillie to go ahead and wait— the path isn't open to the main ravine for very long, only about two hundred feet. Ellie and I are going to get you there. You trust us, right?”

Moon swallowed. “Yeah,” she muttered. “If you can trust me with your crazy, awful mother, it's the least I can do to trust you not to walk me off the fucking cliff.”

“I think we can do a little better than that.” There was amusement in Gladion's voice, and his hands— both of them— found hers. Instead of a loose grip around the wrist or the clasped hands they'd stuck with so far, his fingers laced through hers. It was the way that a couple held hands. Hau and Lillie, as she'd seen frequently; but also her parents, and one time when she was at their apartment watching a movie, Red and Blue.

Moon opened her eyes, surprised; and Gladion's expression was very carefully blank.

“You're kind of missing the point.”

“I— o-okay, yeah.” Her heart stuttered a bit but she closed her eyes again.

He pulled her along backwards. “We're going to walk sideways,” he explained. “You will have your back to the cliff wall, facing me. I'll be between you and the ravine. Ellie's sitting on your backpack, the way she sits on mine. She's got her paws on your face, and she's going to keep you calm. We'll go to your left along the cliff wall, as fast or slow as you want to go. Is that okay?”

“Y-yeah, that's fine.”

And, for the first little while, it was fine. Gladion was patient, letting her set the (very slow) pace; they shuffled along and Moon tried not to think about falling an entire mile to her death and landing on the ground; she tried not to think about when she actually did fall off Plank Bridge, because there had been no help for it but to rescue Nebby; and she tried not to think about seeing the world from a Ride Charizard and how she had always made hers stay as low to the ground as it could safely manage.

“How are you doing?” he said, after a few minutes of awkward side-stepping.

“Well, I'm not dying.”

That startled a laugh out of him, a real one; and she wished she could see it but opening her eyes would definitely make her puke. Eleanor giggled softly, patting her cheeks.

“I do have a bit of bad news for you.”

“Oh, god, why.”

“I'd have brought it up earlier if I'd known,” said Gladion, and that was reasonable enough. “There's still room for both of us to stay on the ledge, but it does narrow to about three feet wide in a little bit and, uh— how do I explain this.” They were still moving. “If I don't move very, very close to you, I will be extremely uncomfortable with my proximity to the ravine, and it's possible I could fall off since I can't really see what I'm doing with my feet.”

That made sense. “How soon?”

“Ten feet and closing.”

“Okay, tell me when.”

It was several interminably long seconds, but then they paused, and then his hands pulled out of hers in order to wind around her waist, and they were pressed body to body. It would be a proper lover's embrace, if it weren't so goddamn practical.

Eleanor squeaked— which presumably had something to do with the variety of confusing emotions Moon was experiencing.

“Sorry,” said Moon and Gladion in unison; he laughed softly at that, and his face was really very close to hers and his breath was on her ear and she wasn't going to think about that because she was thinking about not fucking dying.

“Arms around my waist,” he said. “Pull me in, so you can clasp your hands together. You'll anchor me up here and keep the weight of my backpack from pulling on me.”

Moon laced her fingers together between his back and his backpack, and they resumed the slow, dragging glide along the cliff wall. His breath was harsh in her ear, and it had been a couple of days since the shower-shed in the first cave so they were both pretty ripe; but it wasn't exactly... unpleasant. She'd smelled worse things in her life; but then again she was sweating like a Tepig so it was quite possible that Gladion was suffering far more while being much too polite to say anything.

“Hey, there they are!” she heard Hau shout, from somewhere distant. “I think they—”

He fell silent, probably registering their awkward positions; but there was a soft sound that, after a few moments, Moon was able to identify as Lillie laughing hysterically.

“Fucking annoying,” muttered Gladion, but he didn't actually sound that annoyed. “You still doing okay?”

“Hhhh,” tried Moon.

“Come on, use your words— Arceus only knows you've got a fuckton of 'em.”

She snorted laughter before freezing in place, terrified that the movement would upset the delicate balance they had on the slender ledge; but Gladion carefully kept shuffling, forcing her to keep moving.

“Words, Moon. You okay?”

“'M fine,” she squeaked.

“Attagirl.”

There was just a thread of nice, rumbly bass in his voice, which went straight to the hair on the back of her neck. Eleanor was purring, which she usually only seemed to do when someone was really, really upset; and Moon supposed, behind the distance of the calming aura, that she qualified as really, really upset. The prospect of certain death often had that effect.

“Lu rio,” said Eleanor, sounding cross.

“You hear that?”

Moon sighed. “Yeah— sorry, I'll try not to think about fucking dying.”

“Ri lu rio, lu lu ri lu.”

“Ellie!” said Gladion sharply. “Why would you— that's not going to help!”

“I dunno, she's got a point. You're pretty distracting up close like this,” said Moon, before her idiot brain could catch up with her mouth.

“Uh—” He paused. “Uh— I... uh. Okay.”

“I'm sorry, I think the calmness thing might be lowering my inhibitions.”

“Lu ri,” said Eleanor cheerfully.

“Okay, the calmness thing is definitely lowering my inhibitions, though without the creepy mind control aspect that the Nihilego experience had, and I need to stop talking or things are going to get weird. Please don't hate me.”

Gladion snorted. “First of all, you didn't have many inhibitions to begin with.”

“Okay, ouch, but you're not wrong.”

“Secondly, you're really going to have to tell me about the Nihilego thing in greater detail, especially because it looks like it's going to be you and me going into Ultra Space and you're the first person from this planet to have actually survived an encounter with one, so your experience will be helpful.”

“What?”

“And finally, I'm surprised you haven't figured it out but I'm pretty certain that at this point it's impossible for me to hate you.”

“Really? You're not just saying that to, I dunno, distract me?”

“Yes,” he said crossly. “I wouldn't lie to distract you. That doesn't do either of us any good.”

“Well— you don't exactly wear your heart on your sleeve, you know!” sputtered Moon.

“I don't, but you're also quite good at reading me. I think you make a habit of practicing, but you've actually come quite a long way. I'd only rank Lillie and Wicke above you— and Plumeria, on a day when she's not distracted by Guzma being an ass. Close your mouth, you'll catch Bugs.”

Moon closed her mouth. “It sure seems coincidental that you're telling me these kinds of things when you know they'll distract me,” she said grumpily.

“Funny, that,” agreed Gladion. “It's almost like I have an interest in first aid as well as a sister with a couple of panic disorders.”

“What about me?” called Lillie. She sounded much closer.

“It's nothing to worry about.”

“Are we almost there?”

“Twenty more feet.”

It was an agonizing twenty feet, but then Gladion's weight and warmth retreated slightly, though he kept his hands at her waist, walking her backwards.

“Keep your eyes closed for a bit. We're moving around the next bend, so you don't have to look at the ravine again.”

“I want to see it, actually.”

“Why?”

“Oh, you'll see.” Eleanor giggled, having divined Moon's mood.

“Open your eyes, then.”

Moon opened her eyes and found herself face to face with Gladion— blank face, warm eyes, business as usual. He stepped to the side, hands leaving her waist; and Moon saw the ravine and the drop, a good ten feet away; and she saw the stupid narrow path and wondered how Gladion had not been freaking out.

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes again. “HEY!” she bellowed, out into the open. “HEY, FUCK YOU! I DID IT!”

Hau and Lillie both burst out laughing. Moon turned her back on the ravine and took another deep breath.

“Okay,” she said. “I guess— I guess we keep moving forward.”

Gladion's hand slipped into hers— lacing fingers again. “I guess we do.”

Chapter Text

Day Six

“So here's my question,” said Moon, her voice echoing in the darkness of the second cave. “If you don't have a Ride Pager, how did you get around from place to place?”

“Oh, that is a good question, actually,” said Hau, turning around from his Mudsdale to peer back at them; Lillie, behind them, did the same.

Gladion, sharing Moon's Mudsdale, let out a heavy sigh, the air from which brushed over her left ear; she didn't flinch, because she had conquered a goddamn ravine and she wasn't going to be defeated by her own stupid hormones. “Very illegally.”

“Yes, but how?”

“No buts about it, I'm right here!”

Moon stared at him. “No. Just— god, no.”

“Seconded,” said Gladion.

Hau turned to look at Lillie. She gently patted his shoulder. “No.”

“Aw, you guys are no fun.”

“Anyway, I still want an answer to my question,” said Moon, reaching back and poking Gladion in the knee. “What was the method by which you illegally travelled from place to place?”

“Well, how do people who don't live in Alola travel?”

“They teach their Pokémon HMs,” said Moon automatically. “But those don't work here, do they? Fly is just a move in Alola, not an HM.”

“The only difference between a move or a TM and an HM is the type of disc they're stored on. After I caught Imp, I emailed Wicke and asked her to get hold of a Fly HM for me. She got one from, hm... Sinnoh, I think, and sent it to me. I taught it to Imp, and he got me from place to place.”

“You caught Imp as a Zubat, though.”

“Yes.” Gladion's tone was resigned.

“So how, exactly, did that work? He was tiny.”

“There's a level of psychic compensation, coded into the HM, that grants a Pokémon the strength to carry their Trainer.”

“Right, but that's not what I'm getting at. Obviously size doesn't guarantee power; look at Nebby. What I mean is, how did he carry you? Were you sitting on him or something?”

There was a long silence. “So, you know how Zubat have those long, thin limbs that were probably legs at some point in the general evolution of the species?”

“Yes?”

“He'd wrap them around my wrist and I kind of hung off the side.”

“Like... you were dangling in mid-air?”

“Yes.”

Moon gagged. “Oh, hell no. Nope. I regret asking.”

He patted her on the shoulder. “Sorry.”

“What about the other Team Skull kids?” said Hau, with a frown.

“They make do with their teammates. Like how Moon rides on her Metagross sometimes, even though it isn't officially a Ride Pokémon.”

“Which Pokémon get used most often?” wondered Moon.

“I've seen Arcanine get used a lot, they're pretty big and solid. One of the younger girls went to Melemele and searched for nearly a solid month to look for a Bagon, so she could raise it into a Salamence. I think it's still a Shelgon, but she might have evolved it by now. Molly has a Golem—”

“She does?”

“She caught it as a Graveler fairly recently, but she evolved it right away. Anyway, she worked with Trinh to make... a wooden seat thing. She has Golem stick its arms out and hold the seat up, so she can sit on it while it rolls. It looks like a sentient unicycle.”

Moon burst out laughing. “I'm going to ask her to send a video.”

“Anyway, it works for Gravelers too— Geodude are a bit on the small side for it— so they were making a few more. They might not be able to work on it right now, though. I don't know if Aether Paradise has a woodshop.”

“You mean like carpentry?”

Gladion nodded. “Trinh does all kinds of art, not just graffiti. But the easiest way for Skulls to get around is if they have a Ghost-type— they can use Shadow Sneak.”

“I thought only Acerola could do that.”

“Acerola is the only person who can do it easily,” corrected Gladion. “It's possible for any Ghost-type to learn how, but it's dangerous for whatever human they're taking with them. The bigger the Ghost, the safer it is. Cassie and Kohaku both have a Banette— though Cassie has a Skarmory, so she can fly as well. And Rogelio has a Marowak. Jack has a Gengar and so does Plumeria, but she usually uses Guzma's Ride Pager anyway.”

“Why does he have one?”

“Because he started an island challenge, but he never finished.”

That was a whole new topic that Moon wanted to delve into. She decided against it, as Gladion's tone suggested that he was done with the topic; but Lillie asked a different question before anyone could move on.

“How high did Imp ever take you?”

“About as high as any Charizard— maybe on the lower end, of that,” conceded Gladion. “Like Moon, flying as close to the ground as possible.”

“Hey, I resemble that remark.”

“What if you hadn't been able to hold on?” Lillie sounded horrified. “Dropping seventy, a hundred feet would have killed you!”

“It didn't, first of all,” said Gladion tersely. “Secondly, we always took the journey in stages, so if I felt myself slipping we would land and I'd switch hands or we'd take a break. And thirdly, after the first couple of trips we went to a Pokémon Center and I got a falconer's glove— the ones they sell for hunting birds, like Spearow or Rufflet and their evolutions. That eliminated the problem I was having with sweaty hands. I put some loops on it for him to wind his legs through, and then it was very safe.”

“Still, you were just being secured by your wrist!”

“I'd make a killing on Alolan Ninja Warrior,” said Gladion, his tone perfectly deadpan.

“That isn't funny!”

“It stopped being an issue once he evolved. I really didn't have Imp for all that long before you left home, and he evolved into Golbat after Moon and I fell out. Golbat are large enough to rig up a simple harness.”

Lillie made a frustrated noise, pressing her face into Hau's back to muffle it.

“She's just worried,” said Moon, gathering her Mudsdale's reins into one hand and reaching one hand back, open and waiting. “It seems like you went about it pretty intelligently, but it was still dangerous.”

Gladion sighed, but his hand slipped into hers. “There's a reason I didn't want to answer this fucking question. You don't need to worry about it anymore. I've survived until now, and at this point I can openly contact Wicke and ask for assistance if I need it. She could probably get both of us Ride Pagers, actually. Wish I'd thought of that earlier.”

Moon didn't say anything— this came dangerously close to the clusterfuck that was her falling-out with Gladion, and some things she'd said about wanting to be considered when he was making choices.

“That's not the point, dude,” said Hau gently— which surprised Moon, because she didn't think he would get into this sort of argument. “Obviously, we're super glad that you never fell and got hurt, but it's distressing to think about. And we'd probably all be pleased if, you know, you never did it again.”

“I'm not going to. I'll email Wicke and ask her to airdrop us a couple of Ride Pagers.”

“She can data-transfer them to my Pokémail account,” said Moon automatically. “I can get packages from Arby through Rotom, so I can probably get your Ride Pagers too. And the Dubious Disc, for Nox.”

“Dimensional printing always gives me indigestion, bzzt,” protested Rotom from her pocket.

“You don't even eat, and a couple of Ride Pagers are going to be a lot smaller than a sack of beans.”

“How does that work?” wondered Hau, craning his head around to peer back at Rotom.

“I'm pretty sure it's because it's part Ghost-type— right, Rotom?”

“That's correct, bzzt. The IT employees at a Pokémon Center have small matter conversion machines, which can digitize physical objects— it's why you can store Pokémon in your computer. But I'm both an Electric-type and a Ghost-type, so when something is sent to Moon's Pokémail account, I can physically remove it with Shadow Sneak, bzzt.”

“That's useful,” commented Gladion.

“We'd be carrying a lot more in sheer beans without it,” agreed Moon.

Lillie remained silent— still upset, and frankly so was Moon. The very idea of Gladion dangling one-handed from a Zubat, at least a hundred feet in the air, sent her heart into her throat and her stomach into a blender; but she didn't want to pick The Big Fight 2.0, which would undoubtedly be the result of trying to scold him about it.

And yet— after a few minutes of Moon and Hau trying to make awkward, uncomfortable conversation about literally anything else— Moon reined her Mudsdale in. “You guys keep going, I think I dropped something and I want to circle back. We'll gallop to catch up when we're ready.”

“Sounds good,” said Hau.

She wasn't sure how to broach the topic but she didn't have to; as soon as Hau and Lillie were out of ear- or echo-shot Gladion said quietly, “I know I fucked that up, but I don't really understand how.”

“I don't know how well I can explain it to you.”

“I'm sure you'll do fine. You have a way with words.”

That made her color down to her toes, but the cave was dim— Hau and Lillie had Uila using Flash and Moon pulled Rotom out, letting him float overhead with the bright white light as a temporary measure. They walked in a slow circle back over the section of rough rocks they were traversing; the Mudsdale plodded cheerfully along and she tried to gather her thoughts.

“Remember when we fought?” she said finally.

“Vividly.”

“And we got to a point when I was saying that I didn't like it when you lied to me because I cared about you, and you correctly interpreted that as the whole thing being more about my ego than me caring about you.”

“It was both, and I was being a dick anyway.”

“So we've established.” Moon swallowed. “Um— Lillie's upset because she loves you, and doesn't like to think of you putting yourself in any kind of danger. You were upset when she was kidnapped.”

He snorted. “I was out of my goddamn mind, but I do see your point.”

“And—” This was the awkward bit. “At one point when we fought, you were talking about me trying to manipulate you, and now with context I guess you thought I was being like Lusamine?”

There was a long silence.

“Yes. I was projecting, wasn't I?” he said finally.

“Yeah, probably. From what you've told us about her, and what we've observed— manipulation is how she abused the two of you. Do this thing, because I love you and I give you everything, and if you don't do it you're ungrateful and you don't love me back or whatever.”

Another long pause, followed by a response that was barely audible. “Y-yes.”

“So— you probably subconsciously decided at some point that anybody asking you to do anything because you love them is manipulation.”

“I didn't—”

Moon waited.

“Oh.”

Another beat.

“Oh, god— oh god I did.” His voice rose, high and panicky. “Shit, I did that to Lillie, and I did that to you, and I probably did that to, fuck, to Molly and Rogelio and the kids. I probably look like such a suspicious, unfeeling bastard—”

“That sounds like Lusamine talking, so shut up for a second.” Moon squeezed his hand, and despite the interruption he fell silent. “The thing is, you're not wrong. Asking someone to do something, and counting on the fact that their love for you will be the motivating factor, is a form of manipulation. But it's like— socially engineered manipulation. Everyone does it, all the time. For example, we ask Hau to carry our tent because physically, out of the four of us, he's the strongest. And he does it because he loves us. Do you think that's unreasonable?”

“Well— no.”

“So there's some difference between the way Lusamine did that, which was abusive, and the way nearly everyone else does, which is just— having relationships with other people or Pokémon. I'm not really sure what the difference is myself, but I know it's not the same thing.”

“How?” His tone was anguished. “How do you see it so clearly?”

Moon squeezed his hand again. “I'm looking at it from the outside,” she reminded him. “I was kind of ambivalent toward Lusamine after I'd met her for the first time, but once I saw her in context as your mother, I realized just how awful she'd been to the two of you. None of what she said, to either of you, was normal or appropriate for a mother to say.”

“I-I knew that, but it took me years to figure it out.”

“It's literally just fresh eyes, dude. Nothing to feel dumb about.” She squeezed his hand a third time. “And I'm not a therapist, nor do I think I should be yours— it wouldn't be good for, you know, everything else we have going on. But you should figure out what the difference is.”

“I already know what it is.”

“You do?” said Moon, surprised.

“Once you pointed it out, I knew.” Something rested on her shoulder— his chin, and his hands slid forward, wrapping around her waist. Moon swallowed, mouth suddenly dry. “It's— socially engineered, like you said. The difference is having choices. If Hau didn't want to carry the tent, he would tell us, and we would work out a different arrangement. He's allowed to say no. He's not punished for saying no. You—”

His voice caught, and his arms twitched around her with sudden tension.

“You don't fucking stop loving him, if he says no.”

“Of course not! We would never stop loving him. Never, ever, not for any reason.”

Her own face was wet— she wasn't crying openly, just leaking tears for the life he must have faced, for so long. She tried to imagine how it would feel, to have love dangled over your head like a carrot on a stick, jerked away at any moment; but she couldn't quite picture it and knowing that Lillie and Gladion had not just pictured but lived it was heartbreaking.

He took a deep, shuddering breath, arms tightening around her. “You won't stop— with me?”

“Never.”

“What if we— what if we don't—”

“There's different kinds of love, Gladion. Even if— you know, this, doesn't work out like we're both hoping it will, then I'm still going to care about you. Even if we need some time apart, we'll always be friends, and that's just as important as— this.”

A broken breath echoed harshly in the cave around them. Moon clamped her mouth shut, trying not to cry out loud— it would probably embarrass him— but the way he was shaking and gasping for air into her shoulder told her that even if she did cry, she wouldn't be the only one.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “Moon— thank you.”

Day Seven

The path inside the cave, lit only by their Pokémon and Lillie's lantern, came to a smooth dead end after the jumble of ragged rocks over which Mudsdales had taken them.

“Did we go the wrong way?” said Hau blankly, reining his horse in.

“No, we're fine,” said Moon, tapping on Gladion's knee; he obligingly hopped down first, and she followed, pressing a button on the Ride Pager to dismiss the Mudsdale. “See, there's the path.”

There was a long silence, and they all turned to look at Hau; he was staring at the little tunnel mouth, growing rather pale.

“Nobody said anything about crawling through holes,” he said hoarsely. “Shit, Moon, if this is what it was like for you at the ravine, then boy do I relate. Except I can't cozy up with Lillie to get through because that will make things worse.”

Gladion made a mildly disgusted noise but took off his backpack. “We won't fit through with the bags on,” he said. “We'll have to use rope, tie everything together and send it through once there's a person on the other end.”

“Rotom, could you scout and take measurements? We need to know how long it is, and how wide around.”

“Sure thing, bzzt.” Rotom zoomed into the smaller hole, and was gone for about a minute before returning. “The tunnel is about twenty-five feet long. It ranges from two and a half to three and a half feet wide, and one and a half to two feet high. The other end is open caves once more, but it appears to be a lot of the stone-block puzzles like the ones found in the Ruins of Hope, bzzt.”

“Oh. Well, that's something— we're about on track with The Traveller's Guide to Alola, as far as actual progress to the Altar of the Moone goes.”

“Twenty-five feet?” Hau shook his head, wide-eyed. “I can't do twenty-five feet. It's like getting sucked into a vacuum.”

Lillie turned and slid off the Mudsdale— Hau's hand reaching out automatically to steady her. “Can you go through if I go first?” she asked, looking up at him. “If Moon and I go first, we'll be waiting for you at the other end.”

“We can tie the rope around your waist, too,” suggested Moon. “So if I go first, I can bring out Hero or Macbeth and they can just pull you through if you can't move.”

“We've got to try it.” Hau sighed and climbed down from his Mudsdale, which trotted off after the first one. “So— Moon and Lillie first?”

“Right. Then we'll tie up the bags and send them through,” said Gladion. “Maybe we get one of the smaller Pokémon to run ropes back and forth? Where are the ropes, anyway?”

“I have Spinarak webrope. It's not as pretty as Araquanid silk, but it gets the job done.” Moon pulled said rope from her backpack. “After the bags, Hau and then Gladion. That works for everyone, right?”

“If you can call it that,” said Hau morosely. “I know we gotta do it to get through— ugh. I just don't like it.”

“I have faith in you,” said Lillie, offering him a shy smile.

Hau turned, gaze intent; he bent his head to hers, cradling her face carefully in his hands. After a few moments, Moon busied herself with tying backpacks onto the Spinarak rope.

“The only one of my Pokémon who could run through the tunnel without any problems is Ben,” she said, ostensibly addressing the group— though Hau and Lillie seemed to be fairly lost in one another. “Hau could send Uila, though that would be a tight fit; Ollie and BB could manage it much better. Lillie's got Esper and Char, they're both small enough.”

“Nox would fit easily, but he's not terribly bright,” said Gladion dryly. “Ellie could crawl, and she's smart enough to take direction... and I should bring her out anyway, shouldn't I?”

He let Eleanor out from her Pokéball. The Riolu looked around, blinking; then she zeroed in on Hau, who had finally broken apart from Lillie though they were still holding each other. She took two steps before turning back to look inquiringly at Gladion.

“Yeah, give him a hand.”

Eleanor beamed— not all Pokémon had facial expressions that were conducive to actual smiles but Riolu and Lucario did, and they were smart enough that they could quickly learn to imitate human behavior after joining a team.

“Oh, wow,” said Hau, turning to look down at Eleanor. “That's really nice, actually. I'm almost not scared at all anymore.”

“Then she'll go through with you."

Hau frowned. “I can't exactly hold her.”

“You're wiggling along with elbows and forearms, mostly. She could go right in front of you or right after you, but contact is better so hanging onto one of your legs is probably your best option.” Eleanor stepped carefully onto Hau's foot, winding her arms around his leg and looking up at him. “Yes, like that.”

“Elbows and forearms— I think I can manage that.” Hau took a deep breath. “Let's go.”

“I'll go first.” Moon squatted, peering through the cave. “Rotom, you can light me up, right?”

“Sure can, bzzt.”

“Thanks.”

“Let us know if you need anything.”

Moon smiled up at Gladion. “I will, thank you.”

She laid down flat on her stomach, moving her Trainer belt so that the Pokémon were on her back instead of beneath her, and scooted inside the cave. She didn't have the same problem as Hau with claustrophobia, and Rotom lit the way neatly. It helped that the tunnel was all stone— angular and stark. If there had been dirt or roots or worse, Bugs crawling on the ceiling, it would have been another story.

The tunnel curved ever so slightly near the end, but then it opened into the rest of the cave and Moon scrambled out, rolling over and lying on her back to catch her breath for a few seconds.

“All right there, bzzt?” said Rotom.

“Yeah.” She reached for her Trainer belt, pulling it back around, and took out Ben's ball, letting him out. “Can the two of you go back through the tunnel to the others and tell them to bring four water bottles through? I want one, and so will they when they're through.”

“And I could also mention that you made it, bzzt.”

“Yeah, that too.” Moon snickered.

Ben glared at her, but reluctantly trotted after Rotom and, about three minutes later, returned with a plastic bag containing four water bottles.

“Lillie's on her way through, bzzt. Gladion wanted to know if you remember how long your rope is.”

“Um— I think forty feet? I tried to keep the bags spaced out at one end so we can get most of the rope through before we start having to really pull.”

“I'll let him know, bzzt.”

“Can you fit past Lillie?”

“She's not terribly wide,” chuckled Rotom. “I'll be fine, bzzt.”

Ben climbed onto Moon's lap, yawning as she opened one of the water bottles, taking a long sip. She was sweaty and probably quite dusty, so even though it was still cold in the cave she leaned back, pulled off her hat, and emptied the last quarter of the bottle over her head. Water ran through her hair and down her face and neck, but it was worth it and she patted her face and neck dry with the sleeve of her jacket.

“Jol vee,” said Ben disdainfully.

“I wouldn't ask you to help out if I had any other small-ish Pokémon,” Moon informed him. “Trust me, I'd rather not deal with you having a bratty attitude about it. But you're the only one who fits. Once Lillie's out I'm sending you back in for the rope.”

“Vee teeon,” he grumbled, but pushed his head up under Moon's hand and she obligingly scratched him.

“Moon?” called Lillie faintly, from inside the tunnel. “I'm almost through, but I don't have a lot of upper-body strength and I'm quite tired.” She did sound rather out of breath.

“I've got you,” said Moon, putting Ben down and moving back to the cave mouth. Lillie was about four feet away, slowly wriggling closer and closer. “If you can get like another foot closer, I can grab your hands and pull you out.”

“Thank you,” sighed Lillie, relieved. Once Moon could grab her wrists, she backed up and pulled. Lillie was light— she'd generally put on a bit more weight since they had first met her, but she was quite naturally thin to begin with and it was the work of a moment to extricate her from the cave. Moon handed her a water bottle before beckoning to Ben.

“They'll give you a rope,” she told Ben. “Pull it through as far as it goes. You should be able to get the whole thing over here, and I'll get Macbeth out to help pull.”

Ben's eyes lit up, and he trotted into the cave.

“They're such good friends, aren't they,” laughed Lillie, still breathing hard.

“They really are.” Moon sighed fondly. “He gives me such shit, but she's mellowed him out a lot. Evolution helped, too.”

“Mmm.” Lillie nodded thoughtfully. “I think Char is getting close to evolving, actually; she was an adolescent Cutiefly when I caught her, and Bugs grow faster anyway.”

“Tell me. I had Macbeth for all of, I dunno, three weeks before she became a Golisopod.” Moon shook her head fondly. “Growth happens so much faster when you're actively training Pokémon.”

She let Macbeth out from her ball, hearing pattering footsteps; Ben returned, holding the end of the Spinarak rope in his mouth. Moon took it, patting his head, and beckoned to Macbeth.

“Hold this, but don't pull,” she instructed the Golisopod, before crouching and shouting down the tunnel. “Hey, are you guys ready?”

There was a pause, but then Gladion's voice echoed back through. “Yes, go ahead!”

“Pull on the rope, slow and steady,” Moon instructed Macbeth.

Macbeth nodded, sitting on the ground, and began tugging on the rope. Ben climbed up to sit on one of her shoulder-plates, which she didn't seem to notice at all. Moon could hear scraping and clanking, which meant that the backpacks were coming through. One by one, each of them emerged from the cave mouth; Lillie crawled over and began picking at the knots to untie them, and Moon did the same; once the backpacks were removed, she sent Ben back down with the other end of the rope, to give to Hau.

She and Lillie both laid down on their stomachs, and Rotom helpfully provided light, shining back through the tunnel. Ben came back first, returning to Macbeth's shoulder; and they waited for Hau to come through.

Eventually she could see him, pale and sweating, as he wiggled through the tunnel with his eyes shut; he moved much faster than Lillie did, but he also had a lot less space to work with because he was so broad-shouldered.

“You've got it, man, you're halfway there!” called Moon encouragingly.

“Only halfway?”

“You're going really fast, sw— um, keep it up.” Lillie glanced at Moon, turning pink before resolutely looking back into the tunnel.

“Were you going to call him sweetie?” whispered Moon, delighted.

“I thought I'd try it out,” mumbled Lillie.

“You totally should! You can get cuddly with him once he's out and I'll stick my head in the cave and totally pretend I'm watching for Gladion and not listening at all.”

Lillie sighed, but a soft smile formed on her mouth as she peered into the tunnel.

Hau squirmed desperately, and about four feet from the end Moon signalled for Macbeth to pull him out the rest of the way. Being a Golisopod and well over six feet tall, Macbeth was more than powerful enough to oblige, and a hearty tug had Hau neatly yanked out of the tunnel with a yelp; Eleanor clung to his leg with a fierce expression of concentration on her face, but once she had the space for it she let him go and scrambled up to his head, touching his face and purring the way she did when any of them were Really Distressed about something.

“Oh god,” Hau said helplessly, lying on his stomach for a few moments before slowly rolling over. “Oh my god I can't believe I did that. I'm going to go throw up now.”

He sat up, hunching over for a few moments; Eleanor chirped in distress as Lillie untied the rope and helped him get to his feet, leading him over to the side of the cave— where he did actually throw up, to Moon's surprise. She felt kind of bad for him— not just because he was very obviously distressed about this, but because Hau liked to eat and they hadn't had lunch all that long ago.

Gladion, by contrast, shimmied through the tunnel faster than any of them, and came out with a thoughtful half-smile on his face that Moon had never seen. “Enjoying yourself?” she said dryly, offering a hand to help him up.

“Oddly enough, I am.” He shook out his arms and turned to pick up the two remaining water bottles. “Let's get some water in him— it will probably help.”

Hau seemed to be finished throwing up, and was sitting with his back against the cave wall with his eyes closed; Lillie held one of his hands in hers, and was softly holding her free hand against his sweaty forehead. Eleanor was still hanging onto him, purring; but at Gladion's approach she looked up and squeaked a greeting.

“Is he doing better than before?”

“A little,” said Lillie, echoed by Eleanor's nod.

“Do you think he'll be all right without you now, Ellie?”

The Riolu considered this for a few moments, then nodded and let go of Hau, trotting back to Gladion. He bent to pick her up, casually slinging her over one hip the way he might have carried a toddler, and scratched her behind the ears.

“You did good,” he told her. Eleanor beamed before reaching up to nuzzle his face in a Pokémon kiss.

“Thank you, Gladion,” said Hau tiredly, looking up at them. “I know you act grumpy and all most of the time, but you're actually really kind. Can't fool me anymore.”

Gladion blinked at him for a few moments. Moon had the impression that he was at a loss for words— an impression borne out when he simply nodded and turned away, though not before they could see the telltale flush rising up his neck.

“Hey, Rotom, what time is it?”

“Three fifty-seven pm, bzzt.”

“Why don't we just camp here for the day?” Moon glanced over at Gladion, whose back remained turned as he knelt next to the backpacks; Macbeth and Ben both eyed him with frank curiosity and suspicion, respectively. “Hau, no offense but you look done in. I don't think we'd be getting much further anyway.”

“None taken, and if you're giving me an out I'm totally taking it.” Hau sighed again. “Shame I puked, though— smells nasty.”

“Have your Flareon burn the trash we've been accumulating, then pour the ashes on the vomit,” said Gladion, without turning around. “Negates the smell and replaces it with campfire.”

“We could just have a campfire anyway,” suggested Lillie. “The caves are ventilated— there's always a breeze going through. And I think I picked up marshmallows before we left Seafolk Village.”

“You don't have graham crackers, by chance?”

“Sorry, no.”

“But I have instant cocoa,” remembered Moon. “That's almost as good, right?”

Hau grinned up at her. “That it is, cousin. That it is.”

Day Eight

“I'm going to stab whoever designed this canyon.”

“It wasn't designed, Moon, it's a natural geological process affected by climate and Pokémon activity—”

“I'm going to stab,” repeated Moon, “whoever designed this canyon.”

She glared at the wooden bridge that stretched across the ravine, crossing her arms.

“You're up like three penalties,” said Gladion pleasantly. “I'm keeping track of all the times you've interrupted me.”

“Penalties?” said Hau, waggling his eyebrows. “Like, sexy ones?”

“You, shut it.” Moon waved a hand at Hau, but she was grinning at the identical pained expressions on Lillie's and Gladion's faces. “You're scaring your girlfriend.”

“I'm slightly more concerned about your boyf—”

Moon clapped one hand over his mouth.“We have not put a label on the relationship yet please shut up!”

“And yet,” began Lillie.

“Oh, not you too.”

She smiled knowingly, but didn't finish the sentence.

Moon turned to face the bridge once more. She was well away from it, having stopped twenty feet from the edge to glare; and at that distance she couldn't see anything dropping from beneath her. But it was an oddly familiar sight.

“It looks like Plank Bridge,” she commented.

Hau squinted out at it. “It's much better looking than Plank Bridge— though Gramps says they finished rebuilding, so maybe it's not a rickety mess anymore.”

“How did you manage that?” said Lillie, turning to frown at her. “You really don't like heights, but you crawled out onto that bridge after Nebby when you hardly knew me.”

Moon shifted, suddenly uncomfortable. “Um— well, you see... I didn't have nearly as much of a problem with heights, before. I didn't like them, but I also didn't lose my shit over them like I'm doing right now.”

Lillie's eyes went round. “You mean, saving Nebby made you afraid of heights?”

“More afraid of heights,” corrected Moon. “I didn't like them before either. But yeah, basically.”

“I had no idea!” Lillie practically flew over to her, wrapping her arms around Moon's neck. “I'm so, so sorry, I never would have asked you if—”

“We covered this,” said Hau, with a grin on his face. “Stop apologizing for things that aren't your fault. It made sense at the time. I was too heavy, I'd have broken the bridge. And Moon wasn't thinking about the drop or anything, she was focused on Nebby and those Spearow.”

“It wasn't rescuing her, really. It was the fall, after.” Moon patted Lillie's back. “I thought I was going to die, and I was so mad because I'd literally just gotten Puck. Like, I finally had my own Pokémon so I was thinking, 'I could die happy now,' and then not ten minutes later I fell off a bridge.”

“Moon!”

“Sorry,” said Moon hastily. “That was kind of morbid. But it all turned out okay, you know. Tapu Koko to the rescue, and all that.”

Gladion cleared his throat, stepping forward; his expression was uncomfortable but he seemed determined to speak. “Thank you,” he said quietly. “I've talked to you about this before, Moon. You've said, a few times, that you'd do anything for a friend. And you actually live by that.”

“It's not a big de—”

“Yes, it is,” said Hau and Lillie in unison.

“Shut up, I'm trying to compliment you,” added Gladion gruffly, the red returning to his face. “The thing is though, you'd known Lillie for what, an hour at that point?”

“Less, actually. About thirty-five minutes.” Lillie finally let her go, stepping back with a soft, grateful smile.

“Right.” Gladion nodded. “But still, you just— you went for it. You say anything for a friend, and you mean it, even if it's a friend you've only just made.”

Moon glanced down at her shoes. “I didn't really have friends my own age before I came here,” she admitted. “I had Red and Blue, and I loved them; but they're six years older and they were— well, they were always so much more about each other, than they ever were about me. I love them and I know they love me, but I was only on the periphery of their lives. So meeting Hau, who I'd only ever seen in pictures in Christmas cards, and especially Lillie— that meant a lot to me. I'd never had girl friends, and Lillie was great. Like, from the very beginning.”

Lillie went pink. “Oh, I'm sure I wasn't anything all that special.”

“If you're not special, I'm not, either. You never had a girl friend, and I never had a girl friend, and we actually do get along really well. I didn't know we would click, but I knew I liked you. And I was also curious about why your bag was so wiggly.”

“And as we all know, when Moon gets curious she has to stick her nose in everything.” Hau, laughing, dodged the half-hearted punch she threw in his direction. “But it's thanks to your curiosity that we even got to travel with Lillie and Nebby in the first place. Professor Kukui might not have thought to send her out if we hadn't all decided to be friends. And we might not have met you, either.” He indicated Gladion. “So it's Moon's fault that we're all friends, and I've never been more grateful.”

Moon pressed her hands to her burning face. “Oh my god, would you stop.”

“I'm grateful to you both for being Lillie's friends,” said Gladion quietly. “For caring about her and Nebby, and for protecting her from Aether and our mother.” He hesitated, voice dropping to a mumble. “A-and for being my friends as well, I suppose.”

“Damn straight we are.”

She had to stand on her tiptoes to get her arms all the way around his neck, but there was some kind of providence in the universe because they'd run into another outhouse-slash-shower-shed early that morning, just outside the cave exit; despite the fact that it was the middle of the day they'd agreed unanimously to stop and bathe— so when she inhaled, Gladion smelled like plain soap and plain mint toothpaste. Ordinary, boring, and beautiful.

His own arms wound softly around her waist, stopping to rest at the small of her back; a sigh drifted from his mouth to her ears.

“You're welcome, man,” said Hau companionably. “We love Lillie. She's great. Though maybe while you're hugging Moon, you can haul her across the bridge.”

Gladion snorted. “It's a thought.”

“We'll go on ahead,” said Lillie, mischief in her voice. “You two can figure something out.”

Moon flustered, lifted her head to glare at them; but they were already walking toward the bridge, holding hands.

“It always seems to end up this way, doesn't it?” Gladion let go of Moon and peeled off his backpack before selecting a Pokéball from his belt and sending out— Rey, to her surprise. Rey was by far the quietest member of Gladion's team; Lillie's Umber, also a Zoroark, was also quiet but generally more prone to mischief. Gladion handed his backpack to Rey, who took it without hesitation and began padding across the bridge.

“What's that for?”

“You'll feel better if you don't have to worry about your backpack,” said Gladion practically. “Which of your teammates could carry yours?”

“Um— Macbeth is probably the best choice, but I don't know if the bridge will hold her.”

“Golisopod typically weigh anywhere from two hundred to two hundred fifty pounds, bzzt,” Rotom informed her. “Your Golisopod in particular is on the lighter side— Mr. Guzma's is much heavier. Hau doesn't weigh much less than your Golisopod, bzzt.”

“Fair enough.” Moon's backpack had to be twenty pounds at least, but it probably wouldn't be an issue; and Hau had gotten over with a much heavier backpack, since he carried the tent. She called Macbeth out, and once the concept was explained Macbeth took her bag and began ambling across the bridge, unbothered by the height.

That left Moon and Gladion alone and unburdened, but it didn't make the gap any less intimidating. Moon stared at the gap, frowning and trying to fight the rising nausea.

“Well, don't look if it makes you sick.” Gladion moved to stand in her line of sight, folding his arms and frowning at her; the dumbass was implied but present all the same.

“I need to be able to do it,” protested Moon. “I've got to deal with this, I don't want to be a burden to you guys—”

“As you've said, helping a friend is never a burden.” He tilted his head. “What brought this on? When I get in my head, you ask me questions about it, so the least I can do is return the favor.”

Moon shoved her hands in her pockets. It felt like her face was on fire, and not even for the usual pleasant reason of being flustered by Gladion. “I don't know,” she mumbled. “I just feel stupid, that's all. Hau's claustrophobic, but he made himself go through that tiny cave. He pushed through the fear.”

“He was freaking out the entire time, and then he threw up afterward.” Gladion took a step closer. “You didn't see him once you and Lillie had gone through. He was putting up a big front for the two of you. He couldn't make himself go into the tunnel. I had to get out Null and literally shove him in until he panicked and started going on his own. I felt like an asshole, but that's not exactly new.”

She looked down at the ground. “I— I don't know, Gladion. This is stupid. It didn't bother me so much before. Why is it bothering me now?”

“You literally told us why. You thought you were going to die. From personal experience, that fucks with your head.” Another step closer, and a slender hand pressed under her chin, forcing her to look up. “It's a near-death experience. You're allowed to be traumatized by those— Arceus knows I'm traumatized by mine.”

“It wasn't even that bad. I was worse off when the Nihilego had me, or when I was stuck in the desert, or running around Po Town like a Pidgey with its head cut off.” Moon reluctantly lifted her eyes to meet his for a few moments before looking away.

“In my experience, shit gets worse when it piles up. Come on, look at me.”

His voice was so soft, so persuasively gentle that she could not help but obey, blinking back tears.

“It's been six months. Give yourself a little credit. All that's happened in six months, and you're dealing with it like a fucking champion.”

Despite herself she snorted at the word choice. “Red and Blue have been through much worse shit than I have.”

“They've been through different shit,” corrected Gladion. “I'd say that Nihilego alone is far worse than anything I've ever read about Team Rocket— but that's not the point.” His mouth pulled back, stubborn and clenched for a few moments; but then he sighed. “Can't follow my own advice, apparently, but having a couple of weaknesses isn't the end of the fucking world. You can't be a hero all the time. Let us help you.”

“But— I'm the... I'm the leader, aren't I? I can't let my issues affect you.”

“Sure, but if you're not letting us help you then you're not doing a very good job leading. Part of you being in charge is that we let you be in charge, when you're not being dumb.” Gladion let go of her, taking a step back; he turned around and crouched. “Hop on.”

Moon stared at him for a few moments.

“Come on, we haven't got all day.”

A piggyback ride might have been something she daydreamed about; but as she climbed on and he straightened, securing her legs with a little hop in place, all she felt was fear of the canyon and guilt for being so stupid and silly about the whole thing. Gladion wasn't always terribly kind in his delivery, but the spirit in which the words were delivered was sweet.

“Close your eyes. I'll tell you when you can open them.”

Moon sighed, closing her eyes and bowing her head to rest her forehead on his shoulder blade. For a few moments Gladion didn't move, but then he began walking.

“No matter what,” he said, tone oddly blank, “you keep moving forward.”

She didn't say anything, because she wasn't sure she could— the breeze had picked up and she could hear wood beneath his feet, which meant they were actually on the bridge.

“Even if you have to struggle to find a safe way out,” he continued. “Even if you're afraid. Even if you have to take it one step at a time. Even if it feels absolutely impossible and it would be easier to just roll over and give up and die. You keep going. There isn't another option.”

“When all of this is over,” said Moon, “what are you going to do?”

“When all of what is over?”

“This. Rescuing Guzma and Lusamine. Hau and I have island challenges to finish, but you and Lillie aren't doing your island challenges.”

He was silent for a few moments, still walking across the bridge.

“I don't know yet,” he said finally. “I do, actually, know where my life is going. I know what the future holds. The decision for me isn't really what, but when, and also what do I have to take care of first. There's... a surprising amount of factors.”

“Would you want to take over at Aether?”

“Fuck, no.” He sounded disgusted. “Wicke will take care of things for a while, because she's been running the show for ages; but someone else can have it. I will gladly leave that entire clusterfuck to someone else."

He kept up the rant, until they were over the bridge and back onto the trail; and it was not until late that evening that Moon realized the he had avoided the question of what, exactly, he would be doing.

Chapter Text

Day Nine

It was a Training-heavy day, because the wild Pokémon that showed up to challenge them were getting bolder and bolder; and while Moon's teammates (as presently constituted) were all evolved, the same was not true of her friends. Hau's only unevolved Pokémon was BB, but Crabrawler would only evolve in a cold climate so she would have to wait until they went back to Mount Lanakila, presumably to challenge the League. Lillie, however, had Esper and Char; and Gladion had Nox and Eleanor. There wasn't much that could be done regarding Esper and Nox— Lillie had the Moon Stone necessary for Esper to evolve, but Esper didn't seem to be quite ready.

“She's close, though,” said Lillie proudly, as Esper took down a menacing Golbat with a well-timed Psychic.

Nox, on the other hand, required a Dubious Disc to evolve into Porygon-Z, and Moon had arranged with Wicke for it to be sent to her Pokémail so that Rotom could materialize it for her. Eleanor would evolve when her friendship-value was high enough— and, as Gladion said dryly, she was so intent on loving him that it probably wouldn't take a long time at all. For Char, it was simply a matter of time; and the time actually came around mid-morning, with a bright pink flash that lit up the dimness of the entryway to third cave.

“Oh, wow!” exclaimed Lillie; and Char, now a Ribombee, buzzed happily around her head before whirling over to BB and spinning into a dance. BB cheerfully joined her in dancing,

“Very cute,” said Hau, grinning. “She's got a little scarf, even. Like that blue one that Wicke got you.”

“She's worked so hard,” said Lillie, with a proud smile.

“Clef clef,” murmured Esper, studying Char with an expression that Moon decided was probably determination, rather than jealousy.

“Do you want to evolve?” Lillie asked her.

“Fa clef...”

“Okay, don't worry about it. We'll take however long you need. You just let me know when you're ready.”

Moon was heartily sick of caves at this point, but she didn't mind the opportunity to train and neither did her teammates. Hero had caught up to everyone else in terms of power, and as a Steel-type was vulnerable to the many Ground-types that populated the canyon; but she could easily beat Rock and also Fighting, with her own Psychic typing. Thanks to First Impression, Macbeth was an absolute monster in battle, often decimating opponents in one or two hits. Moon often thought that half of Ben's strength came from his intense, turbulent emotions; any time she trained him these days the others knew to put in earplugs, as lightning and thunder cracked and echoed through the canyon and caves. Ariel was reliable and steady— giving her Brick Break had been one of the best decisions Moon had ever made, both in type coverage and sheer power. And Puck, of course, was magnificent— somewhat awkward and a tad clumsy outside of battle, but graceful and ruthless within it. Every time she performed the dance for Sinister Arrow Raid, she watched him leap high with just the right amount of torque to spin as he drew the magic bow; and he stuck the landing every time, hitting hard with talons and leaping back before the arrows could strike.

Their progress in training was interrupted only by more Machamp Shove puzzles. These were a bit harder than the one at the Ruins of Hope— and if they made a mistake, they would have to figure out how to reset the puzzles without walking three hours back to the mouth of the cave and three hours more to get back to the puzzle. Hau took the opportunity to do lunch, sitting down and making them all sandwiches, as well as laying out beans to feed Pokémon; Lillie silently studied the puzzles on her own; and Moon and Gladion argued about which way they ought to be pushing blocks.

“If we push it this way, we can't get around to the back because there's another hole in the way!”

“And if you push it that way, you're going to run into a dead fucking end and we'll have spent the entire day walking back out and back in. No fucking thank you.”

“I mean, we do sort of have the advantage here,” pointed out Hau, before the argument could escalate any further.

“And that is?”

“Doesn't your Crobat still know Fly?”

“Hau!” said Lillie, with a betrayed expression.

“It's a drop of about eight feet and a distance of about six for any given hole. If it were more than that, I wouldn't have said anything.”

“We've also got my rope,” offered Moon. “So if worst comes to worst, we'll send Gladion up to that ledge over there with the rope and the heaviest Pokémon—”

“Your Metagross.”

“Yeah, but I don't know if she'll fit on the ledge so it would be Macbeth. Anyway, we'll send them up and have someone anchor down here, and then climb up.”

Gladion studied her. “And you would be okay with that?”

“Not even a little,” admitted Moon, “but I haven't been okay with like, any single part of this canyon. We've got to get through it, right? Thankfully, once we've made it to the end of the canyon, we can just fly back and forth from Seafolk Village or Hapu's home.” She sighed wistfully. “Just imagine taking a shower with actual plumbing for a minute.”

“Noooo, Moon, I was doing so well!” complained Hau. “I was having fun! Now I'm thinking about indoor plumbing and I'm sad.”

Gladion didn't say anything, simply studying her for a few more moments; but then his eyes widened slightly and he turned away with a frown.

They did, eventually, solve the puzzle after eating lunch; and while Moon didn't like climbing the rickety ladder that led up to the rest of the cave, it was comforting to know that Gladion was holding it steady beneath her.

It was entirely coincidental, what with Char's evolution to Ribombee earlier that day; but as they were setting up camp for the evening next to another outhouse/shower-shed, Rotom beeped with an email for Moon from Wicke— containing the Dubious Disc that she had promised to Gladion. It was interesting to watch it materialize, the same way she would watch sacks of beans from Arby materialize; and when it was fully downloaded she picked it up and handed it to Gladion.

“One Dubious Disc for you, courtesy of Wicke and Rotom.”

“Thank you. And thank you as well, Rotom.” Gladion took the Dubious Disc from Moon, examining it briefly before letting Nox out of his ball.

“Hey, I have a question for you,” she said, as Gladion held the Disc out for Nox to use. The Porygon-2 grabbed it with its mouth, clamping down and rolling on the cave floor for a few moments; small lights lit up inside both it and the Disc, an information transfer that would begin the evolution.

“Yes?”

“Why do you use female pronouns for Null?”

Gladion regarded her for a few moments, then looked away. “Lusamine and Faba hold that Type: Null are genderless, and that is true in some respects,” he said. “For instance, Null doesn't have any biologically recognizable genitalia. When she was built they didn't bother with reproductive organs because they thought they could always make more, if they needed to.”

His voice was stony— annoyed, almost; but Moon knew it wasn't annoyance at her so she pressed further. “But why is Null a she?”

“Most of the genetic material used to create her came from female Pokémon. Unit One was a mixture of male and female material, and as a result it was less stable because its hormones were constantly fighting against one another. They went with female material for Unit Two and male material for Unit Three. So in that sense, I really do believe that Null is female. But mostly I just didn't like the sound of calling her it all the time in my head. She's smart enough to understand the concept of gender, so I asked her if it was okay that I called her a girl or if she would prefer to be a boy or neither. She chose to be female.” He looked back up at her, eyes stubborn. “And god only knows she hasn't gotten to make many choices in her life. The least I could do was offer her this.”

It wasn't the reasoning she had expected— though Moon wasn't entirely sure what she had expected. There was science involved, but it was more emotional than that.

“That's really sweet of you,” she said, meeting his gaze; he colored up at once but maintained the eye contact. “Not every Trainer would be so considerate.”

For a few moments she let herself indulge in staring at him. The flush on his face and neck deepened under scrutiny, but his eyes were soft and warm as he regarded her in turn. Moon smiled at him, hoping for a smile in return; but much to her surprise his eyes flicked down slightly and stayed there. He was looking at her mouth.

Moon had only ever kissed one person in her life— some boy from Kanto whose name she didn't even remember, at a party she hadn't really wanted to go to; and it was just a New Years' kiss that meant nothing— almost a year ago now. But she did know that when someone was looking at someone else's mouth, they were thinking about kissing that person; and that meant Gladion was thinking about kissing her, and that was— wow, that was something.

“Hey, Luvdiscs! Are you going to help set up the tent, or what?”

“Nox is evolving, give me a minute,” called Gladion easily, without taking his eyes off Moon. She could feel herself flushing, heat and blood rising to her face; but then Nox chirped questioningly and the moment was gone.

“Confirm evolution download?” said the robotic, tinny voice from the Pokédex app on Gladion's phone.

“Confirm,” said Gladion, looking down and tapping on the screen.

“Evolution download confirmed. Beginning evolution process.”

A flash of white light blinded Moon for a few moments; but when her vision cleared Nox had evolved from Porygon2 into Porygon-Z. The differences were obvious— he'd grown about a foot, the blue stripe went all the way around his body instead of just covering the stomach, his eyes were now yellow and contained concentric rings, and he had a bit of a horn on his head. After a few blinks Nox chirped again, a slightly deeper but equally happy sound.

“How was it?” Gladion asked him, picking up the used Dubious Disc and putting it into his backpack before holding one hand out. Nox butted his head against it. “Did you get a programming upgrade too?”

Nox blinked at him for a few moments before lifting oddly floaty, detached limbs in a shrug.

“I'll take that as a no. Damn, and here I was hoping you might have gotten smarter.” But the quirk around Gladion's mouth was more relieved than anything else; and Nox climbed into his lap and laid his head against Gladion's chest, closing his eyes and humming. Gladion's arms automatically went around Nox, one hand running gently over smooth plastic. Moon's heart melted a little bit.

“Did you think his personality would change?”

“I didn't rule out the possibility.” He coughed. “I'm glad though. I know I say shit, but I like him how he is.”

They got up and went to help Hau and Lillie with the tent, and at Hau's insistence they made an actual fire, with logs that were piled in a neat stack next to the shower-shed. Moon wondered who brought the logs in and replaced them when they ran out— Hapu would know, but perhaps it was just Ride Pokémon that carried them in. They didn't have hot dogs this time, as they would have gone bad before being used; but Lillie still had marshmallows and chocolate and Gladion had a bunch of very ripe Nanab berries and a roll of tinfoil; so they peeled the Nanab berries and wrapped them up in foil with the marshmallows and chocolate to make Nanab-boats.

“It would be better with ice cream,” said Hau, “but obviously we can't carry ice cream through the canyon.”

“Imagine if you could though.” Moon unwrapped her warm Nanab-boat and mixed the banana in with the melted chocolate and marshmallows, smashing everything together; Gladion and Lillie both watched her with expressions of disgust and trepidation, respectively. “I'd kill for a popsicle right about now.”

“What flavor?”

“Nomel, obviously.”

“Yeah, I guess I should have seen that coming. Did you ever get the root beer ones in Kanto?”

“Fun fact: Unova and Alola are the only places where they flavor medicine with Grepa or Cheri instead of root beer. So to me, root beer tastes like nasty medicine.” Moon wrinkled her nose at him. “I'll stick to Nomel, thanks.”

The smashed-up Nanab-boat wasn't bad, but the berry went brown pretty quickly so she had to eat it before it got gross. The chocolate and marshmallow helped, but Moon wasn't that fond of Nanab berries to begin with. Now if they'd gotten hold of some Cheri berries and taken out the pits... that would have been really good. It wouldn't, she thought regretfully, prevent sticky fingers; that was a side effect of eating melted chocolate and marshmallows regardless of the fruit involved.

There was a snapping noise, and they all turned to look at Gladion, who was holding a now-broken plastic spoon.

“Are you okay?” said Moon, wiping licked-clean fingers on her jeans.

His eyes followed the movements of her hands for half a second. “I'm fine. Just gripped it too hard, that's all.”

Hau and Lillie wore knowing expressions on their faces, but Moon wasn't sure exactly what they had to be all knowing about.

Day Ten

It was Lillie, surprisingly, who suggested they all battle one another. “Moon, I know you haven't sparred with Hau in a while,” she explained. “And— well, I haven't battled with any of you, and I'd like to try, especially because four of my five teammates have fully evolved.”

“Not counting Nebby.”

“Not counting Nebby,” agreed Lillie.

They played a complex game of fire-water-grass to figure out who would go first, and Gladion pulled out a notebook to draw up a chart as Moon and Hau squared up.

As she usually did, Moon sent out Macbeth and was surprised when Hau opened with BB, rather than Uila like he usually did. BB was a pure Fighting-type until evolution so she resisted Macbeth's First Impression and managed to hang on for another round until she was finished off with Liquidation. Then Hau sent in Uila, and despite Moon's best efforts Macbeth was knocked out by Thunderbolt before she could pull off a Night Slash.

She countered Uila with Puck, promptly removing the Raichu from play with Sinister Arrow Raid because she'd seen Hau fight other Trainers. Despite having received Poppy first, Uila was definitely Hau's ace. It meant she'd used up her Z-Move but it was worth it to get Uila out of commission. Puck was also able to knock out Ollie, the obvious counter to a Grass-type, with Smack Down; but Moon had underestimated Sonar and the Noivern promptly defeated Puck with Crunch. Moon sent out Ben and was astonished when the Noivern took him out as well; it was a fairly significant loss, because Ben and Puck were her primary counters against Poppy and now she didn't have either of them. She thought for a few moments, weighing her options; she would want Hero to face Poppy due to the Primarina's secondary Fairy-typing, but then Rumble knew Bulldoze, which was bad news for Hero... eventually she sent Ariel in, and the Toucannon took Crunch before delivering a nasty Beak Blast, which finally knocked out Sonar.

She opted to switch Ariel out for Hero, and nodded when Hau sent out Rumble in response. Bulldoze was a strong move and the Tauros was faster than Hero, but the Metagross was by far her tankiest teammate and it managed to hold out long enough to use Hammer Arm, which was super-effective and knocked Rumble out in one hit. Hau, a resigned expression on his face, sent out Poppy; and Meteor Mash did its work after a fairly ineffective Sparkling Aria.

“Well, it's not like we didn't see that coming,” he said, recalling Poppy and shaking Moon's hand. “Nice one.”

“You did really well, though. Leading with BB definitely threw me off, and I didn't realize how strong Sonar was. I really thought I might lose when he took out Ben.”

“I thought you were going to lose too,” said Gladion lazily, from where he was reclined against a boulder.

Moon snorted, more amused than offended. “Wow, way to be supportive.”

“I call it as I see it. So it's me and Lillie next?”

“Yeah, give us a chance to rest up.”

Moon healed all her Pokémon, and Hau did the same; they watched, intrigued, as Lillie and Gladion faced off.

They each had a Zoroark, though that wouldn't have made a difference in who they appeared to have sent out— Lillie had Char, and Gladion had Imp. Both of them, Moon noted, avoided using names for the first round; but then Char blew a Pollen Puff at Imp who was revealed to be Rey. It was a Bug-type move, and super-effective; Rey was out for the count.

“Wow, Lillie, nice job!” cheered Hau.

“That's actually your Ribombee, then?” observed Gladion, raising an eyebrow. “Interesting strategy.”

“Part of the joy of using Illusion is that you don't even have to use it,” said Lillie, grinning at her brother.

He responded by sending in the actual Imp, who was the perfect counter to Char in both typings. The Ribombee was quite strong but she was no match for Imp's speed and she went out quickly. Lillie seemed to debate with herself for a few moments, then went for Lapin, which Moon thought was a sensible choice. The Lopunny was fairly tanky in comparison to all of Lillie's team except for Esper, but putting a slower Fairy-type up against a very fast Poison-type just didn't make any sense and Lillie was nothing if not sensible. Lapin delivered a powerful Thunder Punch that took the Crobat out, and Gladion's response was, naturally, to play Eleanor.

Lillie's smile went bright and devious, and Moon winced as Bounce took Eleanor out in a single hit. Gladion blinked for a few moments, as though he couldn't quite believe what he had just seen; but then he frowned and brought out Null, which meant he was beginning to be serious. Null defeated Lapin as well as Umber, and it was Lillie's turn to frown as she sent out Snowfall, her last teammate. The reason for the frown was very clear; Null was holding the Fire Memory today, which meant that she was a Fire-type and Multi-Attack was a Fire-type move.

But Snowfall was graceful and quick on her feet; and even without the cumbersome helmet Null was still a bit clumsy. Multi-Attack missed Snowfall, and much to Moon's surprise the Ninetales used Dig of all things and managed to knock Null out of commission.

“Holy shit,” said Hau, unable to stop himself. Moon privately agreed. Gladion sent out Nox, and the Porygon-Z tried his best with Signal Beam; but he was no match for Dazzling Gleam and the battle went to Lillie.

Lillie smiled again, petting Snowfall's head. “Good job,” she said warmly.

Gladion studied Lillie for a few moments, recalling Nox almost absently; but then he took several swift steps across the cave and wrapped Lillie up in a hug. Moon exchanged glances with Hau, but he wasn't inclined to eavesdrop and Moon was too polite to even try.

Lillie had teared up when she emerged from the hug, and came to sit down by Moon as Gladion healed his Pokémon and Hau got to his feet to take him on.

“What did he say to you?” said Moon curiously.

A soft smile flickered onto her friend's face. “He said he was proud of me,” she murmured, opening her backpack to begin healing her own Pokémon. “He says that quite often, but this is— a bit different.”

Moon smiled and leaned on Lillie's shoulder. “You're worth being proud of.”

“You really shouldn't end a sentence with a preposition.”

“Hey, I'm trying to pay you a compliment,” said Moon, but Lillie's eyes were twinkling and she could feel her own laughter bubbling up.

The match between Hau and Gladion went much how Moon expected it would. Uila went up against Rey-disguised-as-Imp, and Rey defeated him with a vicious Night Slash. BB took on Rey next, squaring up with Brick Break and taking out the Zoroark in vengeance; but she was conquered by the actual Imp, who also took down Poppy as she tried to deliver an Ice Beam. Sonar, again, exceeded expecations by knocking out Imp; but Nox returned the favor and in turn was promptly defeated by Ollie. Eleanor, still weaker than the rest of Gladion's teammates, managed to hang on long enough to knock out Ollie, but she went down to Rumble the turn after. That left Null— Moon noted that Gladion seemed to like using Null last, as a tanky powerhouse to take out both fresh and weakened opponents with ease— and the Tauros tried his best, but Null flattened him and won Gladion the battle.

Moon faced Lillie next, ignoring Hau's exaggerated cheering for both of them as it echoed around the cave; Gladion stayed silent, but she could almost feel his eyes on her and knew that he would be watching her strategy, to try and figure out a way to beat her.

Lillie sent out Esper, or what appeared to be Esper; and Moon still liked opening with Macbeth so she sent a First Impression at the Clefairy— revealed to be Umber, going down easily to First Impression. Umber was followed by Snowfall, who used Dazzling Gleam to great effect against Macbeth. Moon countered with Hero, with Meteor Mash delivering an instant knockout due to super-effective typing. Lapin then had Jump Kick; but Hero had Hammer Arm. Lillie only had Esper and Char after that, and they were both Fairy-types who went down hard to Meteor Mash.

“Wow, you didn't go easy on her at all,” chuckled Hau. “You beat five of hers with two of yours.”

“I didn't go easy on her, either,” said Gladion mildly.

“Yeah, but she still beat you and that shows she's a good Trainer. Moon just like, flattened her.”

“I definitely didn't expect anything different,” laughed Lillie, recalling Char. “It's Moon, after all.”

“Come on,” protested Moon, uncomfortable. “I'm not some mythically talented Trainer or anything. All four of us are good at this.”

“You and Hau have a better type-balanced team than either Lillie or I,” said Gladion, his voice still mild; he waved Hau back to the arena, and Moon walked back to sit down and heal her team. “So both of you have that to your advantage, to begin with. You both know all the type weaknesses and resistances by heart, you work hard, and you improve on what you do every time you battle.” His gaze slid down to rest on her hands as she worked. “And you're not as great at reading people in social situations as Hau, but you can read a battling opponent like a book. He distracts with enthusiasm, but you cut through distractions, which is why you beat him every time.”

“So I should be like you and go totally expressionless?” said Hau, his tone innocent.

“That's not what I meant,” said Gladion, but one corner of his mouth twitched into a smirk. “Just work on controlling it a little better. You telegraph yourself unnecessarily, and if someone's quick enough on their feet they could counter you before you even gave your order out loud.”

Lillie began her battle with Hau with another Umber-fakeout, immune to Uila's Psychic and taking him down with X-Scissor. Hau pouted but promptly sent out BB— the same strategy he'd employed with Gladion and Rey, and it worked just as well the second time around. Lillie retaliated with Esper, the Clefairy immediately knocking out the Crabrawler. Esper also managed to take out Rumble, her high defenses working in her favor as she wore the Tauros down. She did not fare so well against Poppy's sheer power, however; and neither did Lapin or Char. That left Snowfall, who defeated Poppy and even held out against Sonar; but her Ice-typing didn't do her any favors and Ollie was able to knock her out.

Hau's defeat of Lillie meant that the three of them were tied for second— Lillie had beaten Gladion and Gladion had beaten Hau, so none of them was innately the winner. Moon had won two for two battles and she wanted to win three, so as she stood to face Gladion once more she reevaluated her strategy by starting not with Macbeth, but with Ben.

She expected the Thunderbolt to reveal that Imp was actually Rey, as Gladion had done for the last two battles— simply thinking to save Macbeth for a guaranteed priority move against Null— but to her surprise Imp fainted because it actually was Imp and he was weak to Electric-type moves. Hau burst out laughing, lying back and rolling on the floor

“This is what I get for abandoning my strategy,” sighed Gladion. Fortunately he seemed to be more amused than offended, sending out Nox; the Porygon-Z's Signal Beam was strong enough to knock out Ben so Moon retaliated with Ariel and Brick Break. Nox fainted and was replaced by Null, who was able to beat Ariel quickly. Moon sent out Macbeth and got the priority move she wanted with First Impression but it wasn't enough to defeat Null and her Golisopod went down, too.

That left her with Puck and Hero, and Null was still holding the Fire Memory— bad news for both of them. Moon weighed her options— both of them had moves to counter Fire-types, but she wasn't sure it would be enough. Puck was faster than Null, and Hero was tanky. It was really down to who she wanted to fight Rey and Eleanor, if she managed to beat Null; and that was definitely Hero. Moon therefore sent Puck out, and together they danced Sinister Arrow Raid.

She caught sight of Null's face, as she performed the dance. Null had almost the most expressive eyes of any Pokémon she had ever met— there was something awfully human in them, something wistful and jealous and oddly resigned. Gladion had better control over his own expression, but as the arrows rained down and Null fainted, something cracked in his eyes, and he silently sent out Rey.

Moon tried for Leaf Blade first, but Rey was quick enough with Night Slash to take Puck down. Hero fared better— Night Slash was also super-effective, but Hero took the hit and lashed out with Hammer Arm for an immediate knockout. Eleanor was last, but Zen Headbutt took her out quickly and the battle went to Moon.

“Good battle,” said Gladion, offering his hand for her to shake as he recalled Eleanor with his free hand.

Moon did the same, her hand sliding into Gladion's; his eyes were soft and there was not an ounce of resentment in them. “Good battle,” she agreed. They shook on it, and though Moon was reluctant to let go of his hand, the way his fingers snagged on hers in the release told her that he was, at least, equally reluctant.

Day Eleven

“Oh, hi! Fancy meeting you here,” said Lillie brightly, as they walked out of the third cave.

Moon blinked against the sunlight and was surprised, once her eyes had adjusted, to see Trinh and Uilani, standing in the tall grass and staring at them.

“Uh— hi,” said Uilani after a few moments. Her gaze darted to Gladion, then back to Lillie. “How are you?”

Moon realized, with some amusement, that the two girls were scared of Gladion— especially after he'd told them Lillie was his sister.

“Oh, I'm doing great!” chirped Lillie. Her hand was entwined with Hau's, as it usually was these days; Moon and Gladion had also been holding hands but he'd let go once he realized it was Trinh and Uilani. She was beginning to understand it was a privacy thing, more than an embarrassment thing— he had stopped letting go when they passed random strangers and Trainers, but this was a bit different. “How are you? Did you settle into the Aether Paradise okay?”

Trinh nodded, also sneaking a quick look at Gladion. “Yeah. We got all the Skulls out of Po Town, except for Kohaku and Emmett and Jack and a couple of the other guys who said they could handle it.”

“They're fucking nuts,” said Gladion flatly. “Emmett's going to run his mouth and get a bullet to the brain.”

“Jack looked like he wanted to come with us, but Emmett and Kohaku were both giving him the side-eye,” said Uilani. Her voice had gone quiet. "You know how Jack gets, about Emmett. Probably trying to protect him."

“So they needs to be rescued?” Gladion sighed. “Great. We can't do anything about that, we're busy.”

Trinh shook her head. “Wouldn't ask you, you're not a Skull anymore,” she said bluntly. “Plumeria's planning something with Cassie and Raquel, but they haven't talked to anyone else about it. I think they're waiting for Guzma to get back."

“What brings you all the way out to the middle of nowhere?” asked Hau. “And isn't it technically a restricted area if you're not on your island challenge?”

Uilani snorted. “Nowhere's restricted if you have an HM for Fly,” she said, patting one of the three balls on her belt. “Marrow takes me where I need to go.”

“Marrow?”

“She has a Mandibuzz,” said Gladion, before Uilani could respond. “But that's a good question. What are you doing here?”

Uilani was pretty but her face seemed to wear a naturally irritated expression, and it only grew more sour as she considered her answer; finally she spoke. “I'm looking for a Pyroar,” she said flatly. “I'd prefer a female, but a male would be fine too.”

Gladion snorted.

“What's so funny about that?” snapped Trinh.

“It's not funny, it's just very... appropriate. Pyroar have nice hair. So do Furfrou and Dugtrio. And Mandibuzz wear things in their feathers.”

“Nice,” said Moon. “Not enough people pick teammates by a theme, in my opinion.”

“There's no theme to your teammates,” pointed out Lillie.

“She means picking names for your teammates.” Hau grinned.

“That is entirely beside the point,” said Moon, in an exaggeratedly dignified tone; Hau and Lillie both laughed, as she'd meant them to. Even Gladion let out a puff of amused breath, and Trinh and Uilani both stared at him as though— like the proverbial Dodrio— he had grown an extra head.

“You know, I really thought Kohaku was coming from a place of malice—”

“When isn't he,” murmured Gladion, rolling his eyes.

“—but for once, he was actually right.”

“About what, exactly?”

Uilani pointed at Moon. “About her. You're more whipped than a Slurpuff's fluff.”

Gladion went scarlet, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Whatever. Kohaku's full of shit, you know that.”

“Is that actually why you want a Pyroar, though?” said Moon, deciding it would be prudent to change the subject. “Because they have fabulous hair and you're a fabulous hairdresser?”

Uilani went pink. “Um— well, not exactly.”

“She wasn't thinking about it when she picked them, but it was definitely somewhere in her head,” translated Trinh. “Subconscious, as Plumeria would say. Anyway, we should get back to looking.”

“Ah, don't let us keep you,” said Lillie cheerfully, tugging on Hau's hand. “We've got to keep going, ourselves.”

“Have fun, I guess.”

“Thanks!”

“You go on ahead,” said Gladion, to Lillie and Hau. “I want a word with them.”

Lillie frowned. “I told you I forgave them. It's fine, Gladion.”

“It's Skull business. Former Skull business,” he amended. “You two go. Moon and I will catch up.”

“Moon wasn't Team Skull,” said Lillie suspiciously.

“She's been to Po Town, close enough.”

Lillie stared at him for a few seconds, green eyes sharpening— to something almost like Lusamine; but then she blinked, and it was gone so quickly that Moon wondered if she'd imagined it. She and Hau began walking along the trail.

Trinh and Uilani were both watching Gladion, eyes wary; but then Trinh's gaze flicked to Moon and something more relaxed settled into it. “What's up?”

“You took all the under-eighteens out first, right? To Aether House, then to the Paradise after Plumeria got in touch with you?”

“Yeah.” Uilani crossed her arms. “Not that under-eighteen means very much, to the Foxes. Trinh and Rogelio are still seventeen, but they can take care of themselves.”

Moon blinked, startled. She'd been vaguely aware that Rogelio was seventeen and Molly was eighteen— though she might have turned nineteen at some point in the last couple of months— but it hadn't registered with her that Rogelio technically was, as Gladion and Trinh and Uilani said, an under-eighteen. He seemed older, and so did Trinh. In fact, the only Team Skull kids she'd met who actually acted their age were Jeremiah, Ki-moon, and Almas.

“Thank you,” said Gladion.

“For what?”

“For getting them out. For not taking shit from the Foxes about it.”

Trinh's eyes hardened. “We took plenty of shit about it, believe me. It just wasn't from the Foxes.”

“Emmett?”

“Kohaku.” Uilani sniffed disdainfully. “He started making creepy jokes about girls being paranoid about assault, as though we didn't already have enough of a goddamn reason to be with Emmett trying to peep in the west wing shower. Emmett's not original enough to make a joke that really bothers anyone, so he just repeated what Kohaku said and laughed like a dumbass.”

“What are you thanking us for?” Trinh rolled her eyes.

Gladion studied Uilani's expression, then Trinh's; then he looked over at Moon and his face softened marginally before he turned back to answer. “When you've got a lot on your plate, things slip through the cracks. Guzma and Plumeria take care of everyone, but Guzma's issues have issues and Plumeria has to take care of him almost more than anyone else. Sometimes things get ignored. I'm thanking you for— being the saucer under the plate, I guess. Not letting things slip. Not letting kids stay in a dangerous place.”

“God, you're such a nerd,” said Uilani loftily. “As if you'd have to thank us for something like that, Arceus. We might be Skulls, but we aren't monsters.”

She turned to walk into a different patch of tall grass, taking a few steps away; but Gladion's face shifted into a much less pleasant expression. “I wasn't finished.”

Trinh's eyes widened, and Uilani paused before turning warily around.

“Lillie's long out of earshot, and I did not technically lie to her about this discussion,” continued Gladion, crossing his arms. “Moon's here as she's a witness— the primary witness, in case you'd forgotten. But I heard about what you said to Lillie long before Moon mentioned anything about it, because I've been in contact with Lillie since May, when she ran away from home like I did.”

“You said you forgave us,” said Uilani, swallowing hard. “Were you lying?”

“Lillie said she forgave you,” corrected Gladion. “I said you're off the hook; there was no mention of forgiveness. All that means is that I'm not planning on getting revenge for it.”

“Then what do you want?”

He tilted his head to one side. For the first time, Moon saw him smile; but it was not a real smile because there was something dangerous and nasty in his eyes, something that reminded her that he'd lived and worked in Po Town for two years, and he'd seen some real shit.

“I'm just letting you know that if you ever make anyone I care about cry, ever again, there is no place in the world you can hide that will prevent me from finding you.”

And there in his eyes, as it had been in Lillie's eyes, was a flash of pure Lusamine. Trinh flinched, taking a step back; Gladion's smile widened ever so slightly at this.

“I'm glad you understand,” he said softly. “Makes my life easier.”

Ordinarily Moon would be in favor of any variety of shovel talk that contributed to protecting Lillie; but Uilani's gaze was flicking over to Trinh, worry creasing her brows; and with Trinh's behavior it added up to signs she couldn't ignore.

She reached out and took Gladion's hand. He jumped, startled, and looked down at her, fake smile sliding off his face.

“Hey, they know you were mad about it,” she told him. “There's making sure they know you love Lillie, and there's being a dick. You're kind of flirting with the line, and as the person I'd like you to be flirting with instead I don't appreciate that.”

There was a solid pause, but then Gladion snorted with laughter, eyes crinkling at the corners the way Lillie's did— and Arceus fuck, that was just as cute on him as it was on Lillie.

“Fucking— you're ridiculous.” But he sounded fond.

“Sorry,” added Moon, turning to Trinh and Uilani. “You know as well as we do that being mean can be a defensive thing. We're working on it. Good luck with the Pyroar. See you round.”

She pulled on Gladion's hand, in the direction that Lillie and Hau had gone. He followed, remaining silent; neither Trinh nor Uilani said anything to bid them farewell and Moon supposed that was fair.

“When was it too much?” he said, once they were well out of earshot of Trinh and Uilani.

“When Trinh flinched and you smiled,” said Moon promptly. “That was a little creepy, dude.”

Gladion frowned. “Oh, god, you're right. That was— that was her, how is she always in my damn head. Shit.” He half turned. “I should apologize—”

“Taken care of,” said Moon, tugging him back to the path. “Literally, as I said sorry and explained things. And no, I should not have had to do that; but we're learning. Don't beat yourself up about it.”

He was quiet for a few minutes, and then he stopped walking, his hand falling out of Moon's. She turned to look at him, surprised.

“How do you do that?” he said quietly. “Forgive, so easily?”

“I don't forgive unless I understand,” Moon reminded him. “You know, there was that long-ass period of time where I was hung up about you lying to me, but then you explained it and I understood. Boom, forgiven. There's an explanation for everything if you know where to look, right?”

He nodded slowly.

“And— well, sometimes there's no forgiveness even if there is understanding. Like what Lusamine did to you and Lillie? Like yeah she's mentally ill and had a fucked-up perspective, and she did things that were accordingly fucked up. I understand. But that doesn't mean I forgive her, because I don't think that what she did was fucking forgivable. It's just my two cents, but I think you should only be willing to forgive someone if it's clear that they're willing to change. If they're not going to change, then it's pointless to forgive them for something they're just gonna keep doing.”

Gladion blinked a few times, and then a few more; and it was not until a tear trickled down his cheek that Moon realized he was, in fact, crying. She went over immediately, hugging him and patting his back. He was shaking violently, trembling in her grip. His head bowed, eyes pressed into her collar bone as his arms wound around her middle and squeezed, pulling her closer than she had ever imagined.

“It's okay,” she said softly, brushing one hand up and down his back. “It's okay—” Her tongue tripped over an endearment that would have fucked up the entire dynamic they'd worked so hard to cultivate so she didn't so much as think it, let alone say it; but it was— it was fine. She was fine. “It's okay. You can just cry. It's okay.”

Moon wasn't sure how long they stood there, just holding each other; they'd left the cave around three in the afternoon and in December the sun set earlier than usual. It was beginning to sink in the sky, casting the edge of the western horizon into a lovely pale-gold color.

But finally he did relax a little, lifting his head and shifting so his chin was on her shoulder. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “Probably got your jacket wet.”

“Maybe, but I can't feel anything and tears dry pretty quick. Salt, you know.” His nose was next to her ear and he was breathing on her, which didn't sound sexy when she thought about it with actual words; but there were goosebumps rushing along her neck and he was holding her very tightly and he was nice and warm in the cooling air of evening. “Hey, do you think crying on snow will melt it? We should go to Mount Lanakila sometime and find out.”

“I don't think I'd be allowed up there anytime soon,” he said, amused; but his voice had a slight bass-rumble in it and with his throat pressed against her collarbone, she could almost feel the vibration of it. “I'm not on the island challenge, you know.”

“They use salt to melt snow in Kanto. I think the train lines have something on them that like, automatically melts the snow. But for the highway and the routes they have to have community volunteers and Charizard fly out to melt it. For little stuff they just pour rock salt on the road, and for big stuff they'll actually use Charizard's fire.”

“Hmm,” he said, and oh god she definitely felt that in her collarbone. Was she sweating? She was probably sweating. “You would make a very unique tour guide.”

“Thanks. I think.”

For a few moments they just stood there in silence; but then Gladion cleared his throat and took a full step away, releasing Moon. Both relief and regret washed over her, because they'd been very goddamn close but neither of them were ready for the next step. That would involve something like... well, therapy. For both of them, probably. Moon wouldn't have said she needed therapy before Acerola's trial, but after that life had pushed her down a hill made of shit and she'd tumbled down it and picked up more as she went, until everything was a giant ball of shit and she was trapped inside it. It was kind of a gross metaphor.

“Hey, so you know how if you roll a snowball down a hill it gets bigger?”

He blinked at her for a few moments. “I've never touched snow.”

“Right, you're Alolan.”

“But I do occasionally watch movies, so I have some idea of what you're talking about.”

“Right. Well, I was just thinking about stuff and I've decided that my whole life feels like I got pushed down a hill and gathered a lot of stuff up with me as I went. Except it wasn't snow, it was shit.”

Gladion blinked at her for a few moments, but then he nodded. “Same.”

Moon beamed at him. “See, you get it.”

She held out her hand, intending for them to keep walking. He looked down at her hand, then back up at her; and they weren't really that far apart and oh god was it going to happen even if they weren't ready—

—but then his hand slid into hers, and Moon turned and they began walking again.

“The nice thing about shit though,” said Gladion— and she was paying attention, even though his thumb brushing up and down hers was very fucking distracting— “is that it makes pretty good fertilizer. Or so Rogelio tells me.”

Moon squinted at him. “That sounds optimistic. Are you feeling okay?”

“For the first time in my life,” he said simply, “I don't feel weighed down by just fucking existing. I don't owe Aether or Team Skull anything, Null is free and happy and she evolved, I get to rebuild my relationship with my sister without my mother getting involved, I've made two good friends, and I'm holding hands with a pretty girl. I think I've earned a bit of fucking optimism.”

“P-pretty—”

“Yep. I wonder if Rogelio would teach me about fertilizer? I used to like playing in the conservatory, before I got pushed down the shit hill of life. Maybe I can grow things to put in my first-aid kit. I know ginger is good for upset stomachs, and willowbark is a painkiller... I should do some more research.”

“Y-you can borrow Rotom, you know, whenever,” said Moon, struggling to keep her voice from squeaking. She was fairly certain she was about four seconds away from spontaneous combustion. “Internet, and all that.”

“Thanks, I will.” He squeezed her hand briefly. Moon was pretty sure her heart contracted along with it.

Chapter Text

Day Twelve

The familiar nausea welled up in Moon's stomach as they rounded the bend, and it just sounded wrong that nausea could be anything like familiar; but the rocky walls dropped to reveal the full canyon once more.

Gladion's hand tugged her to a stop, and Moon glanced over as he let go to see he was already taking off his backpack, reaching for Rey's ball on his belt.

“Come on,” he said placidly. “You know the drill.”

She did know, and she let Macbeth out and took off her own backpack. It occurred to her that the last time they'd done this she was wearing jeans, but she was beginning to run out of clean clothes and even in mid-December Alola wasn't exactly cold, so she'd opted to wear shorts.

Hau and Lillie watched, amused, as Gladion finished buckling his backpack onto Rey, and Moon hastened to do the same with Macbeth. Her hands trembled a bit— but she wasn't sure if that was the drop-off or the thought of Gladion's hands on her bare legs.

She turned and caught sight of Hau and Lillie shaking with silent laughter as Gladion turned and crouched, scarlet blooming on his neck and ears; he was at least as embarrassed about it as she was but he remained quiet and businesslike, picking her up with a little shuffle to adjust once he was standing.

“S-sorry,” stammered Moon, keeping her voice as quiet as possible so that Hau and Lillie couldn't hear. “I would have worn pants or something, if I'd known.”

“You two go ahead,” said Gladion, instead of responding to her. “And you as well, Rey.”

“Macbeth, go with Rey.” Macbeth bobbed her head in a nod and began plodding across the bridge, falling into step with Rey. Hau and Lillie, still giggling, walked ahead of them.

“I wish they wouldn't be so smug about it.” He sounded annoyed.

“I think they're just happy,” said Moon, and she rested her chin on his shoulder. “I was at least this obnoxious when I was watching them dancing around each other, so it's probably karma.”

He didn't say anything immediately, and Moon wondered why until his hands twitched on her legs and she squeaked in surprise.

“Sorry,” he muttered, and the pink flush on his neck and ears deepened to nearly scarlet. “You know— we're taking this very slowly, and you've been incredibly patient with me. So, thank you for that. But I don't want you to think that I— that it isn't difficult for me, too.”

He started walking. Moon closed her eyes so she wouldn't see the canyon and tried to think of something to say in response— something that wasn't a request for clarification, something that wasn't oh my god do you mean that you like touching me as much as I like touching you. She wasn't fourteen, for Arceus' sake.

“Hey, you played the piano, growing up?” she said, to break the silence that had fallen over them.

“Mm-hm.”

“Tell me about it,” she took a deep breath, “please.”

Gladion laughed at that, soft and low; her heart burned bright and warm in her chest. “I'm not that good,” he informed her. “For instance, I can't sit down and play Rachmaninoff, as much as I like his music— it's very wild, very angsty.”

“Can't imagine why you'd like that kind of thing.”

“Oh, shut up,” he said, but he laughed again and Moon smiled, pleased with herself. “Rachmaninoff and Liszt are loud and wild and very impressive to listen to or watch, but they're definitely beyond my current skill level— which has definitely regressed since I left home originally. I think the most difficult piece I ever played was Mozart's Piano Sonata in C Major, No. 16. It's the one everyone knows.” He hummed a few notes, and Moon recognized it in surprise.

“You can play that?”

“I probably couldn't play it anymore unless I spent a few months getting back into proper form, but I used to be able to. I'd like to get back into it someday— it's one of the only things from my childhood that she wasn't able to ruin.”

“I'd like to see that,” said Moon encouragingly. “I bet you're still pretty good.”

“I don't think so, but thanks for the vote of confidence.”

Hau and Lillie were waiting for them at the other end of the bridge. Gladion set Moon down and they retrieved their backpacks from Rey and Macbeth; but not twenty minutes later the path curved around to reveal a second bridge. Gladion didn't even have to say anything this time; they had a system for bridges now. As much as they made Moon feel ill, there was something lovely about the way Gladion unhesitatingly offered his assistance. It made her feel safe— protected.

“Oh, cool, what's that?”

Moon looked up from adjusting her backpack onto her own back for the second time to see that Hau was pointing at an enormous, wizened tree-root that curled down over the edge of the canyon wall. It had to be at least as thick around as she was. The sight sparked a memory so she called up the e-book for the Traveller's Guide to Alola on Rotom's screen, swiping through to find Poni Island.

“I believe they're roots from the Battle Tree,” she ventured, looking back up at the huge knot of wood. “The Traveller's Guide says that the roots of the Battle Tree stretch twenty or thirty miles out from the tree itself. Are we really that close to Tree Town?”

“As the Murkrow flies, yes,” said Lillie. “In terms of practicality, no. There are canyons, caves, and scrublands in the way that would make a straight-line journey much harder than taking the main roads.”

“It looks withered,” said Gladion softly, taking a few steps forward and raising his hand to touch the root.

There was a soft, crackly noise and Moon suddenly smelled water— as though they were in thick jungle, instead of an arid canyon. The shrivelled root suddenly swelled with color, green pulsing through to where it had wormed its way through orangey-gold rock.

Gladion wrenched his hand back, white-faced, and the root slowly contracted once more.

“What was that?” said Hau, wide-eyed.

“I— I don't know.”

It was plainly, apparently obvious that Gladion was lying; but his expression was set into rigid blankness and it was also plainly, apparently obvious that he didn't want to talk about it. Moon glanced at Hau and Lillie and ran her finger across her throat; both of them nodded, and Lillie tactfully changed the subject.

That evening, once they'd camped and eaten dinner, Moon plopped her sleeping bag down next to Gladion's, on the side of the tent that had been designated as “the boys' side.”

“What are you doing?” he said suspiciously, looking up from his phone.

“Hau and Lillie are cuddling and I feel like a third wheel,” she informed him. “I'm just going to like, go to sleep. I want to sleep for a year but I'm probably going to wake up at four in the morning with a rock in my ass and Ariel cheeping loudly about going outside to catch Bugs. She's an early riser.”

“I'd noticed.”

“Sorry.”

“She's fairly quiet, and you're good at tending to her needs immediately.” Gladion waved her off. “Well, if you think Hau and Lillie will be okay over there...”

“They're not gonna bump uglies, if that's what you're worried about.”

He closed his eyes, a pained grimace on his face. “Why do you feel the need to create unnecessary mental imagery?”

“It's all part of the package,” said Moon, unzipping her sleeping bag. Hero was already outside keeping watch with Nox and Imp, who was naturally nocturnal. Null, Rey, and Eleanor laid in a complex pile on Gladion's other side and Moon decided it would be alright to let her other teammates out. Macbeth plonked down in the center of the tent by Moon's head, as per usual; Hau glanced over with heavy eyes but didn't say anything about either the sleeping arrangement or Macbeth. This was probably because Lillie was already asleep, head pillowed on Hau's chest.

Ben eyed Moon, then Gladion, then the Null-Rey-Eleanor pile; then he turned and stalked over to Macbeth, who willingly picked him up so they could cuddle together. Ariel and Puck both nested down near Moon's feet, as they'd gotten used to doing as a Pikipek and a Rowlet in the Pokémon Center.

She really ought to brush her teeth and wash her face, but she was too tired. Moon wiggled halfway into the sleeping bag and fumbled for her hoodie, pulling it on over her T-shirt before exchanging said T-shirt for the tank top she usually slept in. It was not until Eleanor began quietly laughing did she think to look over at Gladion.

He was staring at her, an expression of pure confusion on his face. “Are you changing your shirt while wearing a jacket?”

“Yes.”

He blinked a few times. Eleanor's laughter picked up and Rey's soft, barking laugh joined; even Null gazed over at them in sleepy amusement.

“Should I not have—”

“D-do what you want.”

“Sorry,” said Moon, realizing he was embarrassed. “I should have taken care of that before coming over here, I didn't realize—”

“I'm not exactly complaining.”

He'd interrupted her twice, which was out of character, which meant he was flustered— which meant that Moon had a pretty good chance of success. She peeled her T-shirt out from under the hoodie, flung it over at her backpack, and flopped backward to stare up at the tent ceiling as she stretched out her right arm, opening her hand and closing her eyes.

It had to be at least an entire minute before Gladion moved. She heard him get to his feet.

“Lights out okay?” he said, addressing Hau and Lillie.

“Mm-hm,” mumbled Hau.

There was a click, and the light from Lillie's electric lantern went out. Moon opened her eyes in time to see a small flashlight beam guiding Gladion back to his own sleeping bag. He pulled off his own jacket, folding it and tucking it under his pillow— that was smart, extra cushioning— and slid into his sleeping bag, laying flat on his back as well. The flashlight winked out.

Ten seconds; Moon counted them to herself. Twenty, thirty, forty, another minute. A minute and a half. Two minutes. Three minutes.

She had almost lost count and fallen asleep when she felt warmth brush against her thumb. A whispering, ghostly touch followed by light pressure; but at this point Moon was too tired to be patient and she threaded her fingers through his before letting out a final, sleepy sigh. It was so much easier to be brave in the darkness.

Day Thirteen

“There's a fork in the path,” said Gladion grumpily. “Which fucking way do we go now.”

His tone was flat, and Moon guessed by the lack of question-inflection that he didn't actually care about the answer.

“I'm... not entirely sure,” she admitted, opening The Traveller's Guide. “I'm not sure the maps in here include cave paths... it looks like spaghetti, honestly.”

“I could go for some spaghetti,” sighed Hau. “I think I ate all of my pasta MREs already. I just have stew and chicken-and-gravy left.”

“I miss salads,” said Lillie mournfully.

“Can we not talk about food?”

Moon held up a finger at Gladion, still trying to make sense of the map. They'd had some question-and-answer sessions from the penalty game, but Gladion seemed to be more willing to talk about difficult things of his own accord so they'd stuck to lighter topics, still keeping track. She currently had one penalty and he now had two, but there wasn't time to cover it at the moment.

“I think we go left,” she said finally. “We end up going through another cave, but it's a short one and I think it opens out by... some kind of hedge thing? A thicket? After that it's pretty much a straight shot to Dragon's Pass. We could get there in three days, probably.”

“Thank fucking Arceus,” groused Gladion.

Left they went. Moon pushed one hand through her hair to get it out of her face, grimacing at the feel of built-up oil. Hau's hair looked fine, as he didn't usually need water to maintain it— and Moon had caught him and Lillie smoothing coconut oil into it a few times, which wasn't good for her poor heart. Between everything going on with Gladion and observing Hau and Lillie having moments, she was going to die of cute.

Lillie had very thick hair, and when they didn't have access to a shower she kept it in two long braids; but it was starting to look a bit greasy. Gladion, without even an ounce of shame, had produced bobby pins to get his bangs out of his face; it was just as unfairly cute as most of the things he did and if it weren't for the fact that Moon was beginning to feel like she wanted to crawl out of her skin, she would be poking him in the part of his forehead that was usually hidden by the bangs.

The cave she had speculated on was very close, and when they walked in they were met with a Machamp Shove puzzle— but it was a simple one, with the hole immediately beyond the boulder. There was a Machamp already waiting, just sitting with its back to the boulder; it looked up as they approached and got to its feet.

“Yeah, just let us through, thanks,” said Moon, with a wave. The Machamp nodded and shoved the boulder forward, letting it fall with a rumbling thud into the hole.

The path forked again, in the cave; but there was something about it that was looking horribly, annoyingly familiar.

“Oh my god,” she said slowly, taking the rightmost fork— around a bend in the cave, she could see the exit, shining brightly within. “Oh my god— I don't believe this.”

“What?”

She began running, ignoring their questioning shouts; soon echoing footsteps told her that they were following, and as the cave exit loomed she spotted it and came to a halt in the mouth of the cave.

The dead tree, where they had been camping when Hapu asked them to take Phyco and Soliera on a Cosmog-hunt nearly two weeks ago, stood tall and wizened before them.

Footsteps came to a halt behind her, and for several long moments there was silence as they took in the tree as well.

“Did we,” said Lillie, slowly and carefully, “just go in a complete circle that took thirteen days to complete?”

Moon nodded once.

Gladion took off his backpack, walked over to a small, grassy patch below the dead tree, and laid down on the ground to stare at the sky, folding his hands carefully over his stomach.

“You feeling okay, dude?”

“If I don't lie down right now I'm going to murder something or someone.”

“I mean, it's not like we can't get back there,” said Moon practically. “Now that we've been through, the Machamp will let us pass by putting the boulder down. So we don't have to go in another circle.”

“It was so fucking close, this entire goddamn time, and we went on a wild goose chase up, down, and around the fucking canyon with bridges and ridges and tiny-ass tunnels,” continued Gladion, gazing up at the sky. “I feel stupid, and I'm pissed off. I relate more to Emmett than I ever have in my entire life.”

“Don't go that far,” said Hau, holding out a hand. “Never go full Emmett, dude.”

“You make a very good point.” Gladion sighed and let Hau pull him to his feet. “What do we do now?”

Moon considered. “Let's talk to Hapu,” she said finally. “If we're getting to Dragon's Pass in a few days, then she'll probably want Phyco and Soliera to come with us. And we can fly back here, easy. Rotom, will you call her?”

“Calling Hapu Kahonua, bzzt.”

Moon was surprised at how promptly Hapu answered the call. “Kahuna Hapu speaking, how may I help you?”

“Hi, it's Moon.”

“Oh, Moon! Good afternoon. How are you faring on your journey?”

“We just got to the part where we spent thirteen days walking in a circle just to get to a Machamp Shove shortcut.”

“Ah.” There was an smile in Hapu's voice, despite the fact that it wasn't a video call. “Yes, I do apologize. There's something of a tradition regarding the Vast Poni Canyon; if you're going all the way through, you need to take the long road to prove that you're prepared for Dragon's Pass and the Altar of the Moone. However, you won't have to make that long trip again. Did you get as far as Dragon's Pass?”

“No, we got to a fork and I took the wrong one or we wouldn't have discovered it at all.”

“I'm glad you did, then.” Hapu hesitated, and when she continued to speak her voice was soft, and a little wary. “I hope I don't offend, but you sound rather tired.”

“No offense taken, we're very fucking tired,” Gladion called.

“Hmm. Well, you're welcome to fly back to my home and spend the night, if you would rather not camp. It's a quick journey to the dead tree by Charizard, and the cave path leading directly toward Dragon's Pass isn't nearly as tiresome as the cave paths that force you to camp inside.”

“Really?” Moon sighed gratefully. “That would be amazing, you have no idea— the last shower shed was like, three days ago and we're all starting to suffer. And sleeping in a bed would be brilliant.”

Haup chuckled. “It would be a Christmas miracle, wouldn't it?”

“Christmas?” Moon counted days in her head, surprised. “I— wow. It's Christmas Eve. I hadn't really thought about that.”

“It's Christmas Eve?” said Hau, looking up. “Awesome! I should call my family.”

“And we won't be burdening you?” Moon asked Hapu. “You don't have— um, that guy you were talking about?”

“I— why would I?” Hapu sounded a bit flustered. “My family are all here, and I'm sure h-he's with his family too. We haven't met or anything, and we still don't know each other.”

“Hmm.” Moon was not so sure of this— there were some things Lillie had mentioned that made her think that both Hapu and Ilima knew or suspected they were at opposite ends of their secret pen pal friendship— but she didn't question it. “Well, if you don't mind, we'd be happy to join you for Christmas.”

“Of course. I look forward to seeing you.”

“Yeah, same here. Thanks, we'll see you in a bit.”

Moon ended the call, putting Rotom back in her pocket. Lillie was regarding her with a raised eyebrow. “Why would Hapu spend Christmas with Ilima when they don't technically know each other?”

“Wait,” said Hau, eyes widening. “Hapu's secret pen pal not-boyfriend is Ilima?”

“Definitely more on the not-boyfriend side, but yeah,” said Moon. “They've both dropped enough hints. Hapu's got the same problem as you and Lillie, but there's a bigger age gap so they're very, very much not dating.”

“Why would you assume they would spend Christmas together then?” said Gladion.

“Don't couples usually spend Christmas together?”

All three of them blinked at her. “Sure, with the rest of their families,” said Hau.

“No, like—” Moon sighed. “In Kanto, Christmas was always date night for my parents and for Red and Blue, so I either stayed home and I was bored out of my wits with Meowth or I went to a party with classmates or something.”

“I think that might be a cultural thing,” said Lillie. “In Alola, you spend Christmas with your family. Everybody opens presents in the morning, and you all eat a nice meal together in the afternoon.”

“Oh.” Moon felt color rise to her face, and pointedly stared at the ground. She was not going to look at Gladion, she was not going to fucking look at Gladion. “Yeah, that's probably a cultural thing then. Huh.”

“Don't you already have a couples day thingy in Kanto besides Valentine's Day, though?” asked Hau.

Moon coughed. “Um— y-yeah. On Valentine's Day, girls will give guys chocolate. And on White Day, which is exactly a month after Valentine's, guys will give girls gifts in return. There's some bullshit about how the guys should spend two or three times the monetary value of the chocolate they got on the return gift, but I never paid much attention to it because my parents didn't do gifts a lot of the time. You know, because we were poor. They just went on dates. Red and Blue would exchange gifts, but they're both dudes so it was a little different. They took turns every year, who gave a gift on Valentine's and who gave a gift on White Day. But Christmas isn't complicated like that. You just go on a date with your— your person.”

There was a long silence. Moon could tell, without looking at any of them, that Gladion was probably blushing and Hau and Lillie were probably trying not to laugh at the two of them. She got out her Ride Pager and summoned a Charizard; Hau was quick to follow suit.

“It's a nice tradition,” said Gladion, and his tone was much softer than it had been earlier, when he was angry about the thirteen-day circle. “Can I ask you some questions about it later?”

God, she was going to catch on fire. “Sure.”

The Charizard arrived and it was about a two-minute flight to Hapu's house. “Maybe after we all shower, we could fly over to the village and buy presents for each other,” suggested Lillie. “Then it would be like a real Christmas.”

“I almost want to fly home and eat some of my mama's home cooking,” admitted Hau. “But they would want me to stay for a few days at least, and we don't really have time for that. Maybe we should take the day off tomorrow, and then head back out the day after?”

“Sounds okay to me,” said Moon, climbing off her Charizard and shaking out numb limbs; she'd kept her eyes closed and Gladion had held on tightly, so it wasn't as bad as usual. Charizard often went too fast for her to worry about the drop, but it was still nervewracking even with the buckles and straps that kept them safely in the Ride saddle.

Hapu greeted them at the door with a smile, followed by a wrinkled nose as she took in the odors of travel. “We actually do have four showers, so you could all go at the same time,” she offered.

“You're an actual Christmas miracle,” Moon informed her.

“One of them is in the barn and it's mostly for the Machamp, but I'm sure they won't care if you use it.”

“Dibs,” said Hau at once. “I wanna see a weird barn shower.”

“You do that,” said Lillie, patting his hand. “I'll stay inside, thanks.”

“There's a shower in the bathroom suite of my room— through that door,” said Hapu, pointing. Lillie went through it without being asked. “And there's one in the dorm room and one in the basement. You'll be sharing the dorm room with my cousins and aunt— we're working on building them a separate cabin, but it's slow going for the moment.”

“That's fine, not a problem.” Moon glanced at Gladion. “Dorm room or basement?”

“Whatever you prefer.”

He always did that, so Moon opted to take the basement even though he had probably expected her to pick the dorm room. She followed Hapu down the cellar steps— it was much warmer in this part of the house, because the foundations were still made of adobe concrete but it was all underground so the heat from the furnaces simply stayed there. Most of the basement seemed to be storage, but there was a small lounging area with a couple of couches and a large television— Moon had wondered if Hapu ever watched television; here was her answer.

When they had all showered, Lillie doubled down on the shopping trip idea so they flew back to Seafolk Village and looked around. Moon was surprised to see fairy-lights strung up on the big mangrove tree in the middle of the village, and most of the house-boats had wreaths and fairy lights as well. There was a distinct lack of snow that made it feel not quite as Christmas-y as she was accustomed to seeing in Kanto, but it was still festive and cheerful and it wiped away some of the emotional exhaustion that had begun to pile onto the physical.

Lillie seemed to know exactly what she wanted to buy for each of them, and strode off toward the Pokémon Center with purpose— Moon followed, because she might as well get her team healed up properly. She had a smaller purple bag with her wallet and Rotom and things like that, so she didn't have to haul the big hiking backpack along. Hau had his little orange knapsack and Gladion had a bag slung over one shoulder, dark-red dyed leather, which was certainly large enough to hide reasonably sized gifts. They all split up, offering one another furtive grins.

Hau would be easy to shop for, if she wanted to be lazy— but a gift card to Swirly-whirl, no matter how he might appreciate it, would be the cheap way out. Moon remembered that he'd said something about wanting to try and make malasadas at home, so she left the Pokémon Center in favor of the little used bookstore she'd passed a few times, located in a tiny, bobbing boat painted like a Chinchou. A cookbook seemed like a good idea, for a future malasada-maker. She combed through a shelf of cookbooks until she found a Kalosian one that was mostly pastries and, despite its origin, had a recipe for “Authentic Alolan Malasadas.” The picture in the book did not at all look like the malasadas that Swirly-whirl made, but she could see cinnamon sugar, pastry, and red jam so Hau could probably make it work.

She'd been looking for a book on herblore and homeopathic medicines for Gladion, since he'd mentioned researching it; but the self-help shelf caught her eye and she nearly choked at the title of one of the books. She wasn't entirely sure that Lillie would appreciate it, and she would probably drop back over to the Pokémon Center and get all of them candy in addition to their books just in case; but she knew that Gladion would be amused even if Lillie wasn't— and she needed to remember that Lillie had a darker sense of humor than she often let on.

And she did find a herblore book for Gladion as well— one that combined remedies from natural flora and from Grass-type Pokémon; so the dour-faced woman at the desk rang up her purchases and Moon tucked them into her bag.

It occurred to her that she should get something for Hapu and her family as well, but that didn't have to be anything super special. Candy for the two cousins, and maybe a candle or something for Hapu's grandmother and aunt; but Hapu herself warranted more of an effort. A purple plaid scarf caught her eye as she passed a little outdoor clothes-stand. The kahuna might appreciate it if she ever had to visit Mount Lanakila, which was very likely due to construction of the Pokémon League.

Lillie had finished getting her things first, and was sitting in the café with a mug of Roserade tea. Moon ordered herself a hot chocolate and joined her friend, sitting down.

“Did you have any trouble shopping?” Lillie asked her.

“I wasn't sure about you, and honestly I'm still not super sure about what I got you, but I'm hoping you'll find it funny and not offensive,” said Moon. Lillie blinked at her, clearly confused. “You'll see tomorrow.”

“I suppose I will.”

Gladion joined them about fifteen minutes later from the direction of the PokéMart, looking distinctly disgruntled; Moon noticed that the three cashiers were all grinning in their direction, and one of them made eye contact with Moon and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“Did you get me something weird?” she said suspiciously.

“No,” said Gladion, but his face was heating up as he sat down next to her. “It's the same problem you and I frequently have with Lillie and Hau.”

“The problem where people think we're cute?”

He nodded once.

“Then don't worry about it. They can think what they want. I know I'm cute.” Moon crossed her eyes and made an ugly face, which produced a snort of laughter from Gladion and giggles from Lillie.

Hau only took five more minutes, and he also seemed frustrated. “I'm not very good at gift shopping,” he sighed. "I don't think any of you are going to like your gifts."

Gladion opened his mouth to say something, then frowned and closed it.

“It will probably be better than anything Mother got us in the last seven years,” pointed out Lillie.

“I wasn't going to say that,” retorted Gladion, “but yes, essentially.”

Back at Hapu's house, Moon wanted to wrap her presents so she requested wrapping paper, scissors, and tape. Hapu, her aunt Maia, and cousin Jay were busy cooking what looked like an incredibly lavish meal— Moon was used to fast-food fried imi-chicken, another Kantonian tradition. But cousin Jordan found what she needed, and Moon shared her haul with Hau, Lillie, and Gladion as they took it in turns to wrap their gifts.

The evening passed faster than expected, but it was one of the happiest days Moon remembered having in quite some time. There was a huge dinner, with imi-turkey and mashed potatoes and stuffing and rolls and vegetables of all kinds— they would do leftovers tomorrow for dinner, explained Akela— and afterward Hapu pulled them all into the main parlor room to play board and card games. Scrabble, parchesi, and Scattergories were all fun, but then Hapu brought a bag of penny candy and a deck of face cards, and proposed a game of poker. Unsurprisingly, Lillie cleaned house, sweeping almost the entire bag toward her with a grin as she showed a hand of truly terrible cards— bluffing her way to the top. Gladion, who had opted out of the the poker game as soon as he saw Lillie was in, shook his head knowingly as he ran fingers through Null's ruff of feathers.

“She's a shark,” he said wisely. “Always used to win when she played with Wicke and me. We bet with jellybeans.”

Lillie's eyes softened. “We should do that again sometime.”

“I'm not playing poker against you if I don't have to,” snorted Gladion. “I remember she was thinking about putting a casino in, right before I left. Did she get around to it?”

“She never got the ordinances properly filed with the government.”

“My question still stands. Legality's never stopped her before, has it?”

Lillie snickered. “I understand your point, but no, they actually didn't get around to it.”

Hapu listened to the banter, a slight smile on her face; but Moon had the impression that the smile was only present because Lillie and Gladion appeared to be resilient enough to make fun of their situation— otherwise, the actual words they spoke were rather troubling.

The only awkward moment of the evening involved mistletoe, with Hau trying to put some in Gladion's hair and Lillie attempting to get Moon to sit next to him; but Gladion said something quiet to Hau that made his eyes widen before he grinned and put the mistletoe in his own hair, making a beeline for Lillie instead.

“What did you tell him?” Moon asked, once she was sure they were not in any actual danger of mistletoe.

His eyes shifted warily. “I might have said something about how I'd rather kiss you on my own fucking timeline and not have things rushed by a stupid tradition.”

Moon stared at him, wide-eyed. “Wow,” she said solemnly. “I really, really like you.”

That produced a smirk, and as a bonus Hau and Lillie limited their teasing to wiggled eyebrows and suggestive smiles. In comparison to the more pointed teasing that had occurred since that morning, when Hau had woken Moon up by the click of his Dex camera— taking a picture of her and Gladion holding hands in their sleep— Moon decided she could live with this.

* * * * *

On Christmas morning Moon woke to the smell of Oran berry and cinnamon and learned that Oran rolls for Christmas were a Kahonua family tradition; and when Hau ate an entire pan of them by himself, Jordan and Jay solemnly shook his hand and named him an honorary cousin, which by extension made Moon an honorary third cousin. After breakfast, however, came gifts; and a little of Moon's nerves rose as Lillie reached for the present that she'd wrapped up.

“Either offensive or funny, you said?” she clarified, looking back up at Moon.

“Yeah. God, I really hope you think it's funny.”

Lillie unwrapped the book and the half-apologetic chocolate bar she'd provided with it, and stared at the cover for a few moments, eyebrows rising. Hau peered over and let out a choked snort of laughter, clapping one hand over his mouth.

“What is it?” said Gladion, looking from Moon to Lillie with curiosity.

Lillie held the book up. “You're Not Crazy— It's Your Mother,” she read out loud. “Subtitled, Understanding and healing for daughters of narcissistic mothers.”

Gladion looked at the book, then looked at Moon; then he turned and buried his face in Null's ruff, shaking with laughter.

Lillie got to her feet, crossed the room, and perched on the sofa next to Moon to wrap her arms around her. “I'm probably the opposite of offended right now,” she informed her. “The title is kind of funny, but the fact that you thought of me when you saw it means a lot.”

“We're used to being told we're the crazy ones,” added Gladion, still laughing. “Holy fucking shit. Moon Hawkins, everyone.”

“Thank you, I'll be here all day.” That was one less thing to worry about. Hau brightened at the pastry cookbook, and more so at the malasada recipe she'd bookmarked; and when Gladion saw the herblore book he actually smiled— a very tiny, closed-mouthed smile; but it was sincere and sweet and Moon's brain broke a little bit.

From Hau, she'd received a journal, with a bit of a note inside reminding her that her dad suggested that she should start journaling to deal with shitty feelings. It came with a fairly nice pen and Moon promptly wrote Property of Moon Hawkins inside the front cover and set a reminder alarm with Rotom so she would remember to use it. Lillie had bought her a silky scarf with a silly pattern of Nomel berries scattered over black gingham checks; the bright yellow contrasted with the black and she loved Nomel-berry everything so it was a great gift.

And Gladion had gotten her an e-book card like Wicke had done a few weeks ago, except this e-book card was worth twenty-seven thousand Poké, which was frankly ridiculous and she told him so even as she hugged him. A little voice in the back of her head suggested she kiss him on the cheek, but she chickened out at the last second and grinned shakily at him instead.

They had the rest of the day to rest and relax, though Hapu informed them that Christmas lunch-slash-dinner would begin at three; and Moon fully intended to load the card onto Rotom and start buying as many books as possible; but a hand on her wrist stopped her and she looked up at Gladion.

“C-can we talk?” he said, stumbling over the words; his face was as rosy as she knew hers was.

“Um, sure. Where?”

“Uh— Hapu said there was a TV downstairs, and you would know where it was?”

“Oh, yeah. Sure.” Moon set her presents down on her bed and made her way over to the basement door, Gladion trailing behind her with his hands in his pockets.

She was surprised to find that the TV was on, and that there was a big bowl of buttery popcorn sitting on the coffee table along with a small stack of movies. “Is someone using this?”

“We are.” Gladion cleared his throat. “If you want. That's what I'm talking to you about. Uh— sit down? Please?”

Moon, confused, sat down. “What's up?”

He sat down next to her, hands twisting in his lap. “You said, yesterday, about how Christmas is— different. In Kanto. I looked it up a little on my Dex, and I think I understand it better now.”

“Right. I kind of prefer the Alolan way, to be honest— this has been a lot of fun.”

Gladion nodded, but a pinched expression appeared on his mouth. “So— oh, god, this is stupid, I should just—”

She caught at his wrist before he could run away. “No, no no. Nothing you have to say is stupid. Tell me what's on your mind, I'll listen.”

His eyes met hers then, and she smiled encouragingly and nodded.

“Didyoumaybewanttowatchsomemovieswithmetoday.”

It came out way too fast for her to understand. “One more time?”

Gladion took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “I know we're not,” he mumbled, going from simply flushed to Tamato-red. “Not like that. But maybe we can do a thing. Today. Like that. In Kanto.”

It took her a few moments to parse the meaning of his extremely vague explanation, but then it clicked. “Y-you want to spend time with me? Today?”

He nodded, looking down at his lap. “Because that's how they do it in Kanto, and you said you'd never, but now we're sort of but not really, but that doesn't meant we can't, you know.”

“Spend time together.”

Gladion nodded again.

Moon swallowed. “Like— a date.” Because that was what he meant; that was what even just the barest Internet search would have told him about Kantonian Christmas traditions.

His eyes flew up to meet hers, and he was still red and uncomfortable; but he nodded a third time, slow and deliberate.

“Yes, holy shit, yes, where do I sign up.”

Gladion opened his mouth, then closed it, then turned and picked up the stack of movies. “I don't know what you like,” he muttered, depositing the pile in her lap. “We've got like six hours until dinner so we can probably watch two, maybe three. I asked if it would be okay if I used this spot without anybody bothering us and Hapu said it was fine, and Hau and Lillie are under pain of fuckin' death not to tease either of us about it even though they gave me absolute shit when I told them what I was planning—”

Moon absently reached for his hands with one of hers, only half noticing that he fell silent as she rifled through the stack with her other hand. “I mean, I like all of these,” she told him, warmth rising to her chest. “How did you know?”

He shrugged. “Asked Hau 'n' Lillie,” he said, words quiet and slurred together— as though he were reluctant to talk. “Molly 'n' Rogelio, too. Even had Hau ask your parents.”

Moon turned to stare at him, wide-eyed— but then again, it really was the only explanation for the fact that the options included Anne of Green Gibles, which she was sure she'd never mentioned to any of her friends and which she wouldn't have chosen to subject Gladion to on a... movie date. Because that was what this was.

She was on a movie date. With Gladion. Holy shit.

“Are there any you're really interested in?” she asked him. “They're all movies I already like, so if there's one you haven't seen we could watch that.”

He shook his head. “I don't care. You pick.”

Moon shrugged and withdrew The Scarlet Flabébé from the pile, handing it to Gladion; he got up and went to find the DVD player. There were several blankets stacked to one side of the couch. She picked up the first one and unfolded it.

“I didn't look at any of the summaries,” he said hesitantly. “Why this one?”

“It's got a little of everything. Action, drama, history, and romance. Plus the costumes are gorgeous.”

Gladion returned to the seat next to her and reached over to grab the blanket, pulling it over both of their laps and reclining the seats; then he deposited the bowl of popcorn on Moon's lap and picked up the remote to start the movie.

“Subtitles?”

“I don't need them, but you can put them on if you want.”

He nodded and, after a few seconds of hesitation, put on the subtitles. Moon ate some popcorn— it was still warm, which meant he really hadn't prepared it that long ago.

The movie began, and Moon was aware that Gladion was tense next to her, clearly not sure what he should be doing; but she ignored his tension and got into the movie.

“Wow, that's dark,” he commented, as the on-screen guillotine flashed downward and the crowd cheered. “I know it's Kalosian history, or based around it, but still.”

“Truth is often much creepier than fiction,” said Moon sagely.

“I'll say.”

The popcorn was finished by the time Percy and Marguerite got married, and Moon set the bowl on the coffee table before wiping her buttery fingers on her pajama shorts.

They were both paying attention to the movie, mostly. Moon loved The Scarlet Flabébé but she'd seen it at least ten times already so she knew what was happening. So while Percy and Marguerite were dancing around each other and avoiding Chauvelin, she was very aware of Gladion where his knee, shoulder, and elbow brushed against hers— it was all of the contact they had and Moon wondered if he was trying to work up the courage to move a little closer.

She could help with that a little, at least. Marguerite stood in the center of a darkened ballroom, trying to warn the Scarlet Flabébé himself that Chauvelin was onto him— not knowing that the mysterious hero was in fact her own husband, Percy. It took courage for Marguerite to approach, especially when she knew that the Scarlet Flabébé believed she'd signed the death-warrant for a family of Kalosian nobles. So Moon summoned a little courage of her own, and slipped her hand into Gladion's.

Beside her, he let out a shaky breath, his hand tightening around hers for several long moments— long enough to tell her that he really was incredibly nervous about whatever it was he had planned. Moon doubted there would be any kissing, given how jumpy Gladion was; but she didn't think they would just be holding hands for the remaining four and a half hours until dinner, either.

Onscreen, the Scarlet Flabébé— aka Percy— and his friends freed the young Kalosian prince from where he'd been imprisoned; and offscreen, Gladion abruptly pulled his hand out of Moon's and put his arm over her shoulders.

“Is this okay?”

His voice was so quiet she almost didn't hear it; but Moon nodded and promptly scooted closer, eliminating the remaining space between their bodies, and tilted her head to rest on Gladion's collarbone.

He went incredibly still— Moon was sure he was holding his breath— but after a few long moments he sighed, curling slightly into her as she was curled into him.

“'S nice,” she told him, because he deserved to know. “Thank you.”

“Mm-hm.”

The story played out. Chauvelin was fooled, and the Kalosian prince was safe; and Percy and Marguerite were on a boat back to Galar, free and happy and all the more in love for having survived together.

“It's a good movie,” he said, as Moon got up to take the DVD out and put it back in its case. “I think I might have seen it when I was a lot younger, but I probably didn't understand it at all. Percy's kind of an ass, though.”

“Oh, absolutely. And Marguerite is super naive. But they figure it out, in the end.”

“Do you want to watch another one?”

Moon glanced back and smiled at him. “Absolutely. Do you want to pick, this time?”

He shrugged but leaned forward to look at the stack of DVDs again. Moon was expecting him to pick A Monster Calls or Labyrinth, but then he set them aside, got to his feet, and opened one of the cabinets in the TV stand to reveal a huge library of movies.

“None of those calling your name?” she joked, picking up the stack. “We can put these away.”

He nodded and began sliding cases back into the shelves, eyes roving until they suddenly weren't, and he withdrew Hook with an oddly soft expression on his face.

“Good choice,” said Moon encouragingly.

“It was my dad's favorite movie.” A few moments passed, as he turned the case over in his fingers a few times. “I might cry if we watch it though, so maybe not today.”

He put it back, but paused again and pulled out a different case. Moon wasn't sure whether to be surprised or not, but Gladion put The Princess Bride into the DVD player and went back to the couch, sitting down before looking at Moon with wary expectation.

She joined him, and the movie began.

“You know, Westley is a rebel with a heart of gold who wears all black and has blond hair.”

Gladion snorted. “I don't think I can accurately be described as a rebel with a heart of gold, Moon.”

“Something, something, eye of the beholder.”

That earned her another laugh, as well as his left hand reaching across to tangle with hers.

Moon had also seen The Princess Bride many times, and while it was a movie she enjoyed, she found herself growing heavy-eyed. She was warm in the insulated basement, with a blanket and Gladion wrapped around her; she was full of popcorn, content, and relaxed. Somewhere between the Cliffs of Insanity and the Fire Swamp, she let herself drift away.

When she did wake, the room was still dimly lit by the DVD menu, softly playing the main theme of the soundtrack. The movie had clearly ended and cycled back to the main menu, and she was ridiculously, stupidly comfortable.

“Did you wake up, sunshine?”

Gladion's voice was gravelly and half-asleep himself.

“Only a little,” mumbled Moon. “I missed like, eighty percent of the movie.”

“ 'S okay. Not a problem. We've got another hour until dinner. Go back to sleep.”

Moon considered her current position— on her side but half on top of Gladion, one arm curved under the small of his back and the other flopped over his stomach, head resting on his chest. “Mmkay,” she agreed, closing her eyes again, already half-gone. “Let's sleep.”

When she woke again, he was playing with her hair, and the light in the room had been turned on— but he hadn't moved, because she would have woken up, which meant that somebody else had turned on the lights.

“Time for dinner,” said Gladion.

Moon blinked a few times, looking up at him; he was looking down at her, eyes soft and heavy with sleep.

“Do we have to?” she said wistfully.

He let out an unsmiling puff of laughter. “Yeah. It's been five hours since we ran out of popcorn and we need to eat food.”

“Now that you mention it, I guess I am kind of hungry.”

“Attagirl.”

Neither of them moved for a few moments, but then Hapu's voice floated over from behind the couch, “I begin to comprehend what you meant by painfully cute.”

“Right?” said Hau and Lillie in unison.

Moon shifted, turning to glare at the three of them where they stood grinning by the door that led back upstairs to the main floor. “Thank you for letting us hog your basement all day. Can we have like, five minutes to wake up properly?”

“Of course.” Hapu's grin softened from mischievous into gentle, and she waved Hau and Lillie back upstairs before following them out.

Moon made to sit up, but Gladion's arms tightened around her. “Just a little longer,” he said softly. “After this, we have to think about other things.”

At first she didn't understand, but then everything rolled slowly back over her: Lusamine and Guzma, Ultra Space, Nebby, Necrozma. Phyco and Soliera had been summoned, and would accompany them back to the canyon tomorrow morning.

“I forgot,” she said, hearing the wonder in her own voice. “It was so light, and now I feel heavy again.”

At this Gladion sat up, pulling her with him. “I did, too,” he mumbled. “I wish I didn't have to remember.”

Moon studied him— studied sleep-flushed cheeks, long neck, the scattering of freckles around the collar of his T-shirt. “It's okay,” she said, trying to sound firmer than she felt. “Someday we'll be allowed to forget. And until then, we have each other, and we have Hau and Lillie. And Wicke. And Molly and Rogelio and Cassie and sometimes even Plumeria.”

He looked back at her, and said nothing for a long moment— just looked, and looked, and looked. Moon wasn't one to waste an opportunity, so she looked back.

“You are,” he said slowly, “the brightest star in my sky.”

His gaze drifted down to her neck, and Moon had her hoodie on but she knew he was looking at the faux-leather cord she always wore, with the sun charm that he'd given her on it.

It was so much; everything they were expected by others to do and become and change; but also everything they were, everything they wanted, everything they watched. Hands clasped in the darkness of a cave or an adobe-lined basement; holding each other in sleep or in fear or in grief. Nihilego, Horatio, Po Town. Aether Paradise, and the endless exhaustion of the canyon.

The sun was a star. If she was the brightest star in Gladion's sky, then she was his sun; and that was an honorable position but also a difficult one.

“Maybe,” she said, turning her own gaze down to somewhere in the general area of his shoulders, “maybe you're the cloud that keeps me from burning everything else up.”

They didn't speak for the rest of the evening. Moon was still tired from the nap, and everyone seemed to understand that she wasn't quite herself; and Gladion was always taciturn, so nobody suspected anything out of the ordinary. But something had shaken between them. There had been no words exchanged, no formal agreement; but they knew they were something, and she smiled at him in the hall after she finished brushing her teeth, before he brushed his. Rain or shine, sun or shade— they were something.

Chapter Text

Day Fourteen

“I don't know what they need us for,” said Lillie sullenly, watching Phyco and Soliera investigate the tall grass. “They seem to be doing just fine by themselves.”

“We're the emergency measure.”

“I know that.”

Hau and Gladion were with Phyco and Soliera, keeping other wild Pokémon away; Lillie had Nebby cradled in her hands where she and Moon sat at the side of the road— the bait, because any wild Cosmog would have to go through the aliens to get to Nebby. Lillie had been irritable the entire morning, despite not even speaking to them except for a perfunctory greeting and the occasional terse “yes” or “no.” With only the briefest non-verbal conversation, Moon and Hau had agreed to keep their companions away from Lillie. Moon had kept Phyco and Soliera occupied in conversation, drawing on Gladion for assistance— though the topic of Null was tacitly avoided, after a few awkward questions.

“It's hard,” said Lillie quietly, drawing Moon out of her train of thought, “to look at someone who I've seen torturing a Pokémon and— and pretend like it doesn't bother me.”

“Who says you have to pretend?”

“If I didn't pretend, I wouldn't be nearly this nice.” A ghost of a smile flickered around her mouth— an expression Moon had seen often on Gladion, but never on Lillie. “And I know I'm not being nice.”

“Well, I'm glad you're self-aware at least,” Moon joked, trying to bring her friend's spirits up. It produced a more natural smile at least, and they fell into a more comfortable silence this time.

But eventually Lillie cleared her throat. “This was in April,” she said, staring out across the field— eyes unfocused. “It was the thirteenth— Gladion's birthday, in case you were wondering.”

“I knew that, but thank you.”

She'd never seen Lillie do the unsmiling-puff-of-laughter before; it was another oh wow they are very much siblings moment. “April thirteenth,” she continued, after a few moments. “Mother was already in a towering temper— she always was, on his birthday. His and Dad's. I sort of— well, I usually tried to make myself smaller, on days I knew she would be upset. I wouldn't stop eating entirely, and I would eat a reasonable amount of food; but I would eat less in her presence, and I would stay very quiet and not make eye contact.

“The thing about Mother that— that Gladion doesn't understand, I don't think, because he didn't get to experience it— was that when she wasn't upset she was lovely.” Moon blinked, surprised; but Lillie's smile was melancholy. “I'm probably romanticizing the experience, because I think a part of me yet doesn't want to admit that she was just awful the entire time and being nice was part of that. But sometimes, when she wasn't in a bad mood and when I was behaving according to her very ridiculous rules, she was so fun and sweet to be around. She used to brush my hair every night before bed, and we used to play checkers together. She tried to teach me chess, but I wasn't any good at it. That was always Gladion's game, with her.”

“She taught him chess?”

Lillie laughed. “She taught him the basics, but then when he wanted to play all the time she sent him to Wicke instead,” she said, eyes dancing. “At first this was when Dad was around, and Wicke wasn't nearly as busy as she was after he disappeared. But Mother was always busy.” She cleared her throat. “Anyway, it was Gladion's birthday, Mother was in a bad mood, and I was making myself small, hoping she wouldn't take it out on me. I had schoolwork with Wicke in the morning and with Faba in the afternoon, like usual. I ate breakfast, I went to the schoolroom and did history and literature lessons, I ate lunch— by myself, because Mother usually took lunch in her office or her laboratory— and then I went down to Research and Development for my Pokébiology lesson.

“That was the first time I saw Nebby.”

Lillie's voice had gone quiet. Moon waited— she could tell by now that Lillie wasn't finished, that she had more to say.

“I was made to suit up in the white hazmat gear, with breathing apparatus and everything,” she said, after some time. “You've seen what it looks like; Gladion says you fought some of the scientists with the gold-plated helmets. I was in one of those, and I went with Faba and two assistants into the last room in the hallway, and everything looked foggy because of the paralytic gas; but all I saw was Nebby. She was— she was on the counter, and the only part of her that moved was the stardust cloud, which was obviously unaffected by the paralytic. Her head and face were frozen, but I could see fear in her eyes.

“I didn't understand until he—” Lillie broke off abruptly, folding her lips tightly closed.

“Until he what?” prompted Moon gently.

“S-scalpel,” said Lillie. She looked down at Nebby, sleeping in her hands. “Forceps. Needles. I had to watch. I had to take notes. And then they come waltzing in—" Lillie's hand flicked over toward Phyco and Soliera. "—and ask how experimentation is going and what the data feed was looking like, and he makes some comment about how increasing stress levels would probably increase output and she just nods, just nods like they aren't casually talking about torture!”

She fell silent, breathing hard. Moon reached over, rubbing Lillie's shoulder and back in commiseration.

“I talked to Mother first. I went out into the hallway for a break and took off my helmet and called her on my phone, because I stupidly believed that she hadn't signed off on this and Faba was going rogue or something. She hung up on me, and that happened pretty often when she was busy so I didn't think anything of it, but after I'd already gone back into the lab the door bursts open and there she is in her own hazmat suit. She orders Nebby put away and the gas cleared, and at first I'm thinking she's listening to me and she's going to rescue this poor baby. But then she takes off her helmet, and takes off my helmet, and she just.” Lillie's voice broke, brittle and bitter. “She just started screaming at me. How dare I question my teacher, how dare I disrespect the scientific process, how dare I be so ungrateful and disgusting and malicious. And Faba is just listening, and grinning because he's sadistic, and Phyco and Soliera are listening, and Phyco seems mildly annoyed but Soliera looks like she feels sorry for me and that's worse, and the other scientists are just quiet and I never know what they're thinking. I felt about an inch tall, and I ended up apologizing for disrupting everyone's afternoons.

“But then it happened again the next day, with less gas because they wanted to see if her struggling affected energy output; but this time she was screaming and crying as they cut into her. I tried to take notes, like Faba wanted me to; but my hands were shaking so badly that everything was illegible and I was yelled at for messing up the data. And it happened the next day, and I forgot to turn off the helmet intercom before I started crying, and Faba made fun of me for crying and reported it to Mother so she yelled at me later. And it happened the next day, and that was the first day that Dr. Colress was in the labs and they tested some of his machines; and it happened the next day, and the next day, and this went on for nearly a month before I remembered the actual reason why Gladion left, and not the reasons that Mother liked to make up. So I went to Wicke for help; the rest is history.”

“Holy shit, Lillie.”

Moon gathered Lillie into a hug. For a few moments her friend was still and quiet.

“You're the last one to know,” she said softly. “Sorry about that. I told Gladion when I first met up with him on Akala Island. And I told Hau after Gladion and Tapu Bulu brought you out of the desert, while you were still unconscious. It's been pressing on me for a while that I should tell you, but I could never find a good time or place to bring it up.”

“Thank you for telling me. It's got to be hard to talk about.”

“It doesn't get any easier,” whispered Lillie. “No matter how often I say it, it doesn't get easier. I witnessed torture, and I saw my mother become the monster in a way she'd never been for me, but that Gladion must have been quite familiar with. And I didn't just witness the torture, either. I participated in it. I have to live with that.”

“Bullshit,” said Moon indignantly. “You didn't have a choice in the matter. Participation implies choice.”

“I could have chosen not to—”

“But then you would have been punished. Nobody blames you for prioritizing your own safety.”

Lillie's shoulders slumped. “Gladion and Hau both said the same thing,” she said softly. “But I still can't quite believe it.”

“Moem.”

Moon and Lillie both stared at Nebby, wide-eyed; the Cosmoem was silent once more, but then tears trickled down Lillie's cheeks.

Phyco and Soliera both turned around, holding their scanners and staring at them; Moon shook her head, warning them not to approach.

“Nebby,” whispered Lillie, cradling her close. “Nebby, I'm so sorry.”

Nebby didn't say anything— probably the effort it had taken for her to say It's okay, I forgive you had been a lot, given her weakened state. But she could clearly hear what was going on around them, and she could clearly understand complex emotions like guilt and forgiveness. When they fixed whatever was wrong with Nebby, Moon wondered if they would find that the little Pokémon was far more intelligent than she'd ever let on.

Day Fifteen

“I think we'd better stop here for the day,” said Moon, turning to look at the rest of them.

Phyco and Soliera both let out relieved sighs, taking off their own backpacks and immediately sitting down. Hau took off his backpack but began unbuckling the tent, as usual; Lillie went to help him. Moon peeled off her own backpack, stretching her arms straight up and trying to work out the stiffness.

Arms went around her waist; a chin rested on her shoulder. “How close are we to Dragon's Pass?” Gladion said in her ear.

“It's like, a mile away. But we weren't going to have time to get to the Altar of the Moone before dark and I didn't want to camp inside the pass. Powerful Dragon-type Pokémon sound cool in theory, but they could probably wreck all our shit in an instant.”

“Makes sense.”

For a couple of moments she just enjoyed the hug— Gladion rarely initiated without a lot of stuttering or awkwardness beforehand, and this was cozy. The sun was setting and it was beginning to get cold, but he was warm.

“You say we will reach Dragon's Pass tomorrow?” inquired Soliera.

“Yeah. I'm not sure how long it will take to get through, but after that we're basically at the Altar of the Moone, right?”

“Correct,” said Phyco, nodding once. “We have not been inside Dragon's Pass, but the Altar is familiar to us.”

Moon frowned. “What about when you first came here? Like, the very first time? Wouldn't you have had to go through Dragon's Pass?”

“No,” said Soliera, but there was a smile in her voice. “We first came by Ultra Wormhole to the Lake of the Sunne. We call upon our world's Solgaleo, you may recall; and he is naturally drawn there. Once we were in contact with Aether and given Ride Pagers to use, we thought it would be advisable to go to and from Ultra Megalopolis from the Altar of the Moone— the Blinding One would not smell the presence of Solgaleo as strongly there as it might at the Lake. And though we are not Pokémon Trainers and have not undergone the island challenge, Ms. Wicke ensured that our Ride Pagers were unlocked to allow us to travel freely in the region."

Hau and Lillie finished setting up the tent, pounding stakes into the ground with a mallet; Gladion let go of Moon and she pulled out the current sack of Pokébeans while he picked up the handaxe he carried in his backpack and walked off in the direction of a scrubby-looking, wizened tree that didn't appear to be home to any Pokémon.

“I suppose we should set up our tent as well,” said Phyco absently, turning to unbuckle it from his backpack. “I do not think I am in very good physical shape for all of this walking.”

“It was your choice to select science Masteries,” replied Soliera. “I am doing just fine.”

They were still setting up their tent when Gladion returned with a few pieces of firewood. Hau and Lillie were already marking the fire pit with stones, and it was easy enough to find dry grass and sticks for kindling. Pokébeans were distributed to all of the Pokémon who wanted them, including Soliera's Poipole; the hunters went off to find their own suppers and Ollie obligingly lit the fire.

“Whatever happened to that Furfrou you guys had?” Moon asked Soliera.

“She was not truly happy with us,” said Soliera, with a shrug. “I am not used to caring for Pokémon the way everyone does here on Terra. Poipole is used to the Ultra Megalopolan way, as it was raised there; but the Furfrou was more demanding. We found a good home for her through the Aether Foundation's adoption services.”

“Fair enough.” Moon eyed the Poipole, which alternated between eating beans and flipping itself over in mid-air, giggling wheezily as it went. “So, if I really am getting a Poipole, what's the difference between the Ultra Mega-thingy way of caring for it and our way of caring for it?”

“To begin with, there is no if about it. Dulse has one picked out for you already,” said Phyco serenely. “He asked the nest-mothers to pick one of their children they thought would thrive under Terran training standards.”

Moon blinked at him. “I have so many questions already. What's a nest-mother, and how would it know what training standards are like here?”

“Poipole and Naganadel live in nests,” explained Soliera. “They are native to Ultra Megalopolis. They used to live in the Ultra Sea like Nihilego, but the Nihilego are predatory and chased them out. Naganadel are also predators, but they have babies to think about. Nihilego reproduce by duplication, under very exact circumstances.”

“So a nest-mother is a Naganadel.”

“Indeed, though not every Naganadel is a nest-mother. Neither Poipole nor Naganadel have gender, so all Naganadel are called mother and all Poipole are called children or babies. Not every Poipole wishes to become a nest-mother on evolution, and that was one of the criteria taken into account for the selection of your Poipole. You have enough to do without a Pokémon that can reproduce at astonishing rates.”

“How fast are we talking?”

“Nest-mothers go through a breeding every cycle— six weeks or so, by Terran time.”

Moon blinked. “And how many Poipole come out of a, um, breeding?”

“One, occasionally two— much like human births, I believe. And the life cycle of a nest-mother is much shorter than that of a Naganadel that does not choose to reproduce, so the species remains— mm, not endangered exactly, but threatened.”

It was a lot to take in. “Okay, so what was that thing about training standards? Like, how would a nest-mother know what it's like?”

Phyco and Soliera exchanged glances. “Well,” said Phyco slowly, “Poipole and Naganadel share some... biological similarities, with Nihilego. They are from the same place, and they share what you call a typing, here.”

“Nihilego are Poison-types, and so are Poipole and Naganadel?” guessed Moon.

“Yes, though Nihilego and Naganadel both have a secondary typing— I cannot recall either one at the moment. At any rate, one biological similarity they have in common is affecting the mental state of their prey. Nihilego do so by contact, but Naganadel have a limited psychic capacity which allows them to paralyze prey without touching it.”

Moon swallowed. “Uh.”

“Naganadel are far more intelligent than Nihilego, and only attack humans when they feel threatened,” said Soliera, a knowing look in her eyes. “You need not fear them; they are quite gentle. At any rate, Nihilego affects the emotional and mental processes, but Naganadel can access memories and, um— there is a Terran word for it, I know there is—”

“Drive,” suggested Phyco. “Influence. Motive.”

“Yes, motive. That is what I was looking for. Naganadel can access memories and motives, which is how it selects who it might allow to help care for their babies. Any with impure motives will be rejected outright.”

“So when you say you asked it about Earth training methods...”

“We visited Ultra Megalopolis about six weeks ago. We try to visit once a cycle, to compile reports with the other members of our team— and allowed the nest-mother in question to access our memories of Terran Trainers.” Phyco smiled softly. “We did not have this in mind at the time, but since Soliera made the offer we spoke with Zossie and Dulse through our communicators and conveyed the news to the nest-mother, asking if she would select a Poipole that fit several criteria— one that would likely enjoy battling, one that had no desire to become a nest-mother, one that wished to travel, and one that got along well with its siblings.”

“We thought you had quite enough difficult personalities among your chosen companions to be getting on with,” said Soliera, looking pointedly at Puck and Ben.

“You're not wrong,” muttered Moon, but she was oddly touched by their thought for her. “Thank you.”

Phyco and Soliera had their own food— or, as Soliera reminded Moon with a smirk on her face, they had a nutrient solution pumped into their bloodstreams with a needle in the upper arm. Lillie had picked up a packet of imi-hot dogs and a bag of buns when they had gone Christmas shopping, which needed to be eaten before they went bad; so they roasted the hot dogs over the fire with sharpened sticks, shaved to a fine point by Gladion's pocket-knife. Phyco tried a hot dog and promptly made a face, offering it to Soliera; she shook her head.

“I know better than to eat alien food,” she said smugly.

“I was curious.”

“So was I, but that is why I let you eat it. You are the scientist, so it is your job to perform experiments.”

Moon laughed at the indignant expression on Phyco's face, but he didn't seem to mind the teasing. Lillie stayed quiet, sitting with Hau and listening to the conversation with a disapproving expression on her face.

“How old are the two you?”

“That's kind of a rude question,” said Moon, frowning at Gladion.

“I know, but usually here on, uh, Terra, you can tell someone's age by looking at them. I can't really tell with either of you.”

“We are not offended,” Phyco assured Moon. “I am three hundred and fifty-five cycles old, soon to be three hundred and fifty-six... that comes out to about forty-one Terran years.”

“And I am two hundred and forty-two cycles, which makes me twenty-eight years old.”

Moon blinked. “I thought you were both older.”

“Who's being rude now,” snorted Gladion, gently elbowing her.

“Lieutenant Zossie was correct, sir,” said Soliera.

“About what, Soliera?”

“The mustache ages you.”

Phyco sighed deeply, as the rest of them laughed— even Lillie produced a very dry, very small smile. “Sometimes I wish Dulse had been on the Terran team instead of you.”

“How old are— Dulse and Zossie, you said?”

“Dulse is a little older than I am— two hundred and sixty cycles, or thirty years. And Lieutenant Zossie is quite young— younger even than Miss Lillie, I believe. She has only one hundred and thirty-eight cycles, which makes her approximately sixteen years old.”

Moon raised one eyebrow. “And she's a lieutenant already?”

“Zossie is what you would call a prodigy,” said Phyco. “She finished primary education early and completed her Masteries about eight and a half cycles ago—”

“Slightly less than a year,” said Lillie, before any of them could do the math. “If you still mean six weeks when you say one cycle.”

“That's correct.”

“And you guys have only been here since what, April?” said Moon.

Lillie shot her a sharp glare, but Soliera nodded tranquilly. “Lieutenant Zossie was hired by the military more or less the second she completed her Masteries.”

“What's a Mastery?”

“Higher education, in which you choose two subjects to specialize in. Lieutenant Zossie's are Communications and Linguistics.”

Moon sort of wanted to learn more about that— a curious idea of intergalactic college classes popped into her head, as well as a literature and photography double major; or maybe literature and Pokébiology, or something to do with battling. But before she could ask, Null barked loudly, leaping off her haunches and glaring out into the darkness with a growl rumbling in her throat.

Gladion got to his feet, expression set, and walked over to stand next to Null. “Who's there?” he called.

No one answered, but Eleanor paused with a bean halfway to her mouth, expression changing from content to rigid concentration as she turned to stare at the tent.

Moon heard a distinct tearing noise. “Hey!” she shouted, stomping back around to the back of the tent and expecting to find a wild Pokémon. “Get out, shoo—”

Suddenly every muscle in her body locked at once, screaming with pain; there was something vaguely sharp and alien in her leg but she almost didn't feel it. She couldn't see, she couldn't hear, she couldn't breathe. Everything was sharp, cramping ache and bone-deep regret—

“Ha, bitch! Got you,” crowed an annoyingly familiar voice.

“Moon!” screamed Lillie.

“Hgggggh,” said Moon, gasping for air.

“I'm going to fucking kill you.”

That was Gladion, striding closer; but another voice, even worse, said calmly, “I wouldn't come any closer, unless you also want to be drooling in the dirt.”

It's not like I can control the goddamn drool, thought Moon, annoyed.

“What do you want?” demanded Hau.

“It's not about what we want,” said the second voice again. “There's someone who really, really wants to meet this bitch. It's our job to bring her in. Jack, would you do the honors?”

Something lifted her around the middle; Moon couldn't move to protest, though she could feel the shocks running through her in the form of shuddering, involuntary twitches.

A noise like a gun being cocked sounded.

“I would put her down immediately,” said Soliera's voice, light and pleasant.

“Oh, it's the alien freaks,” sneered the first voice. “I've seen you before.”

“Unfortunately, so have I.”

“She's got a gun,” said a third voice, hesitant; this was the person carrying Moon. Jack, probably.

“It's probably not even a real gu—”

A noise that resembled a video game gun more than a real one sounded, and Moon caught sight of a blue bolt of light that crashed spectacularly into the canyon wall, making a chunk of rock explode and rain down to the canyon floor. By the light of the explosion, Moon saw Emmett, holding a small black gun and Kohaku, carrying a long knife; Soliera had what looked like a laser blaster.

“You were saying?”

“Come on, let's go,” said the second voice.

“You'll put her down first,” said Soliera, still pleasant. “Or the next thing I shoot will be someone's foot.”

There was another click, as well as a sparking noise that made Moon's muscles clench again; but it fizzled out promptly.

“Oh, what a shame,” said Soliera mockingly. “It looks like my alien clothes resist the electrical currents from your silly little prong gun.”

There was a brief scuffling sound; the light from the explosion had faded so Moon couldn't see what was going on; but suddenly Jack jerked to one side and Moon fell, landing heavily on her side and groaning in pain.

Suddenly she was picked up again, but this was Hau and he carried her back around the tent, quickly setting her down by the fire. Heavy footsteps striding forward told her that Hero was approaching; she could see Macbeth at the edges of her vision, holding Ben in both arms. Ariel squawked, voice frightened; and Puck's quiet hoo nearly broke her heart.

“S-s-sorry,” she gasped, forcing the word out through a locked jaw. “D-d-d-don' wan-n-n-na—”

“Do you ever shut up,” said Gladion, but his voice was soft and affectionate. “Stop trying to talk.”

“K-k-k—”

“Soliera's chasing them off.”

“The shocks should begin to fade in another minute or so,” said Phyco. “But she is probably in immense pain— electrical charges make the muscles seize up. She may be sore for several days.” He sounded frustrated. “The timing is very poor, but it cannot be helped.”

“Because all you care about is the timing,” said Lillie tartly.

“I do care about the timing,” said Phyco. His voice was soft. “But please do not think that I am not concerned for Miss Moon as well. Soliera has something of a soft spot for her, as she does for you— both of you remind her of Lieutenant Zossie, whom she has come to regard as a younger sister.”

“And you have a soft spot for Soliera,” said Hau.

There was a pause. “Yes.”

Slowly— painfully, achingly slowly— the ripples of shock began to lessen, until Moon was relaxed enough to let her mouth fall open.

“Sorry,” she mumbled. “Shouldn't have rushed in.”

Arms gathered her up into a hug— Hau, warm and steady. “It's not your fault, Moon-asada. How were you supposed to know some idiot trusted Emmett with a taser gun?”

“We're just glad you're safe,” said Lillie earnestly, grabbing her hand. Moon squeezed, grimacing when the action sent pain rippling up her arm.

“I'm going to sew up the tent,” said Gladion, his tone clipped. “So she can go to sleep as soon as possible. That will help, won't it?”

“Sleep and a lot of ibuprofen, probably. Like, at least twice the recommended dosage.”

“That will not be necessary. I am not trained in application, but we have medtech, from Ultra Megalopolis. Soliera will administer first aid once she returns. Moon will wake up tomorrow morning with no pain at all.”

Silence fell over the group; Moon closed her eyes, listening to the crackle of the fire.

“What happens to Nebby when we summon Lunala?”

Lillie's voice was small.

“Who says anything will happen to her?”

“Nobody. I just— I just have a feeling. She'll get another bit of color in her aura, but that hasn't got anything to do with the Flutes, does it?”

There was a long silence. Phyco took a breath— an unsteady one. Moon wanted to look at him, wondering if he was okay; but everything hurt too much for it to be feasible.

“Will you indulge me by answering a few questions?” he said finally. “All will be revealed at the Altar of the Moone, but I wish for you to understand why I have made the choices I did. They were not always good choices. I regret some of them, and I am sincerely sorry that I have been the cause of your suffering. It was never my intention to hurt anyone, least of all you.”

“It wasn't me you hurt,” said Lillie, but her voice was wavering.

“You and I both know that is not true.” Phyco sounded older, and much more tired. “It is largely the fault of the president, but you and your brother have both grown used to the fact that all of the adult figures in your life have failed you, in some way or another. When Soliera and I observed and participated in the unethical experiments performed on your friend, we failed you again, as adults, by refusing to speak up. We failed you by ignoring your pain. Inaction can hurt as much as action.” He sighed. “And yet— without the things you have experienced, do you think you would be the same person you are now? Would you be so compassionate of those who suffer if you yourself had not also suffered? Would you have such a strong will if you had not been made to suppress it for so many years?”

“I don't think everything happens for a reason, if that's what you mean.” Lillie spoke softly, and her hand smoothed over Moon's. “Sometimes people are awful, and they do mean things to you. There's no reason for that.”

“I do not think so, either. But I do think that— well, I do think there is a pattern. If someone is forced to suffer, they are in turn forced to grow. Growth happens, perhaps naturally, as a result of suffering. Does it follow that suffering makes you a better person? Of course not. Growth is not always a good thing— consider a tumor, or a cyst. Unhealthy coping mechanisms are one such example of bad growth. But suffering does make you different.”

“What does this have to do with Nebby?”

“The evolution process from Cosmog to Cosmoem involves, as we termed it at Aether, stress.” Phyco's mouth sounded pinched. “Generally, a Cosmog does not naturally experience stress. On the whole they tend to be happy, cheerful little creatures, as your companion was. But no matter how long it takes, a Cosmog will eventually evolve. They are long-lived creatures; it could take five, ten years to feel enough stress to evolve. Stress includes pain, of course; but it also includes emotional disruptions such as fear. Cosmoem, on the other hand—” He stopped for a few moments. “They take the stress and turn it to energy, focused inward. It is why it weighs so much, though you cannot feel it because it maintains a psychic shield. Eventually, all of that energy must go somewhere; and it will aid you in summoning Lunala at the Altar of the Moone.”

Moon would have liked to ask a question, but then Soliera's bootsteps rumbled back into camp.

“They're gone,” she announced, satisfied. “They won't be returning this way anytime soon; I shot a small chasm into the path behind us. We will need to fill it in eventually, or let Hapu know about it.”

“A small chasm, she says,” murmured Hau under his breath; Lillie snorted. “Chasms are kind of supposed to be huge.”

“Could you administer medical aid to Moon? It would ease her pains.”

“I would be delighted,” said Soliera, and it actually sounded like she meant it. “What does she need?”

“Muscle relaxant and a painkiller.”

Something like a zipper sounded, and then Soliera's breath puffed across her face. “Moon, can you hear me?”

“Yep. Everything sucks and I hate it.”

Soliera laughed softly. “You'll be just fine in a minute. Open your mouth, please.”

Moon obediently opened her mouth; something like a paper strip pressed onto her tongue— like mouthwash strips, but this one tasted like vanilla and grass instead of mint.

“I know it is an odd flavor, but you must let it dissolve on your tongue. It is a strong muscle relaxant, so you might feel a bit, ah, floppy.”

It was already working; her neck loosened first, and then her shoulders; the looseness was spreading down her body and with it came the grateful release of the pain she was carrying. It felt good, but it also hurt; and she exhaled sharply on a sob.

“Oh my god, ow— oh my god.”

“Moon, what's wrong?” said Lillie frantically.

“It just— the change from tight to loose is really oh god painful.”

“The painkiller is in a syringe,” said Soliera. “I'm going to inject it. Don't tense up; you're not capable of it at the moment and all you'll do is hurt yourself.”

Something sharp pricked her lower arm, just above the elbow; and the pain-with-relief was gradually replaced by a glossy contentedness that coated bones, muscles, and mind all together.

“Oh,” she sighed, flopping backward onto the ground. “Much better. I'm gonna sleep now.”

“Maybe you should sleep in the tent,” suggested Hau, a laugh in his voice. “You sound a little bit high.”

“You bet your ass I am.” Moon attempted to sit up. “Actually maybe I should stay right here. No way my body will do the thing right now.”

“What thing?”

“Oh, y'know. The thing. Moving.”

Hau snorted. “I can carry you.”

“That might be nice.”

She wasn't much help with her limbs flopping everywhich way, and she felt oddly drunk— which made sense, if the painkiller and muscle relaxant were making her loopy— but Lillie and Hau between them got her into the tent and on top of her sleeping bag, turning on the lantern to see by.

“Do you want me to help you change?” said Lillie, shooing Hau out of the tent. “Or brush your teeth for you?”

“I want Gladion,” said Moon plainly, because she did. “I wanna cuddle.”

“Oh my god, my heart cannot take this,” said Lillie quietly. “Gladion, did you hear that?”

There was a pause. “I did.”

Moon brightened. “C'mere, c'mere!”

“In a minute. I'm almost finished patching the tent.”

She turned to stare at the rip where Kohaku had torn the tent open; there was a bit of floppy triangle at the top, but it was shrinking rapidly as the needle went in and out of the canvas. In and out, in and out.

“Sit up, I'm going to help you brush your teeth,” said Lillie patiently.

Moon managed to sit up— barely. She drank water when Lillie told her to, and spat in the plastic cup when Lillie told her to, and endured the gentle brushing of her teeth; then she let Lillie comb her hair, and helped her change out of her T-shirt into the tank top she usually wore to sleep. Her hoodie went over everything, and by the time a pink-faced Gladion ducked into the tent, she was ready to sleep.

“You heard the lady,” said Hau, his head in the doorway. “She wants to cuddle.”

Gladion glowered at them. “Both of you get the hell out, and don't come back in until we're both asleep.”

Laughing, Lillie exited the tent and zipped it up after herself.

“Cuddle,” demanded Moon, because she was tired and floppy and wanted to sleep.

“Give me a minute. I want to wear pants that aren't jeans to sleep in. Turn around so I can change.”

She thought about teasing him, but the tone of his voice suggested that he was not in the mood for it so she simply turned around and tried not to listen to the shuffling and whispers of fabric that indicated what he was doing.

“Okay, I'm decent,” he said finally. Moon turned around, blinking up at him.

“Lights off?” she requested.

“If you like. Do you want your teammates with you? They're still outside. I think Hero's going to sit behind the tent all night and keep watch.”

“They can sleep in the ball tonight,” decided Moon. “Except for Hero I guess, if she wants to stand guard.”

“I'll get them for you really quick and then we can go to sleep.”

It took him about thirty seconds, but then Gladion returned with her Trainer belt. She hadn't even noticed when it was taken off.

“They're all in, and Hero's ball is here too,” he told her. Moon took the belt and set it down next to her backpack, kissing each of her teammates to say good night.

Gladion turned the light off, and she heard fumbling footsteps before she felt his hand pat her knee. “Good night, Moon.”

Moon grabbed his hand, scooting over to him. “I wanna cuddle,” she said insistently.

“Oh my god,” said Gladion under his breath. “Fine, you demanding monster.”

“You like it.”

“Yeah, I really fucking do. Good night, sunshine.”

Moon sighed, closing her eyes as she snuggled into Gladion's side, the way they'd done when they were napping together at Hapu's house. “I like when you call me that,” she mumbled, pressing her face into his collarbone. “Should do it more often. G'night.”

She thought she had fallen asleep fairly quickly, but after a long, comfortable silence she heard his voice, low and rough.

“I thought they'd killed you, sunshine,” he whispered against her hair. “You were standing and shouting one second, then the next you dropped like a stone. I was going to destroy them.”

Moon was too tired to respond to that, so she just stayed quiet and listened drowsily to the cadence of his words.

“I feel stupid. Like we're falling too fast. We're just kids, honestly. Should I really be this sure about you?” A hazy breath. “Are you as sure about me, as I am about you?”

Yes, and yes, she wanted to say; but then sleep really did take her. Only the softest, brushing pressure against the crown of her head manifested as the last sense to fade into blackness.

Chapter Text

The muscle relaxant and painkiller did their jobs; Moon woke up without any physical pain leftover from the day prior. Emotional pain was another matter; her eyes were level with Gladion's throat and she was tucked snugly into his side, arms around one another and legs entangled. There was a blanket over them but she could hear Hau and Lillie speaking indistinctly, as well as an occasional comment from Soliera's warm, low voice or Phyco's mild tenor.

Moon craned her head back slightly to peek up at Gladion; he was still asleep. His eyes were closed softly, and his face was marvelously free of tension— eyebrows smooth, mouth slightly open, shoulder rising and falling as he breathed. Somehow, a person this beautiful was interested in her. Moon didn't think she was ugly, but both Lillie and Gladion had this ethereal, delicate beauty that showed itself best when they were truly happy and comfortable. High cheekbones, feathery eyelashes, and angular jawlines. Moon and Hau had told Lillie she could be a model, but the same was true for Gladion.

He shifted, eyebrows creasing slightly, and Moon realized she was being creepy so she quickly closed her eyes and slowed her breathing, pretending not to look as her heart pounded a little bit in her chest.

A grumbling noise, and a sniff— waking-up sounds. Moon resisted the urge to burrow her head into his chest, trying to relax; but then she felt him go rigid, inhaling sharply.

“Oh my god,” he said, almost inaudibly. “Oh my god.”

It was loud enough that she figured it would be okay if she pretended she was just waking up too, so she wrinkled her eyebrows a bit before opening her eyes, turning to look up at him.

He was staring at her, eyes round and mouth still hanging open; a flush spread dark across his face when he realized he'd been caught, and Moon felt heat wash over her own features to match.

“Um—” God, she sounded like scratchy, unattractive shit in the morning. “Hi.”

“Hi,” he said, not breaking eye contact.

For a few moments they didn't say anything; but Moon was surprised to find herself looking away first. “Sorry for, um, last night,” she said, remembering how appallingly demanding she'd been. “I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or anything.”

“I was only uncomfortable when Hau and Lillie were teasing me about it.” Gladion's morning voice, on the other hand, made her want to die a little in a very good way. So did the messy bangs, tumbling down over his eyes. “It was—” He cleared his throat, the flush darkening. “It was cute, don't worry about it.”

Moon kind of wanted to squeal but she bit down on it, instead smiling down at his collarbones where they were peeking out from behind the Skull tank. “Okay,” she murmured, curling into him— ducking her head below his chin. “I won't.”

“We probably need to be getting up and ready, though.” He made no attempt to move away from her. “From the lack of giggles and whispering, Hau and Lillie aren't in the tent.”

“I think the painkiller might have made me sleep in a little. Best sleep I've had in ages.”

“You wanna know something weird?”

It was an unusual question. Moon looked up at him; he was staring beyond the top of her head, looking over at the wall of the tent. “When don't I want to know anything?”

“I'm sure there are occasions. Anyway, I get nightmares. I don't wake up screaming anymore, but I do wake up pretty much every night, at least once.”

“Gladion—”

“No, shush, I'm not done yet.” Almost childishly, he put his hand over her mouth. “My point is, the only nights I haven't had nightmares are nights when I've been— um, touching you. In some way.”

Moon blinked at him, surprised. Gladion's eyes went even rounder, and the flush went darker.

“You have unfair eyelashes,” he muttered, sounding annoyed as he moved his hand away from her mouth. “I didn't have a nightmare last night, and I didn't have a nightmare that one time we went to sleep holding hands.”

“I mean, two occasions aren't necessarily a pattern,” said Moon, her mouth suddenly dry.

Gladion studied her for a moment, but then she saw— mischief, in his eyes; one corner of his mouth lifted into the usual smirk. “You make a very good point. It seems like we'll need to collect more data.”

She was going to spontaneously combust, or explode, or do something ridiculously embarrassing like maybe start crying but she wasn't sure why. It might have had to do with the fact that he was flirting like he'd been born to it and her heart could not keep the hell up.

“U-u-um,” she managed, cringing at the way her voice had gone suddenly high-pitched. “I guess. I guess so? If it's for. Um. You know, science.”

He didn't say anything in response to that, but the smirk widened. “We've got a responsibility to the scientific method.”

“R-right. We have a valid hypothesis, so I suppose the next s-step is experimentation.”

She didn't realize how it sounded until it had left her mouth, hanging in the air between them. The mischief in his eyes was replaced with something... heated.

“Is that so?”

His voice had gone down an octave. Moon swallowed. “Mm-hmm,” she mumbled, not trusting herself to say anything else.

For a few more moments, he studied her with that same expression; but then he sighed softly, pulling back his arm from around her and rolling onto his back.

“Too much?” said Moon, remaining where she was.

“Little bit, yeah.” His voice still sounded rough. “I'm not quite— I'm not trying to be like, a tease or anything, swear to god.”

“You're not a tease. I like— this.” He glanced over, and Moon made a circling motion with her hand, trying to encompass the concept of everything in a gesture. “All of this, between us. Everything.”

The heat faded to mere warmth— but there was something about that that made her even more flustered than before. “Yeah,” he said, gaze steady. “Yeah, me too.”

Hau and Lillie smiled knowingly at them over breakfast, and Soliera seemed fascinated when Gladion's hand closed around Moon's on the trail, glancing back to study them with curiosity in her eyes; but Moon was comfortable and warm and she had never felt like this about anyone in her entire life. It was so much, and it was not enough, and it was lovely; and that was all there was to it.

“Hey,” said Hau slowly, staring uphill at the way the canyon loomed before them. “That looks like a trial gate.”

“Well, this is technically part of the island challenge journey,” pointed out Lillie.

“Yeah, but this is like— this isn't a checkpoint gate. It's a trial gate. As in, these gates only crop up when there is a trial beyond them.”

Moon opened Rotom, flipping through The Traveller's Guide to Alola; but then:

“You knew,” said Gladion, indignant but not terribly angry.

She glanced up to see Phyco and Soliera both wearing slightly guilty expressions.

“We didn't know until just before we left,” admitted Soliera. “Kahuna Hapu told us about it. It was not a deliberate attempt to keep a secret from you; it is a secret carefully guarded by the Poni Island kahuna and their family, for these Totems do not have a captain to protect them. Additionally, not every Trainer who undergoes the island challenge is made to take on the trial of Dragon's Pass. But Kahuna Hapu said that it was likely that Moon and Hau would be challenged by the Totems. They only appear to challenge Trainers in whom they sense great power.”

“But we can't do the trial,” said Lillie, frowning. “Gladion and I, I mean. We aren't on an island challenge.”

“Kahuna Hapu said you would be permitted to pass,” Phyco assured them. “The Totems understand that Dragon's Pass is not only a trial but a road.”

The frown deepened. “Well, if she said it was okay...”

“I'm assuming,” said Moon, staring up at the trial gate, “that a trial located in a place called Dragon's Pass probably has something to do with dragons.”

“And Hapu said that you could find powerful Dragon-types here. I bet this is what she meant,” said Hau, nodding. “Well, I've got Poppy and Sonar, so I think I'll be just fine.”

“I have nothing. Macbeth knows Frost Breath, but that's it.” Moon sighed, annoyed. “Rotom, have I got any TMs that any of my team can learn that would help with Dragon-types?”

There was a pause as Rotom scanned Moon's TM case. “You have Dazzling Gleam, but none of your teammates can learn it, bzzt.”

“...great.” Moon sighed, tucked Rotom into her pocket, and cracked her knuckles. “All righty then, let's do this.”

“Just like that?” Gladion raised one eyebrow.

“I don't have anything that's terribly weak to Dragon-types, either,” explained Moon. “I think we're going to be okay. And if not, then Charizard can probably fly back here as it's a trial gate.”

“Should we split up, or both go through at once?” wondered Hau.

“I think we should all stay together. Phyco and Soliera, too.” At the five surprised expressions she received from this, Moon shrugged. “It will be easier to explain that Hau and I are the challengers and everyone else is just passing through, if we stick together.”

“A valid point.” Phyco nodded. “Shall we proceed?”

They went up the hill and through the trial gate— unmanned, Moon noted, but there was a large crate just behind the gate itself that contained Revives, Hyper Potions, and Max Elixirs. They hadn't had much occasion to train that morning but she took the opportunity to heal up her team, as did Hau, Lillie, and Gladion.

It was probably another twenty yards between the trial gate and the tall, triangular opening in the rock wall before them that indicated Dragon's Pass; but as Moon approached she realized it was not quite a cave. There were places that the rock had formed fully overhead inside the opening, but there were also a lot of holes, with sunlight shining through. Hau's face pinched at the narrowness of the entrance, but he went through willingly enough and the six of them found themselves in a large, airy, and well-lit chamber.

“Oh, it's pretty,” said Lillie softly, looking up at the ceiling.

“There's a sign,” said Gladion, pointing.

A small stone pedestal stood in the center of the path. The words were worn, and the light was just dim enough that she couldn't quite make out the words; but Gladion produced a piece of paper and a pencil, pressing down to make a rubbing.

“Ahead lies a sacred ground of trials,” he read. “Those lacking the courage to defeat the totems guarding this land will be denied entry. But those who believe in their Pokémon and walk beside them shall gain great power.”

Moon smiled, looking down at her belt. “I believe in you, yeah?” she said softly. The five of them vibrated madly in response. “We can do this.”

She looked back up to find Gladion's eyes on her— unsmiling, but with the same warmth from earlier that morning.

They proceeded into the cave— Moon and Hau taking point, as challengers of the trial; Phyco and Soliera followed, and Lillie and Gladion brought up the rear as they were more confident Trainers than the aliens.

“Jang, ja-jang, jang, ja-jang!”

Two small, identical Pokémon scampered out toward them.

“Oh my god cute.”

“Jang jang?” queried one, cocking its head to the side.

“You're looking at a pair of Jangmo-o, bzzt,” Rotom informed her. “They are pure Dragon-types, and they express their feelings by smacking their scales on the ground.”

The one in front of Hau lifted its tail and slammed it into the ground, as though proving the point. A loud, clear chime like a bell rang through the cave.

“Are you our first challenge in the trial, then?” asked Hau.

“Mo, mo-o!”

“Mo jang jang!”

They spread out, to give each other room to battle. Moon studied her opponent for a few moments before sending out Macbeth. First Impression was always a good opening move when one was facing a new opponent. To Moon's surprise, the hit didn't immediately knock the little dragon out; it staggered but hung limply on and retaliated with Dragon Claw.

“Nice one,” she informed the Jangmo-o, who blinked wearily at her; she almost felt bad but it was the obstacle in her way and she needed to defeat it. “Macbeth, use Frost Breath!”

The Jangmo-o fainted. Moon glanced over at Hau to find that he'd finished first, watching her with an amused expression.

“Hey, shut up, I don't have any Fairies or Dragons or Ice-types.”

“I didn't say anything,” said Hau. “And I know we don't really compete in that way anymore, but I've gotta admit that it's going to be kind of satisfying to watch you struggle with a trial because you don't have any obvious advantages.”

Moon nodded, because given their track records that was absolutely fair. “Let's move on.”

Phyco and Soliera both had scanning instruments out, and were murmuring quietly to one another; Lillie looked mildly annoyed by this but not annoyed enough to say anything. And Gladion— he was still looking at her, with the same warm eyes.

Moon blinked, turning resolutely away even though she could almost feel him looking at her. She needed to stay focused, if she wanted to emerge triumphant from Dragon's Pass.

About twenty yards further into the open chamber, two more Pokémon emerged from small off-shoot caves on opposite sides, falling into step as they raced up to the group.

“Clearly you're an evolution,” said Hau, grinning at them.

“Rotom?”

“This is Hakamo-o, bzzt. A Dragon- and Fighting-type Pokémon which sheds and regrows its scales on a regular basis. The scales are harder and sharper each time they're regrown.”

“Haka kamo!” said one of them, mouth stretching into a grin. The scales did indeed look very sharp and very hard.

But a Fighting-type presented a new issue, Moon thought, as she and Hau spread out once more to keep their battles separate. Macbeth's First Impression wouldn't do much against a Fighting-type, with Bug-type resistance; and the decrease in damage was such that a different Pokémon would be able to battle more effectively.

So she sent out Hero, twelve hundred pounds shaking the entire cave as her legs hit the ground; Hau glanced over from where he and Poppy were facing their Hakamo-o and laughed out loud.

Moon grinned. “Hero, use Zen Headbutt!”

The Hakamo-o was faster, getting in a Sky Uppercut before her Metagross could move; but slow didn't mean weak, and Hero shook off the punch before slamming into the dragon with raw force. It was a one-hit knockout. Moon pumped her fist in the air, spraying Hero with a Hyper Potion before rejoining Hau.

“So far, so good,” he said sagely.

“That's like saying Macbeth in a theater, dude,” said Moon, shaking her head. “Uh— not you, Macbeth. I mean Macbeth, the play. You don't call it that in a theater. You call it 'the Galarian play.' It's bad luck to say the name backstage.”

“Don't tell me you're superstitious, Moon.”

“I'm not, but the phrase 'so far, so good' is just asking for the next load of bullshit to come barrelling down the pike. I don't believe in unnecessarily tempting fate.”

“This from the girl who crawled out onto a bridge to save a Pokémon she barely knew, faced down a Nihilego with nothing but a Wimpod, ran into a desert without her teammates, and snuck into a fortified town run by gangsters to rescue more Pokémon she barely knew?”

Moon opened her mouth, realized she had no argument for that, and promptly closed it again. Lillie and Gladion both cracked up, somewhere behind them; and Hau grinned at her, letting her know that he was just teasing.

“Okay, you've got me there.”

They walked across the wide chamber, toward the exit. Moon could see another tall, slender triangle— this one full of light and orangey-gold rock, rather than shade and echoes. Another stone pedestal stood between them and the exit, but this one was recognizable: it was like the one on Ten Carat Hill that contained Flyinium Z.

“Nice,” she said, studying it from a distance. “I assume that we walk up to it and the Totems will challenge us?”

“I'd think so,” agreed Hau. “You ready?”

Moon grinned, offering her fist; he bumped it with his own. “Hell, yeah.”

They approached the pedestal.

A shadow passed over the roof of the cave, briefly flickering over one of the smaller holes in the ceiling; the sunlight that shone in was interrupted. Moon and Hau both looked up, peering around the cave.

A lithe, sinuous form, the color of the sea, darted in through one of the holes and back out to the sunlight. More shadows passed through the rays of sun, dancing around the various holes in the cave roof until two appeared inside the largest hole, blocking where the sunlight entered and rested on the pedestal.

Both of them jumped downward. One stood before Hau, pink eyes locked on him; the other landed in front of Moon, with beady black eyes. It raised its tail and shook it menacingly.

Moon winced, clapping her hands to her ears; the noise was like an Arbok's rattle, but much louder and more metallic. “Okay, dude, I am very intimidated. Good job.”

The other dragon laughed softly. “Dram, dram.”

“Kommo.”

“Rotom, what are we looking at?”

“Hau is facing a Totem Drampa, bzzt. Drampa are pure Dragon-types. They live at high altitudes, but often come down to villages to play with children. And you're up against a Totem Kommo-o— the final evolution of Jangmo-o and Hakamo-o. Kommo-o is a Dragon- and Fighting-type. When it spots enemies, it jingles the scales on its tail to intimidate them.”

“I'm not an enemy,” said Moon indignantly. “Just a challenger, dude.”

The Kommo-o and the Drampa simultaneously drew themselves up, moving away from one another; Moon and Hau followed as the Totem Aura appeared— invisible, but leaving the air throbbing with energy. There were several beeping noises behind her— Phyco and Soliera's scanners, picking up on the aura.

Moon sent out Hero again, because that had worked well with the Hakamo-o; but its elder let out a loud, ringing bellow that sounded like someone had hit a gong. The Drampa, facing down Poppy, also let out a cry— much softer, but no less intimidating.

“Noi-eeeeee!”

“Turto!”

Out of one of the side entrances to the cave, a spiky gold-and red ball tumbled over to the Drampa; and through the large hole in the ceiling a slim but familiar shape rushed down to land by the Kommo-o.

“Oh, hey, a Noivern!” said Hau, pointing at Moon's other opponent. “Just like Sonar.”

“What's yours?”

“That's a Turtonator, bzzt,” supplied Rotom.

“Oh, shit, I'm glad I'm over here.”

Hau, Lillie, and Gladion all laughed at that, but the Totems shifted impatiently and Moon took a deep breath, turning her focus to the battle.

“Hero, use Zen Headbutt on Kommo-o!”

“Meta,” rumbled Hero, preparing itself to attack.

“Kom kommo!”

The Kommo-o was fast, straightening up onto its tippy-toes before falling hard to slam forepaws into the ground. The loose scales on its body rang out, the noise filling the entire cave. Moon clapped her hands to her ears, wincing again; the force of the noise drove Hero back a step.

“That was Clanging Scales, bzzt— Kommo-o's signature move!” reported Rotom.

The Noivern attacked next, before Hero could try again; it delivered an Air Slash that didn't do much, but was forceful enough to be worrisome in combination with Clanging Scales. Hero finally managed to attack, and Zen Headbutt hit hard; but not hard enough to knock out the Kommo-o.

Type resistances could sometimes work both ways, remembered Moon. Macbeth would be able to resist any Fighting-type moves from the Kommo-o, though she would be at risk from the Noivern's Air Slash. But if Moon took out the Noivern first, that could give Macbeth the opening she would need to get a good hit on the Totem. Hero didn't have anything that would specifically target the Noivern so Moon recalled her and sent out Ben instead.

She had to take a turn to set up Rain Dance, which was always risky when Ben was on the fragile side among her teammates; but he was also her smallest and fastest, darting out of the way of both Noivern's Air Slash and what would have been a very nasty Sky Uppercut from the Kommo-o.

“Man, who's feeding you?” she asked it. “You've definitely been eating your vegetables, huh?”

The Totem blinked at her. Moon had the impression that it was not amused by the question.

Ben delivered a hard Thunder, taking out the Noivern; but he wasn't able to dodge Sky Uppercut a second time and fainted in return. Moon recalled him and sent out Macbeth.

First Impression didn't do much, but it was more about getting the hit in before the Kommo-o could at this point. Moon glanced over at Hau, checking his progress; he'd cleared out the Turtonator, which made her breathe a sigh of relief; and was now facing the Drampa and— Moon blinked, surprised— a Lycanroc, of all things.

“Kommo!”

“Sci sci!”

Moon blinked up at the ceiling and raised an eyebrow at the Scizor that zipped down to stand by Kommo-o. “Interesting,” she commented. “I think you being a Steel-type, to conquer Fairies and Ice-types, is more the point than anything. Hau definitely got the better end of the deal here.”

“I definitely did not!” hollered Hau. “Turtonator are scary!”

“Okay, good point.” Moon recalled Macbeth in favor of Hero; a Bulldoze took out the Scizor and further damaged the Kommo-o. Hero was beginning to look a bit tired at this point after taking another powerful Clanging Scales, so Moon recalled it and sent Macbeth back out.

Macbeth delivered another First Impression— which surprised Moon by being strong enough to finish the Kommo-o off entirely. She looked up at Macbeth, who turned around to blink at Moon.

“You're great,” she said affectionately, running her hand over each of the Pokéballs on her belt before reaching up to pat Macbeth's face. A few months ago, she would have cringed to touch the mandibles; but she'd gotten used to Macbeth's Bug-type features at this point. “All of you, you're just— you're great. God, I love this.”

Those who believe in their Pokémon and walk beside them shall gain great power, said a thought in her head which sounded strangely like Hapu.

Hau had finished his battle first, having more advantages with Poppy and Sonar; Moon rejoined him at the pedestal and let him take the first Z-Crystal, waiting until she heard a slight clicking from within, another Z-Crystal sliding up to take its place. Moon took that one, tucking Dragonium Z— a dull, metallic blue stone— into place on her Z-Ring.

“Well, that's that,” she said, turning to grin at him.

Hau grinned back, opening his arms and stepping over to hug her. “You are an unbelievably cool Trainer,” he said, patting her on the back.

“So are you, doofus.”

They turned to see Phyco and Soliera, with unreadable expressions on their faces; and Lillie and Gladion. Lillie was beaming, walking over to them; Gladion followed, as unsmiling as ever. He nodded first at Moon, and then at Hau.

“Sometimes I forget that you're just as good a Trainer as she is,” he said bluntly.

“I'm really not—” began Hau.

Moon cut him off. “Yes, you are.”

“Accept the compliment or you're never getting another one.” Gladion crossed his arms.

“You're both fantastic Trainers,” said Lillie firmly, taking one of his hands in both of hers. Hau blinked down at her, his face somewhere between awe and adoration. “It's a pleasure to watch the two of you battle. You have such different strategies, but both of you get spectacular results every time. I'm very proud of you.”

Hau stared at her for a few moments, but then he leaned down, cupping Lillie's face in his hands.

“And that's our cue to keep walking,” joked Moon, sticking her hands in her pockets and striding toward the cave exit. Gladion, Phyco, and Soliera followed; and after a few seconds so did Hau and Lillie, looking extremely pleased with themselves.

Dragon's Pass opened out onto a small cliff plateau, about thirty feet by thirty feet; at the far end of the plateau, a stone staircase led up... and up... and up, over what appeared to be a massive dried-out lakebed; the staircase ended when it met a high stone outcropping in the center of the lakebed. The stone outcropping was too tall and too far away for Moon to see all of what was up there, but she could vaguely make out a large symbol, carved into the shape of a crescent moon, near the very top.

“I'm going to take a wild guess and say that's the Altar of the Moone.”

“Wow, good guess,” said Gladion dryly. “How long did it take you to come up with that?”

“Like, three seconds. Um, does anyone want to walk over to the edge of the plateau and tell me like, how far it is down to the bottom of the massive void? Because I really, really don't want to look.”

“It is shallower than the majority of the Vast Poni Canyon,” said Phyco placidly, walking toward the staircase. “I could not give you an exact measurement.”

“I don't think I'm actually strong enough to piggyback you all the way up the stairs.” Gladion frowned. “Would you be okay with just keeping your eyes closed?”

“Um— yeah, probably. The staircase is pretty wide, and all.”

“It's also very long,” observed Hau. “Looks like it could be close to a mile.”

“The staircase is a little over a mile long,” confirmed Soliera. “Shall we begin the ascent?”

Moon took a deep breath and closed her eyes, holding out one hand. She expected Gladion to take it, but then she felt his arm slip between her back and her backpack.

“Here, you put your arm here, behind me— there you go. Ready to go?”

“Y-yeah, I think so.”

She could hear the wind, a light breeze flowing around them; and she could hear faint echoes of Hau's and Lillie's voices ahead of them, as well as even fainter ones of Phyco and Soliera.

“How far ahead are the others?” she asked, forcing the words out of her mouth. One step at a time. The stone staircase was perfectly solid, even if some bits had crumbled off the sides. Gladion was holding on to her. Everything would be fine.

Really.

“We're going pretty slowly, but I think that's for the best given that your eyes are closed.”

“Right.” Moon took a deep breath.

“Do you need a break?”

“I would like to not be on this bridge more than I would like to take a break, but thank you for offering.”

He laughed softly.

“You know,” said Moon, because she wanted to get her mind off the horrifying drop and because it occurred to her in that exact moment, “I've never actually seen you smile.”

“I've smiled at you before.”

“You've done like, the smirking thing. Where you smile with like half your mouth and it's still closed. I've never seen you grinning, like with your teeth.”

“Ah.” Gladion was silent for a moment. “It's not that I don't have a sense of humor, or anything like that. I just don't laugh easily.” He paused, but his voice was quieter this time. “Lillie used to be very good at making me laugh, back when we both lived at Aether. Wicke's sense of humor is very dry— I imagine I've developed most of mine from listening to and communicating with her, for various reasons. Plumeria can be a very good friend, but I've always found her too intimidating to laugh at any of her jokes. I wasn't ever comfortable with Guzma, or most of Team Skull. Molly and Rogelio made me laugh a few times, but I tended to push them away more often than not.”

He paused again, but Moon sensed it wasn't quite the right time to speak so she waited, walking slowly up the staircase.

“I used to find Hau annoying,” he said finally. “But like I told him, I've been working on that. He isn't annoying; he just finds pleasure in simple things. Honestly, I'm kind of jealous. And I'm not the only one who's been working on that relationship. He and Lillie tease us a lot, but sometimes, if it's just him and me talking, he's actually surprised me by making me laugh.”

“Really?”

“Mm-hmm. I think he's trying to pin down my sense of humor. He likes making people laugh.” Gladion cleared his throat. “But, uh— before I met you, I hadn't met anyone besides Wicke who really got my sense of humor.”

“I didn't think you had one at first,” admitted Moon. “But I think I figured it out back on Wela, when I asked you for your number and you didn't shut me down.”

“I thought it was pretty ballsy of you to ask, when I'd been such an asshole.”

“That's a penalty for being mean to yourself.”

Gladion sighed heavily. “Sure, whatever.”

“You didn't think I was obnoxious, though?”

“I did a little, but then you kept texting me. It was always cheerful, and sometimes it was silly, and very slowly it went from being annoying to...”

His voice trailed off.

“Yes?” ventured Moon.

He coughed. “Uh... well, it was kind of... cute.”

“Oh my god I'm dying.”

“Please don't die.”

“No, you don't understand— um, right after the not-really-a-breakup thing we did, I ran into Molly and Rogelio and Plumeria in Malie City. Plumeria told me off for being a jerk to you, and Molly and Rogelio said some stuff that— well, it doesn't matter all that much but it helped me think that despite what you said to me, I shouldn't give up on you completely.”

He stayed quiet. Moon swallowed, taking it as her cue to continue. “And Molly— well, she said that they used to see you smiling at your phone a lot, and they said you hadn't done that much before you met me and you hadn't really done it since we'd stopped talking, and I just— yeah.”

“They're more observant than I've given them credit for,” said Gladion absently. “And I probably owe them coffee or malasadas at the very least, if they somehow managed to make you think I could be forgiven.”

“I also owe them. Like, a lot. We should make that happen.”

“When everything is over.” He stopped walking; Moon stopped as well, turning her head in his direction even though she kept her eyes closed. “When all of this— with Lusamine, and Ultra Space, when all of this is over. We should— we should talk.”

“We're talking right now?”

“No.” Gladion cleared his throat. “We should talk.”

It took her a minute, but then heat exploded across her face. “Oh. Oh, okay, oh my god. Yeah. About, um, us?”

“Yeah.”

Moon nodded emphatically, which drew another quiet laugh from him.

For a few moments they just stood there, but then she cleared her throat. “Are we gonna keep walking?”

“We're at the top.”

Moon opened her eyes, incredulous; but Gladion was correct. The Altar of the Moone stood before them and she presumed the staircase was behind them, though she wasn't about to look.

Hau and Lillie had pulled off their backpacks and sat down on a patch of brownish grass; a tall shrub blocked any view of the drop-off. Phyco and Soliera had also taken off their knapsacks— which Moon was beginning to suspect had some sort of black-hole, Mary-Poppins kind of technology because they managed to carry a tent and all of their electronic equipment inside of two rather small bags. Phyco was setting up some of the aforementioned electronic equipment, with Soliera's assistance; Hau was examining the Sun Flute, with the Moon Flute sitting on his lap; and Lillie had Nebby, still asleep and cradled in her hands.

“She's got some green in her aura now,” Lillie said, pointing. Moon peered at what little of the aura remained; it did indeed look a bit greener, and now seven colors swirled around Nebby's tiny, frozen face.

“Well, I guess that's good. And when we summon Lunala, we should be able to ask her to help Nebby... or something.” Moon frowned. “Phyco and Soliera haven't been really clear on that point. They just said we would summon Lunala, and that Nebby would be okay.”

“Are we doing the summoning now, then?” said Gladion.

“Not immediately.” Phyco walked over to join them. “Soliera and I have found that creating wormholes here, on the Altar of the Moone, is done most effectively after sunset.”

“That makes sense.”

“Unfortunately, the moon's current status in the Terran lunar cycle indicates that the moon this evening will be a waxing crescent moon— growing in power, but still young. It will be enough for Lunala to create an Ultra Wormhole, but she may be... weaker, than if it were a half, gibbous, or full moon.” Phyco's mouth tightened. “It is not ideal, but we cannot afford to wait ten to twelve days for a full moon. Already it has been nearly a full month since the president and Guzma left, and we have no guarantee that they will return alive.”

“So, we're just going to sit around and wait until nightfall?” wondered Hau.

“Indeed. The moon will rise around six-thirty in the evening— we have about five hours until then. In the meantime, you may eat lunch and perhaps also dinner. And whoever intends to play the Sun Flute and the Moon Flute must learn the music; it is carved into two parts of the Altar. As long as you are not standing on the platforms and playing the notes together, you will not summon Lunala before it is time.”

“That's us, I guess,” said Hau, glancing at Lillie. “We should go practice then, right?”

“Yes, let's.” Lillie glanced at Phyco and Soliera, and then at Moon. “Um— Nebby isn't exactly prone to wandering off these days, but will you keep an eye on her anyway?”

“I can do that.”

“Perhaps you might take it in turns with Gladion,” said Soliera nonchalantly. “The two of you will be entering Ultra Space, so you will need to be fitted with suits like the ones we wear.”

Moon stared at Soliera— at what looked like half-lycra, half-plastic armor— and swallowed. “Um, do you have like, stuff that will fit me?”

“Wormhole gear is 'one size fits all,' as they say here on Terra. It is made too large on purpose, but will shrink to fit you.”

“I don't want to wear Spandex,” said Gladion flatly.

“Unfortunately, you do not have a choice in the matter,” Phyco informed him.

“I know that. I'm just making my objection known.”

“It may be prudent to set up one of the tents, for privacy while you change,” suggested Soliera. “We have suits for the two of you, as well as two spares— if there is time and you are not running for your lives, you may be able to have the president and Guzma put them on. You do not technically need wormhole gear to survive a trip through an Ultra Wormhole, but it helps with orientation and pressurization.”

“Dizziness and headaches?”

“Indeed. As always, you are quick to catch on.”

Moon and Gladion detached the tent from Hau's backpack and set it up on the brown grass; on Phyco's advice, they both found relatively private areas around the Altar and relieved themselves, as they wouldn't be able to once they were dressed. Soliera held a black case, walking into the tent and zipping it closed after Gladion vacated it.

“You will need to strip,” she said serenely.

“Um— underwear too?”

“That will not be necessary. We have Lusamine's and Guzma's signals locked in with our equipment; they have not moved much since they arrived in the Ultra Sea. It should be a simple retrieval mission. If it were to be an extended period of time, we would give you a catheter and a nutrient IV, but you only ought to be there for a few hours.”

“Should and ought aren't very comforting words.”

“I will not lie to you.”

“I appreciate that.”

Moon stripped down to underwear as Soliera opened the black case, pulling out a silky-looking, royal-blue garment. “Feet in first,” she said briskly. “Though if you dislike seams in your stockings, I would recommend wearing a pair of socks beneath the bodysuit.”

“Thanks for the recommendation.” Moon put on a clean pair of socks before stepping into the bodysuit. Soliera, with no shame whatsoever, pulled the loose fabric up around Moon's hips and reached into the black case; suddenly it tightened around her feet and legs, like a pair of comfortable leggings.

“Wow, are they like, electronic?”

“Ultra Megalopolans have developed nanotech for use in wormhole gear, military services, and other high-risk scientific pursuits. The fabric is made largely from carbon-fiber, with some adjustments made to negate toxin absorbency from the carbon-fiber itself. It will also take simple direction from short-wavelength, ultra-high-frequency radio waves.” Soliera paused, looking up at Moon. “I believe that here on Terra it is called something like... blueteeth?”

“Oh, Bluetooth? Wow, that's... weird. Could Rotom control it?”

“I believe so, but I do not recommend trying it out.”

Soliera helped her fit her arms into the fabric, then sent another signal; it tightened to lay flat against her skin. Moon peered down and discovered an immediate issue.

“Um... so you can kind of see my underwear through it?”

“One moment.” Soliera fiddled with the black box; suddenly the fabric around Moon's chest and hips went rigid.

“Ow.”

“My apologies. Captain Phyco is better with the wormhole gear than I am, but I thought you would prefer the assistance of a female.”

“Yeah, you're right. Thank you.” The rigidity relaxed, and Moon looked down to see that the fabric at her hips and chest no longer revealed either panty lines or bra straps. “Oh, that's much better.”

“Is there anything tight or uncomfortable?”

“Nah. Feels pretty nice.” Moon did a few experimental stretches and lunges. “Yeah, actually this is kind of dope.”

“I assume that's a good thing.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Shall we move on to armor?”

“Um, sure. Does it work with my Trainer belt?”

“We have belts for you to use. Ms. Wicke designed them for you and Gladion. There is a pouch for your Rotom-Dex, as well as the six customary holsters for Pokéballs. But we should start with boots.”

The objects that Soliera pulled out of the black case did not look like boots; they looked like white, oblong rubber pancakes with plastic framing around the edges. But Moon was made to step on them, and then Soliera fiddled with the case again and plastic popped out of the framing, crawling up to cover her feet, ankles, and about half of her shins.

“That's so cool!”

“The boots are my favorite part,” admitted Soliera, with a small smile on her face.

Next were a pair of rubbery knee-guards, which didn't look terribly comfortable but felt okay once they were on; then the promised belt, with the large pouch for Rotom as well as the slots for her Pokémon.

“Can I keep this when we're done?”

“It was designed for you, so I would presume you may do so.”

“Sweet.”

After the belt came gloves— the Bluetooth-spandex suit had stocking feet but ended at Moon's wrists. The gloves were a hybrid of the Bluetooth-spandex and the plastic armor— which was also carbon-fiber, she was informed when she asked. Her fingers had room to bend and move, but were also protected. Moon noticed that her gloves included full carbon-fiber wrist cuffs, which neither Soliera nor Phyco wore.

“Is this because of the Nihilego that tried to eat me already?” she asked, tapping at it.

“Yes,” said Soliera, but did not elaborate.

“Will they like, try to target me there or something?”

“It is quite possible. I thought you would feel more secure if you were sure that they would not be able to contact you there.”

Moon, surprised, studied Soliera in silence as the alien fit rubber elbow-guards (to match the knee-guards) onto her arms; but she didn't find the words to express her thoughts until Soliera bade her raise her arms to fit a large piece of armor over her shoulders, chest, and torso; it went all the way down to her hips and buckled between her legs— a structured, carbon-fiber baby onesie.

“It must have killed you, to watch Nebby and Lillie being hurt and not being able to do anything about it.”

Soliera's hands paused, where they were securing further buckles at Moon's waist; but resumed working quickly. Her face gave away nothing. “What makes you say that?”

“You're really kind.” Moon gestured to her wrist with one hand. “I think Phyco is also kinder than he lets on, but he wouldn't have thought of this, would he?”

For a few long moments, Soliera was silent. “No,” she said finally. “No, he would not. Captain Phyco is a good man— a rare quality among Terrans and Megalopolans alike. He is highly intelligent, creative, compassionate, and kind. But he is also brutally honest and practical to a fault. The evidence suggested that there was no other way to save both of our worlds without placing Cosmog— Nebby— under stress. In private, he liked it as little as I did. But it was a choice between that, or doing nothing as the Blinding One ate whatever light it could reach, first in our world and eventually in yours. When you have the power to prevent great suffering, and the cost is but a single life... it is still reprehensible, but he believed it was necessary.”

“Did you?”

“Did I what?”

“Did you believe it was necessary?”

Soliera really did pause this time, holding what looked like a plastic neck guard. “I believed we were doomed,” she said plainly, “until we met you.”

The force of the compliment took Moon entirely off-guard, and she didn't say anything until Soliera finished fitting the neck guard in place.

“Captain Phyco will assist you with the helmet and knapsack when he has finished helping Gladion change. You may transfer your Pokémon and your Rotom-Dex to your belt; the knapsack can carry anything you require but you may wish to limit it to things like Hyper Potions, Revives, and Max Elixirs— we brought a large stock from the Aether Paradise, to supply you if you needed it.”

“Gotcha.”

“It may also be prudent to bring some water bottles and portable food. There are food and water sources in the Ultra Sea, and the president and Guzma are still alive so they must have discovered these sources; but they may wish for some Terran food. I would also suggest any weapon you might have access to. I have firearm and knife holsters you may borrow, if you need them.”

“I don't have any weapons. I've usually just relied on my Pokémon to defend myself.”

“You should have at least one.” Soliera studied her, pale-blue eyes darting from Moon's shoulders and arms down to her thighs. “You have a healthy fat-to-muscle ratio, but no training... your best option is probably a staff.”

“A staff?”

“There is no blade and therefore no risk of hurting yourself, but it can serve as either a blunt object or a long-range melee weapon. I have one with my gear; you may borrow it. I am rather fond of it, so I expect you to return it to me in one piece.”

“I'll do my best.”

They vacated the tent. Gladion studied Moon for a long moment, but Phyco herded him into the tent, holding an identical black case, before he could say anything. Soliera led Moon over to where she and Phyco had put their things, reaching into the knapsack with her entire arm— definitely some weird black-hole technology— before pulling out a slender steel pole and a second knapsack.

“Anything you need can go in here,” she said, handing Moon the knapsack. “The staff is collapsible; it shortens to a baton.” She twisted a pair of handles at the center of the pole, and the ends snapped inward, reducing the length to about a foot. “It will clip onto your belt anywhere you put the correct holster— I recommend carrying it with your non-dominant hand, if you intend to use Pokémon as your primary defense.”

She helped Moon clip the staff in place, and showed her how to make it go from full staff to baton and back again— forcing her to practice for about five minutes, until she could do it quickly and fluidly.

“Will I need it?”

Soliera met her gaze. “I certainly hope not, but it cannot hurt to be prepared.”

Chapter Text

“Wow, Moon, you look super cool!”

It was Hau, walking back from the Altar with Lillie; they held hands and carried the Flutes.

“I don't really know what I look like,” admitted Moon. “Hey, Rotom—”

“On it, bzzt.” Rotom soared out from its new pouch and flew several feet away. Moon made a peace sign and it snapped a picture before returning.

She did look kind of cool. If it weren't her own round, golden-brown face with high Kantonian cheekbones peeking back at her from above the alien armor, she wouldn't have recognized herself at all.

“I think I just need a helmet,” she told Lillie, walking back to where all of their bags were laying on the ground; Nebby was laid down in a little nest made of Gladion's nice gray jacket, only a slight bobbing motion indicating that she was breathing. “Phyco's going to do that when he's done helping Gladion. There's a lot of pieces of stuff I'm wearing. Does Gladion have to wear all this, too?”

“He has one extra piece of armor.” Soliera paused; her tone was deliberately light. “For, ah— the biological equipment you do not possess.”

Lillie made a disgusted face, but Hau nodded gravely. “It's very considerate of you to think of the biological equipment. I know that I, personally, would like to avoid any situation where a Nihilego might grab me by the n—”

“Hau!”

“—knees. I was going to say knees.” Moon punched him in the shoulder, forgetting she was wearing carbon-fiber armor on her knuckles; Hau winced, rubbing his arm. “Ow.”

“Sorry.”

“I look like an idiot,” said Gladion grumpily.

Moon turned around. “Oh, you do not,” she retorted. “You look as much like an idiot as I do. Do I look like an idiot?”

Gladion studied her for a few moments.

“This isn't a multiple choice question, there's only one right answer,” said Hau, in a loud whisper. “Don't tell your girl she looks like an idiot, dude.”

He wore the same armor that Moon did, with two obvious visible differences: the carbon-fiber armor they both wore was white, but Moon's bodysuit was a deep royal blue, nearly purple; and Gladion's bodysuit was dark green.

“Now I know Wicke designed it,” he said grumpily. “I would have picked black or red.”

“Green kind of really brings out your eyes, though.”

“I know,” muttered Gladion, looking miserable. “People always stare more when I wear green. I hate it.”

“Poor baby,” snickered Moon, reaching up to pat him on the head. “It must be such a hard life, being extremely good-looking.”

Gladion opened his mouth, then closed it. “I have the feeling you're just going to try and argue with me if I say anything about that,” he sighed. “I just don't have time for an existential crisis right now.”

“And I will respect your desire to avoid an existential crisis by not asking you what exactly the fuck there is to argue about. What time is it?”

“Almost three o'clock,” Lillie informed them. “Hau and I both learned our parts separately, so we were going to walk down to the stairs and try them together.”

“As much as I could go for some nice relaxing music right now—”

“Trust me, there's nothing relaxing about how badly I'm playing this,” Hau informed her.

“—I will have to pass, because I'm not going back down those stairs until I've been to fucking space, thank you very much.”

Hau and Lillie walked over to where the staircase began; a few moments after the tops of their heads disappeared Moon could hear soft flute music rising on the breeze toward them.

Fitting the helmets was easy— Moon thought it might have been more difficult if her hair were any longer, as evidenced by the way Gladion kept shoving his bangs behind his ear. The helmets were not collapsible, and apparently had computer support; they also had radio communication, which could allow them to communicate privately or broadcast their conversation out through speakers. They didn't have to have oxygen tanks, even in Ultra Space; the Ultra Sea and Ultra Megalopolis had a somewhat breathable oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, but apparently so did what Phyco called “the ancient pathways,” which were the routes that their Solgaleo and, apparently, Necrozma took to travel through Ultra Space. Necrozma didn't have to use the ancient pathways, but it seemed to prefer them.

But once the helmets were fitted, the only thing left to do was wait; so Moon went back to the tent, took off her helmet, and unrolled her sleeping bag for cushioning before laying down, settling Nebby on top of her stomach to take a nap.

“You probably have the right idea,” said Gladion, watching her from the doorway of the tent.

“You can totally join me,” said Moon, patting the ground next to her.

He nodded and walked in, unrolling his own sleeping bag. “I keep expecting the armor to be uncomfortable,” he remarked. “It's really nice, though.”

“It probably has to be. They basically live in it. Phyco told me once that he and Soliera both have catheters and IV lines with like a nutrient saline solution kind of thing, so they don't have to eat or pee.”

Gladion turned to look at her, expression disturbed. “Please tell me you're joking.”

“I wish I were. Soliera said the only reason we aren't getting IV lines or catheters is because we're only supposed to zip in, grab your mother and Guzma, and come back. I think the Necrozma thing is a, 'be prepared in case you run into it, but you probably won't' kind of thing.”

“Hmm.”

For a few minutes, neither of them spoke at all.

“Are you nervous?” said Moon softly, staring up at the ceiling of the tent.

“I'm scared to death.” Gladion took a deep breath. “This is how my dad died. And my mom made our lives hell for years so she could waltz right in after him. And now I'm about to do the same dumbass thing, to try and get my mom and bring her back. And the thought that keeps going through my head is that Nihilego fucks with people, it messes them up hardcore. After a month of exposure... I don't know if the person I'm going to find, when we get there, will still be my mother.” Another deep breath. “And the thing that terrifies me the most is that if she's changed because of the Nihilego, I'm probably going to prefer her this way to how she's been for my entire life. I'm scared that that makes me a monster.”

Moon turned her head to look at him; he was staring at the ceiling now, with something shiny glittering at the corner of his eye.

“It doesn't make you a monster,” she told him. “You've been living with her, or the shadow of her, for years. Is it really a surprise that part of you is saying, anything is better than this?”

He turned his head and Moon froze in surprise; they were so close that their noses were touching, but his eyes were unfocused and he didn't seem to be thinking about proximity.

“Well,” he said slowly, “when you put it that way, it makes sense.”

“I like when things make sense,” Moon informed him. “Have you not figured that out about me yet?”

“No, but I don't know if I really believed you could make anything about my life make sense.”

“Always the cynic.” Moon grinned before turning her head back up to the ceiling.

“Always the optimist.” His hand found hers. “I think it's contagious.”

“What, optimism?”

“Yeah. If it were just me going into Ultra Space, I don't think I could do it. But you're going too. You get things done, and you swallow your pride and fear to do it. Knowing you'll be with me— even if I find that my mother has become more of a monster than she already was, I won't be alone. I won't drown in it, if you're there to pull me out.”

* * * * *

“The sun is setting.”

Moon opened her eyes, blinking up at Hau. “Cool. Be right out.”

“Lillie wants you to keep hanging on to Nebby while she's playing the flute, is that okay?”

“Yeah, totally.”

She rummaged through her backpack for her toothbrush and toothpaste— napping always left a nasty taste in her mouth. Gladion did the same, hovering nearby but staying silent. Moon didn't blame him. They had been preparing for this. In between all of the fragile emotional turmoil of her relationship with Gladion and the hardships of the road, she had thought, sometimes, about what it would be like to go to space. She wasn't trained for it— there were astronauts who prepared for months, even years before making simple space-shuttle flights or visiting the International Space Station; but here she was, a Trainer who hadn't even finished her island challenge, headed not into the shallow stratospheres of her own planet but through an interdimensional wormhole, bypassing time and space themselves and emerging at another end of the universe.

It was, to say the very least, rather intimidating.

She put her toothbrush away and finished packing the knapsack that Soliera had given her— transferring all of her Revives, Hyper Potions, and Max Elixirs as well as three plastic water bottles. Gladion offered her a handful of granola bars to carry and she took them. She wanted to take Lillie's lantern just in case, though Hau and Lillie might need it more. But then Gladion fished a smaller lantern out of his backpack and opened the bottom of it.

“Do you have any spare batteries?”

“What size?”

“Four double-A's.”

“Yeah, I've got plenty of those.”

She got four double-A batteries out of her backpack, handing them to Gladion; he put them into the lantern and flicked the switch. It was not as bright or as large as Lillie's lantern, but it cast a steady glow and Moon nodded approvingly. He turned it off and put it into his backpack.

Gladion had a long sheath attached to his belt, also on the left side; Moon pointed. “What's that?”

He drew a wicked-looking machete from the sheath. “It's Lieutenant Soliera's. I'd bring my own, but she says Earth metals don't hold up well in Ultra Space.”

“Huh.” Moon considered the collapsible staff-baton, which she had thought was made of steel; it was probably an alien metal. “You know how Guzma always wears that chain?”

“The big, ugly gold necklace?”

Moon snorted. “Yeah. That's an Earth metal— I wonder if he still has it.”

“Hmm.” Gladion's eyes went distant. “Lusamine likes to wear gold jewelry, when she can. I didn't know that Earth metals were affected by Ultra Space, so it's likely that she didn't know that either. Her wedding ring is gold, too.”

Moon winced. “I know she's evil and everything, but it would really suck to lose your wedding ring because of your own hubris.”

To that, Gladion offered only a thin smile before reaching up to remove his earrings. “You might want to leave the necklace,” he said, without looking at her. “It would be a shame if it broke or melted, or whatever.”

Moon nodded, reaching under the neck-guard and armor to pull the leather cord out and off her head. The sun charm gleamed in the dull light; she put it in the pocket of her backpack where she kept essentials like her toothbrush, ibuprofen, and travel-size packs of tissues— snagging one of the latter and tucking it into the knapsack. It never hurt to be prepared.

When they were ready, they left the tent. Moon held Nebby, glancing down every now and then to make sure she was still okay. Her aura was more visible, no longer competing with the bright sun. It might have been Moon's imagination but Nebby's colors seemed to swirl more intensely in the rising moonlight.

Hau and Lillie stood on the two pedestals, on opposite sides of the altar. Each pedestal was surrounded by a shallow pool of water; and Moon could see channels, running from the center of the large rock-wall, where the massive crescent-moon symbol was carved. Hau held the Sun Flute, and Lillie held the Moon Flute; they were watching Phyco, who was squinting down at one of the scanners.

“What's the holdup?” Moon asked Soliera.

“We are waiting until twilight. The sun does not technically set until—” Soliera consulted her own scanner. “—seventeen thirty-seven; and the moon does not technically rise until nineteen-forty. The time between that is twilight, and it is an ideal time to call upon Lunala.”

“Why not wait until full moonrise?”

Soliera regarded her for a few moments. “The Blinding One has long sought the Solgaleo we use to travel from our home to yours,” she said, after a few moments. “It hungers for light, but is not— unintelligent. It knows where and when it can find a Solgaleo or Lunala at full power. We have used the Altar of the Moone to travel with Solgaleo because it expects to find Solgaleo at the Lake of the Sunne. But you cannot summon Lunala for the first time at the Lake of the Sunne. By coming here and opening an Ultra Wormhole here, with Lunala, we risk discovery by the Blinding One. However, opening the Wormhole early, in twilight, gives us a greater chance of safety. The Blinding One will not expect a Wormhole to open this soon, and you will be safe enough in the ancient paths.”

“What about when we get to the Ultra Sea?”

Soliera's smile went sharp. “That is my task,” she said, patting at her belt. Moon counted not one, but two Pokéballs— but they weren't Pokéballs, they were the blue-and-gold balls that she had only ever seen Soliera using.

“Is that—”

“Solgaleo has consented to remain in a ball until the Blinding One is safely imprisoned. When the time comes, I will release it in Ultra Megalopolis once more, and our world may someday regain the light we once had, though it may take another thousand years.” Her voice grew soft and bitter. “The twin moons that once shone over the Spire of the Coterie are both gone, the first victims of the Blinding One's wrath; but the sun was able to hide. Its children, and its children's children, hid with it for an eon before they were discovered. The Cosmog nest did not survive; but their father, wounded and limping, managed to make its way to Dulse's orchard. It is he who asked for our aid, and it is he whom the Blinding One has hunted. We will lead the Blinding One on a merry chase, as you carry out your mission.”

Moon stared at her, horrified. “I— I have so many questions, and I never thought I would say this, but I'm too scared of the answers to even ask any of them right now.”

Soliera's mouth quirked. “I commend your decision. It would be prudent to focus on the task at hand, and a mind such as yours does poorly with distractions.”

“Hey, I can multi-task!”

“That's not what she meant. Yeah, you can multi-task and you're pretty good at it, but the less you have to multi-task, the more you can focus on the rescue mission.” Gladion's mouth quirked. “But I think she's got you nailed. You get stressed when you're multi-tasking. When you have something to do, you do it and you do it well. But when you have a few things to do, you try to do all of them at once. It doesn't go as well as it could if you'd only done one thing at a time.”

“You're ganging up on me,” groused Moon, but she had to admit that they both made very good points.

“We are five minutes into twilight,” called Phyco, looking up from his scanner and addressing Hau and Lillie. “You may begin the summons.”

Lillie took a deep breath, closing her eyes and nodding. Hau turned to look at her, offering a smile. When she opened her eyes, she smiled back, lifting the Moon Flute to her lips. Hau brought the Sun Flute up as well.

For a few moments all was silent; even the breeze, fairly brisk for how high up they were, died down.

Lillie and Hau gazed at one another— there was absolute focus, absolute trust in their eyes. Lillie inclined her head to one side; Hau's eyes moved to look at her foot, watching as she tapped out a slow, soft beat. He nodded once, his own foot falling into the same tapping rhythm.

Both of their shoulders rose at the same time, as they inhaled; then they began to play.

The melody was soft and haunting. She had heard snippets of their practicing, floating up from the ancient stairs as she napped with Nebby and Gladion; but she had not heard the entire song.

“Interesting,” murmured Gladion.

“What is?”

“Lillie has the melody line, and Hau has the harmony line— but it's not actually a harmony. It's the same melody, but started on a different note, lower down. I'm sure there's a more technical name for it, but I never got that far in music theory before Lusamine realized that I enjoyed music and forced me to quit piano lessons.”

“Huh.”

The music grew louder and, strangely, sadder; and the song ended on what almost seemed like a wrong note— as though it were unfinished, waiting for something to happen.

There was a beat of silence— but then the earth shook. Moon stumbled, clutching Nebby to her chest; Gladion caught and steadied her.

The water surrounding the pedestals suddenly glowed, lighting up neon violet and blue. Twin beams of light raced up the channels, crossing paths and rising to form a circle around the crescent-moon symbol. They met, forming one blue light; and then the crescent-moon opened, or the rock that contained it did— splitting into four parts, receding back into the rock to reveal a circle of bright, golden light.

The light bulged outward, a bubble about to burst; a single, slender thread of light shot down to the center of the altar, where another crescent-moon symbol was emblazoned; a rainbowy pool of light began to form there before rising to form another bubble.

Moon's hands suddenly burned, as though she had touched a hot stove.

“Ow!” she yelped, dropping Nebby— except Nebby did not fall. She rushed toward the light, eyes still closed. “Nebby!”

“Nebby?” demanded Lillie, panic rising.

“Are you okay?” said Gladion.

“Y-yeah, I'm— fine...”

A starburst of blue light radiated out from Nebby, now at the center of the rainbow-bubble— and then a flash of blindingly, iridescently white light. Moon closed her eyes quickly, but she could have sworn she saw the crescent-moon shape, expanding into a fractal pattern, moons upon moons upon moons— it burned behind her eyelids.

“Nebby!”

Lillie's cry was confused and heartbroken. Moon opened her eyes to see that Nebby was— gone; but the Pokémon that hovered in place above them, gold-ridged crescent wings flapping gently on either side of a slender, alien face was clearly Lunala.

Lunala swooped downward, bating with her wings so that the low gold foot-crescent hovered barely inches above the surface of the altar.

“Lu-nal!”

And then— heart-stoppingly—

“Pew, pew!”

It couldn't be.

All the blood drained from Lillie's face, leaving her a wide-eyed ghost; Gladion's eyebrows were higher than Moon had ever seen them; and Hau's jaw had dropped.

Lunala turned to face Lillie— and glided toward her, almost shuffling as she hovered above the altar. “Lu-na pew, lu-na pew.”

“Rotom,” croaked Moon, reaching for her belt. “Rotom, tell me I'm not fucking dreaming right now. Did Nebby—” Her words failed her, because the thought beggared disbelief— nobody had said, nobody had mentioned, this was why Nebby didn't need to be in a Pokéball to be healed at Pokémon Centers, this was why Nebby had always been much, much smarter than she had allowed them to think she was, except for the few times that Moon had caught her acting differently, this was why Necrozma would be so tempted by a Cosmog or a Cosmoem—

“Lunala, bzzt,” said Rotom softly. “A Legendary Pokémon that makes its home in Alola, though like its counterpart Solgaleo it has power all over the earth. The physical manifestation of moonlight; a Psychic- and Ghost-type. It evolves from Cosmog to Cosmoem, and then from Cosmoem to either Solgaleo or Lunala, depending upon where it gains the energy to evolve.”

An expression like a frown crossed Lunala's face; but then suddenly Moon heard a voice, as though someone had turned on a radio in her mind.

—hello? I think I am doing the talking thing. Lillie? Hello?

Lillie jumped, staggering backward as though a bucket of cold water had been dumped over her head. “Oh my god,” she whispered. “I'm hearing things. I've gone crazy. It's the stress. I'm going to have to ask Wicke to get me in touch with a psychiatrist.”

“Better sign me up too, babe,” said Hau hoarsely. “Because I'm pretty sure I am also hearing a voice right now.”

“Same,” said Moon, glancing at Gladion; he nodded, still staring at Lunala.

Oh, it works! It works it works it works! HELLO LILLIE! HI HI HI HI HI! I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO TALK TO YOU WOW THIS IS GREAT EVERYTHING IS SO MUCH TINIER BUT ALSO MORE COLORFUL! I FEEL ALIVE AND FULL OF ENERGY! IT'S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT! I'M SO SO HAPPY!

Lillie, clamping her hands over her ears, sat down hard on the pedestal. “That's... very, um. Loud.”

Sorry sorry sorry! I am very excited. It is nice to really talk to you. I wasn't strong enough to talk when I was little but now I am. Thank you for taking me to all the places and helping me get strong.

Lillie's eyes filled with tears. “N-nebby...”

And thank you for trying to protect me. The voice was bright, almost childlike— but there was a knowledge, a keen understanding in the pink eyes that spoke of age and pain and, to Moon's eyes, forgiveness. It was very sweet of you. Sometimes you could not help it, but you always tried and that is what is important.

“Nebby!”

“Holy shit,” mumbled Gladion, and Moon had to agree.

She glanced at Phyco and Soliera, wondering what they thought of all this. Phyco seemed unruffled, typing something into a scanner; Soliera's expression was relieved and rather fond, as she watched Nebby speaking to Lillie as she cried.

“You knew, didn't you?”

They both paused, turning to look at her; but Moon's voice was loud enough that Hau also glanced over, and Lillie lifted her head from her hands; reddened eyes suddenly narrowing.

“Yes,” said Phyco finally. “We knew.”

Nebby turned. Oh, scientists! Hello scientists. Why are you here? I do not think I will fit into your little box anymore.

Phyco actually blanched. “We will not put you in a box,” he said firmly. “I would like to think that I can learn from my mistakes.”

What mistakes?

He took a breath. “We hurt you,” he said, setting down his scanner and— Moon was impressed— dropping to his knees. Soliera silently followed suit. “We used you, because we fear for our world and for our lives. We are not from your land.”

I knew that. I could smell it on you, even when I was little. But if you had not hurt me, I would not have evolved.

“How do wild Cosmog and Cosmoem evolve, then?” burst out Moon, before she could shut herself up.

“Now's probably not the time,” muttered Gladion, nudging her ankle gently with his foot.

Nebby turned to face Moon, tall and beautiful and intimidating— words she had never thought would apply to a cute Cosmog or a sleeping Cosmoem. Hello bookworm! Lillie likes you. She says you are her best friend. You have nice friends. Decidueye is my favorite. He smells like home.

“Bookworm,” snickered Hau.

Moon ignored him. “What do you mean, Puck smells like home?”

“Probably the shared secondary Ghost-typing,” said Gladion, and that made sense.

Nebby's eyes turned to him. Hello brother! You are sad sometimes, but you should cheer up. The barky one is good at cheering you up. I am sad I did not get to see her smash her helmet, but your robot and the bookworm's robot told me all about it while I was sleeping.

Gladion blinked at Nebby for a few moments. “Okay,” he said finally. “I'll, uh, work on that.”

“I cannot believe she calls Null the barky one,” said Moon under her breath. “That's the cutest thing I've ever heard in my life.”

“I can't believe that Porygon2 and Metagross were gossiping to her about Null,” added Hau. “They don't seem all that chatty.”

“It's probably a Psychic-type thing. I bet Uila could have talked to her, too.” Gladion folded his arms.

Nebby turned to look at Hau. Hello prince! I am very glad you decided that kissing with Lillie was okay. She has been very happy about it. Lillie should always be happy.

“On that, we are agreed,” laughed Hau.

“Prince,” said Moon pointedly. “Are we going to talk about that, or not?”

What is there to talk about?

“... you know what, never mind.”

Okay. Oh I have an idea! It is a really good idea. We should go flying around the canyon. It is a pretty night and the wind is nice. My light is not very bright today, but that's because yesterday there wasn't one.

“Unfortunately,” said Phyco, drawing everyone's attention, “we do not have time for a flight.”

Not even a very very quick one?

“I'm afraid not. Do you know what we wish to ask of you?”

You want me to make a door. Nebby sounded somewhat resigned. That's so boring, but I guess I can do that.

“Boring,” mumbled Gladion. “Making an Ultra Wormhole is boring, what the fuck.” Moon fought the urge to giggle.

Phyco gestured to Moon and Gladion. “These Trainers have volunteered to go on a rescue mission, to the Ultra Sea. We have the coordinates and the signal for you to track; it should be intuitive— our friend Solgaleo just has to touch the scanner with its paw. Do you have paws?”

No, but I can boop it.

“I beg your pardon?”

Nebby glided over to Phyco, leaning down and gently pressing the longest part of her face against the scanner. Boop.

In the background, Lillie seemed to be having not one, but several existential crises; at this she laid back, resting her head on the ground and sighing softly.

“Is this sufficient data for you?”

Yes. Nebby turned, facing the center of the altar, and took a deep breath, drawing her wings back.

It happened faster than Moon thought it would. One moment there wasn't an Ultra Wormhole but the next, with a sound like ripping the very air around them, there was—

—and out tumbled Guzma.

He landed on his stomach, with a keening, choking cry as he sucked air in; the position allowed Moon to observe that he looked awful. He had clearly lost weight and muscle, judging by the thinness of his arms and face.The black shirt and track pants he always wore were ragged and impressively filthy, smeared with a greyish-green dust; the white tank beneath was no better off. The golden chain was gone, though there was a faintly glimmering line on the back of his neck that looked as though it might have been gold leaf, or melted gold. His goggles, which she'd never seen him wear, had a spiky crack on the lenses, and his shoes and socks were gone entirely— but it was not any of these things that Moon found the most disturbing.

I guess I didn't have to open a door after all, remarked Nebby. Hello, blustery man! You look a lot smaller than you used to, but I'm also bigger than I used to be. I don't know which of us changed more.

Guzma's arms and neck, and from what she could tell pretty much all of him beneath the torn clothes, was covered in livid, splotchy magenta stripes. Stripes with which Moon was horribly, intimately familiar. And his hair was still white, or partly so, on the top; but besides the sections of black undercut and the roots that had grown out about half an inch, his hair was also streaked with violet-magenta, in wide sections.

His eyes opened slowly— one was the normal grey color, and the other was a horrific yellow. When he saw Lunala they went round, and when he saw Moon and Gladion in wormhole gear, staring back at him— he choked, face twisting with fear and, oddly, rage.

He opened his mouth to speak, but only a dry croak emerged; he swallowed, and tried again.

“Are you all fuckin' idiots or something? Get the fuck out of here, get it away—”

“Get what away?”

“Lunala, dumbass!” The grey eye was frantic; the yellow one was oddly calm. It transformed his face into something grotesque, almost misshapen. “It's coming— the light-eater, the one she wouldn't shut up about, it's coming—”

The Ultra Wormhole pulsed.

“Sir!” shouted Soliera, taking several steps backward. “Sir, the Blinding One—”

Uh-oh. Nebby bated backward, moving thoughtlessly toward Moon and Gladion; Gladion grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the way before they could be knocked over by sweeping wings. I think maybe I should try to close it. From what I have heard you say about Grandmother, I don't want to meet her just yet.

“Grandmother?” said Lillie, confused.

Another pulse.

“T-t-too late, kid, it's too f-fucking lat-t-t-t—”

Both of Guzma's eyes rolled backward, and his jaw went oddly slack before his entire body went rigid, as though struck by lightning; a series of convulsions began to shake his frame.

“He's having a seizure,” said Gladion tightly, moving around Nebby to kneel next to Guzma. “He needs to be on his side— and something soft, for his head.”

I can't close it. Nebby sounded scared, but her beautiful, royal-blue wings lightened first to neon blue, and then to a bright white. I'm trying, but I can't close it.

“It is not your fault, little one,” said Phyco softly. “You... didn't open it. You should run.”

There was something soft, resigned, and despairing in his voice— something that sent a chill down Moon's spine. Soliera was kneeling, having moved to assist Gladion; she was busy opening a jar of something that looked like the funky-smelling orange lotion that she'd put on Moon's wrists after the Nihilego incident. Which made sense, because Guzma had just come from somewhere that could fairly be described as a Nihilego incident.

The Wormhole pulsed again.

“Nebby, run,” said Lillie, rushing to the altar. She grabbed one of the Pokéballs at her belt. “I'll try to protect you, but you have to get away. Make another wormhole, go somewhere else— anywhere else, anywhere but here.”

Something in Nebby's eyes flashed. I am finally big enough to protect you. I am not going anywhere.

The Wormhole keened, and with a noise like a high-pitched, buzzing saw a shadow leaped from within, landing heavily on the surface of the altar— heavy, bulky forearm coming down where Gladion had been only a second or two before Hau had yanked him out of the way. Guzma lay oddly still and quiet; he seemed to be unconscious, and Soliera quietly dragged him off the altar as well.

Light.

The voice was thin and ancient and whispery; and Moon realized as she stared at what could only be Necrozma that she had seen it before.

“Moon, please— please help me,” said Lillie. She sounded oddly, despairingly calm. “I can't do this by myself.”

“R-right.” Moon collected herself, selecting Puck— in an unfamiliar situation, she wanted her first and oldest friend.

Necrozma's head— or what looked like its head, Moon couldn't really tell— swung from side to side. A great huffing noise ensued from what seemed to be a void at the center of the face— sniffing, searching for prey. Mid-inhale it froze in place, going absolutely still for a moment before its head swung upward, pointing at Nebby.

“Ne... crozzzz....”

Light. Light. Light.

Grandmother, no— please don't, please don't—

Necrozma lunged. Nebby darted upward, nimbly twisting out of the way; her limbs and features faded into an indistinguishable white blur just as Necrozma's faded into a black one. Twin balls of light and anti-light, dancing around one another and casting light and shadow over the entire Altar.

“Nebby!” screamed Lillie. “Nebby, run away!”

NO. Nebby sounded furious. No more running, no more hiding, no more no more no more. You protect me, so I have to protect you.

“You can't protect me if you get killed!”

Not just you. Her voice went almost tender. Alola. I protect Alola, with my brother the sun. We guard this land against Grandmother, and other things that might seek to harm it. That is my duty. My honor.

The white blaze of light darted straight upward; the shadowy blur did not follow it, waiting below at the center of the altar. Nebby went high enough that for a moment Moon thought that she might actually have been running away; but then she came to a quivering stop before slamming down on the shadow—

—or where the shadow should have been, because at the last moment it dodged, letting Nebby crash into the Altar of the Moone before leaping onto her.

Light, it said, and it sounded smug.

Grandmother no please please please—

The white light and black shadow coalesced into Nebby and Necrozma once more, the dark, warped figure pinning down wings of moonlight.

—please please stop it, Lillie don't look don't look DON'T LOOK—

“Croz...”

LIGHT.

With a sickening snap, like a bone being broken, Necrozma opened its jaw, unhinging it as its neck stretched down, down, down.

“NEBBY!”

—don't look—

“NEBBY, NO!”

More snapping; more crunching. Moon couldn't tear her eyes away as the jaw closed over Nebby's head and chest.

—sorry—

Light poured like blood from around Necrozma's teeth, dripping onto the Altar; a long, sinuous tongue swept out to gather it all up before an overwhelming brightness blinded them all.

When the light faded, there was only one Pokémon remaining.

Chapter Text

Light...

It was Nebby's voice; and yet it was not Nebby's voice. It was strangely doubled, with the deep guttural hiss of the Necrozma beneath it. And the tone was satisfied, as though it had eaten something delicious.

Moon supposed that it had, in fact, eaten something delicious.

Oddly enough, the Pokémon that hovered there looked more like Lunala than it did Necrozma; but the coloring was all wrong. Her wings had gone from star-speckled navy to electric neon blue, and Necrozma was present in the dark spikes protruding from its chest and in the black mask that covered now-scarlet eyes; and now it had feet, giant clawed things that landed with a clumsy thud on the Altar, rock cracking and crunching beneath.

“Nebby,” sobbed Lillie. “Nebby, please...”

Light, murmured Nebby-Necrozma. Light... ah, this one is young. Weak. I... am still hungry.

“You shut up!”

Lillie was standing up, fists clenched, face scarlet; her chest heaved with every choking breath.

“You shut up!” she shrieked. “Nebby is not weak! You're nasty and awful and you'll never ever be satisfied no matter how much you eat so you shut up and you let her go, you let her go right now!”

Mortal prattling... home. I will... feel better. At home.

Nebby-Necrozma turned toward the Ultra Wormhole, but Moon sent out Puck. “Puck, use Sinister Arrow Raid!”

Puck struck, with a ringing cry; the arrows pinned Nebby-Necrozma— Nebcrozma, supplied Moon's lizard brain— at the feet.

Little pins. I cannot move... annoying. The scarlet eyes found her, and Moon swallowed.You shall not have my light. Mine, mine, mine.

“I don't want your light! I want you to let go of Nebby!”

NO. MY LIGHT.

Nebby-Necrozma couldn't move its feet with the arrows sticking out, but it could flap its wings and roar; there was a great pulse of power and Moon's ears popped; about six more Ultra Wormholes popped into existence before promptly fading back out and leaving only the original.

“She's opened more Wormholes!” shouted Phyco rather unnecessarily, stumbling backward as he stared at his scanner with wide eyes.

"No fucking shit, dude!"

“You misunderstand me— there are more readings! Ultra Beasts, on all the islands!”

“Don't worry about that,” said Hau staunchly. “The kahunas and the Tapus will take care of them— Moon watch out!”

Moon grabbed Puck and dove to the side just in time, as Nebby-Necrozma shrieked and spat a bolt of pure white heat at where she had been standing; a charred splash marked the spot.

“Puck,” panted Moon, “use Leaf Blade... and don't get hit by that, whatever it is. Rotom, are you seeing this shit?”

“I-I-I am ex-experienci-si-sing some malf-f-functions d-d-due to Ul-ultra Worm-m-mhole acti-tivity, bzz-zzt.”

“Arceus fuck— I can't take you to Ultra Space, can I?”

“It-t-t-t would pro-probab-bly be f-f-for the bes-s-st if y-you left me-me beh-h-h-hind, bzzt. Sh-sh-shutting d-down n-n-now.” The screen went black; Moon caught it before it could fall, tucking it into her pouch.

Fortunately for her— though not so fortunately for Puck— Nebby-Necrozma had been distracted by Leaf Blade, and was attempting to shoot Puck with bolts of light. Moon's heart swelled with pride as Puck dodged each and every one, leaving the Altar pockmarked with black, ashy stains.

“Puck, use Spirit Shackle!”

He drew the bow back, arching high and aiming for the black chest spikes; the arrow hit true, and Nebby-Necrozma keened, swiping at its chest before falling onto its front.

There was a long silence. Moon stared at Nebby-Necrozma, wondering if she'd killed it. Puck shouldn't have been strong enough to actually kill another Pokémon— especially not a legendary fused with an Ultra Beast.

It flickered. For a few moments Moon saw— Nebby, straining under the black mask with panic in red-then-pink-then-red-again eyes— but then Necrozma took control again.

Too strong. Weak food. Must go home. Home home home—

It rolled over, snarling out loud.

“Phyco, have you tagged it!” shouted Soliera, turning from where she was still treating Guzma, with Gladion's and Hau's assistance.

“I cannot pin down the signal— the Lunala's aura is interfering—”

Soliera made an annoyed sound and drew a small, thin tube from her belt; she tapped a button on the side of it, raised it to her mouth, and blew.

Little sting, like the little nagas. It is nothing. Home. Home, home, home.

Now balancing on feet and wing-tips, the magical arrows fading to nothingness, Nebby-Necrozma turned, wobbling drunkenly as it faced the Ultra Wormhole.

Home home home it will be better at home they have the place that makes it not hurt so much. Home home home.

“No!” screamed Lillie, running at Nebby-Necrozma. “You can't take her, you can't! You can't, you can't, you fucking can't!”

Too loud headache everything blurs must go home.

Nebby-Necrozma's knees bent, swiveling as it prepared to jump; Lillie reached it, wrapping her arms around the slender joint and trying to pull on it. Moon realized, her heart rising to her mouth, what was going to happen.

“Lillie let go, let go right now—”

Hau and Gladion both looked up at this, worry transforming to horror as Necrozma—

—sprang—

—Lillie's eyes, blazing green with tears at the corners, widening as her feet left the ground—

—home home home—

—“LILLIE!”—

—and with a shrieking, pulsing burst of sound followed by immediate dead silence, the Ultra Wormhole closed.

“NO!”

It was Hau who broke the silence; rising to his feet, face twisted with rage and pain, running to the Altar to stare at the empty air where moments ago Nebby-Necrozma, and Lillie, had been.

“No!” The sound ripped from his throat, jagged and broken; his legs jerked, knees bending almost automatically as he sank to the earth. “Lillie— Lillie, no, fuck— no, this can't be happening— not fucking again—”

Gladion remained motionless, though he too was staring at the place where Lillie had been.

Lillie's gone, thought Moon numbly. She's... gone.

Guzma groaned, drawing her attention; Soliera had turned back to tend to him, working in silence. Phyco was frowning at his scanner, but then his face brightened.

“I have it,” he said triumphantly. “That was impressive aim, Soliera— the tracker is online. The Blinding One is in the Ultra Sea.”

Almost on cue, there was a crackling noise from Soliera's hip. “Um, Captain? Soli? There's a situation with the readings you asked me to keep an eye on.”

Soliera pulled up the communicator, pressing a button. “I would imagine so, Lieutenant.”

“The Blinding One was on Terra, but now it's chilling in the void. There's some kind of a funky-looking aura going on.”

“It consumed the Terran Lunala,” said Phyco heavily. “Our timing was very poor.”

“Oh, I guess that'd do it.” The communicator crackled again. “Wait— oh, that's weird.”

“What is it?”

“There were two human signals in the void, like you said. One of them dropped off, so I was going to call anyway but then the equipment went haywire with all of the Blinding One's shenanigans. Ooh— good word, shenanigans. But now there's two again— and whoop, there goes the Blinding One. It's headed... um, looks like it's coming to the Spire.”

The voice rose in pitch slightly; Moon, remembering that Phyco had said that Zossie was only sixteen, pictured a scared teenage girl, staring at a computer.

“I suggest that you contact the Coterie and the military; let them know that they will need to evacuate. Business as usual, Lieutenant,” said Soliera briskly. “Do not let them know that you are nervous. We do not need panicking politicians on top of all the other problems we currently have.”

“Yeah, I know. I'm not stupid.” Moon could practically hear Zossie rolling her eyes. “Are you guys coming back?”

“Not immediately.” Phyco glanced at Moon, watching them; then at Gladion, still staring at the air— as though he could see Ultra Space and Lillie if only he tried hard enough. “We have people to send on a retrieval mission first— we would have liked for them to take the Terran Lunala, but that is no longer an option, so they will need to borrow our Solgaleo. The two humans in the Void need to be rescued.”

“Yeah, if the life signals are going funky they're probably not doing so hot.” Moon heard Hau choke, behind her.

“Er— no, that is not what is happening.. One of the humans returned to Terra, and another one went back. You should be seeing two female lifesigns.”

“Oh. I can't really tell the difference. I'm a xenolinguist, I know nothing about science. Hey, Dulse, come here!”

Before anyone else could speak, Moon felt a chill run down her spine— down her entire back. She glanced over at Hau again and was surprised when she could barely see him.

“Ah,” said Soliera softly. “Terra senses that its moon has left.”

The night sky, already deep and soft, was now a deep, inky black with only the faintest twinkling stars for light. And, probably most importantly, the silver sliver of a crescent moon had vanished.

“Will it come back if we can get Nebby back?” she asked.

Phyco and Soliera both turned to regard her, expressions blank; neither of them spoke.

“Well?”

“No Solgaleo or Lunala, once taken by the Blinding One, has ever managed to escape,” said Phyco softly. “I am sorry, Moon. We have failed Miss Lillie too many times already, and now we have failed Alola and Terra as well. Like Ultra Megalopolis, your moon is gone.”

Moon stared at him for a few moments, then exhaled heavily. “Theoretically,” she said, putting her hands on her hips, “if I defeated Nebby-Necrozma in battle here at the Altar and for a couple of seconds kind of saw just-Nebby under all the Necrozma shit, freaking the hell out but unable to control her own actions— theoretically, is it possible that Nebby's still sentient in there?”

“Until the Blinding One has burned through her entire life force, yes.” Soliera shrugged, when Phyco frowned at her. “You have explained the science to me many times, Captain.”

“So theoretically, if I fought it again and injured it enough, like almost badly enough to kill—” The thought made bile rise in her throat, but she pressed forward. “—do you think that Necrozma would like, follow the biological imperative to survive and just run the fuck away and leave Nebby?”

Phyco looked horrified, but once again Soliera answered. “It is a solid hypothesis,” she said thoughtfully. “The Blinding One is nothing, if not a survivor.”

“You cannot guarantee that you will not kill the Blinding One!” Phyco's voice was sharp. “If you are speaking in terms of moves powerful enough to kill not just an Ultra Beast, but an Ultra Beast fused with a legendary Pokémon— you cannot control the effects of the move, or the effects of your environment.”

What little was left of Moon's temper frayed into nothing. “Okay, asshole. How many suns and moons have to be fucking eaten before you decide that the Blinding One is better off dead? Because right now I'm not seeing any net benefit to the universe by leaving it alive.”

The blue-tinted blood drained from his face, leaving him pale and offended. Soliera remained silent, crossing her arms.

“If I kill it,” she continued, “then it's not really a loss, at this point. If we're not getting Nebby back anyway, the result is the same. Except that Necrozma will probably come back and eat our Solgaleo, and then it will find other worlds and eat the Lunala and Solgaleo there and send them into darkness, too. But if I kill Necrozma—”

“—if Null kills Necrozma.” Gladion's voice was quiet and hoarse behind her, but audible; his hand slipped into hers. She squeezed it, trying to will away his trembling. “That's what she's made to do.”

“If Null kills Necrozma,” conceded Moon, because she'd seen Null hunt before— ruthless didn't do her justice. “It's a last-ditch option, obviously. But if Null kills her, nobody else has to suffer. Nobody else loses light.” She folded her arms, staring at him. “That would be the practical thing to do, wouldn't it?”

Soliera raised one eyebrow. “But there is no guarantee that Null will be able to kill Necrozma either, is there?”

“No, but I bet between Gladion and I, we can get pretty damn close.” Moon took a deep breath. “First, we get Lillie and Lusamine, and we bring them back here. Then we go to Ultra Megalopolis, and we get Nebby, and we bring her back here. Then we figure out how to deal with Necrozma. Okay?”

For several long moments, Phyco stared at her, wide-eyed and pale; but then he sighed, soft and defeated.

“You are right,” he said heavily. “However, if Necrozma dies, the Coterie— the governing force of Ultra Megalopolis— will not be pleased. So if you can at all avoid it, I ask you to do so.”

“I don't want to kill her,” said Moon. “It's like how you didn't want to torture Nebby. You just didn't see a way around it. I'll do my damnedest, but I promise nothing.”

“That is all I can hope for.” Slowly, he bent to sit on the ground. “Soliera, will you send them on their way? Solgaleo will need the coordinates, but he will know where to go.”

“Of course.”

“We need a minute first,” said Moon, turning and walking away; she pulled Gladion with her.

“Let us know when you are ready.”

Hau lay prone on the Altar, racking sobs reduced to silence. Moon let go of Gladion's hand and sat down next to her cousin, placing her hand on his back.

“I'm in love with her.” Hau turned his head to look up at Moon; his eyes were disturbingly empty. “I tried not to think too hard about it because it's really way too soon to say that. It's been like, a month. But I love Lillie, I am in love with Lillie, and if she dies I don't know what will happen to me.”

“Lillie is not going to die,” said Moon firmly. “Stop thinking that right now, Hau Akiona. Gladion and I are going to get her and Lusamine, and we are going to bring her back. And we're going to get Nebby, and bring her back too.”

Hau sat up, glaring at her. “That's easy for you to say,” he snapped. “You didn't fucking watch yourself go to fucking pieces when the Nihilego got you. I never thought you could be weak until I saw that happen. And now Lillie's stuck somewhere with hundreds of them, and not so much as a jacket to keep them off her skin. And we know Lusamine isn't going to be any fucking help. What am I supposed to think? There's no hope.”

“Shut your fucking mouth and get off the Altar before I punch you in the face.”

Gladion's voice was ice. Hau's gaze flicked to him, dull and lifeless; then he nodded once, slowly getting to his feet.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “I don't mean to be like, an agony aunt or whatever. I'm just so goddamn sick of Lillie getting taken away from me.”

“Welcome to the fucking club.” Gladion's voice was still cold, but his rigid expression relaxed ever so slightly. “We're— working on it. Moon's working on it.” He turned to look at her— mouth set, eyes pleading. “We'll get her back, won't we?”

“Yes,” said Moon, meeting his eyes. “Yes, we will. I promise we will get her back.” She looked at Hau then. “You hear that? I promise we will get her back. I keep my fucking promises.”

His mouth trembled, but he nodded, looking away. “I need a minute,” he mumbled. “Don't go until I get back.”

That left Moon and Gladion alone. She eyed him. “Are you doing okay?”

Gladion stared at her, eyes flat. “What do you think.”

“Rookie mistake number one would be assuming my hypotheses about what goes on in your head to be true. I'm not a fucking rookie.”

He blinked at her for a few moments. “Thanks,” he said finally. “Nothing is okay.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Gladion regarded her for a few moments. “I mentioned this to you already, but I'll recap it. The situation's changed.” He took a deep breath. “Dad walked into an Ultra Wormhole. Never came out. Lusamine walked into an Ultra Wormhole. Still hasn't come out. Lillie walked into an Ultra Wormhole. Still hasn't come out. Now I'm going to walk into an Ultra Wormhole.”

“The family that wormholes together stays togeth— wait, no, you don't want that, not with Lusamine.”

That provoked a dark, nasty chuckle out of him. “Do you think anyone will care if we just leave her there?”

Moon studied him for a few moments— his own pink-rimmed eyes, and the darkness in them. “See, I wouldn't necessarily mind that,” she said slowly, “but you've probably got a lot of things you need closure for, with her. She can't give you closure if she's dead.”

His face contorted, rippling through a wide spectrum of emotion— anger, guilt, grief, fear, pain, and finally resignation.

“Why do you have to make sense,” he muttered, before taking a step forward to close the gap between them.

It wasn't the same kind of hug she was beginning to be used to, with Gladion. In general he seemed to enjoy being taller than her, taking the role of “big spoon” if they happened to be taking a nap together; surrounding her with shoulders and arms to shroud her each time she went across a bridge or up an ancient, crumbling staircase. But this time he bent his head, pressing his forehead into her shoulder. This was an embrace that came from someone looking for comfort; and that, she could do. She held him just as tightly, bringing her hands up to rest on his back and softly rubbing from side to side.

“It's okay,” she whispered. “It's okay, Gladion.”

He shuddered. “It's not okay, it's not fucking okay—”

“But it's going to be. Shh,” she soothed him. “I lo— I'll be here for you.”

It was obvious that he had heard her slip-up, based on the way he stiffened. Moon silently winced, rubbing his back.

“Do you?” he said, his voice small. “M-mother said you did, but— she lies, sometimes. To get a rise out of me.”

“Yeah,” Moon breathed. “I didn't want to like, say it, you know? It's a big thing. It means a lot. But I guess that means it's big enough to contain— all the things I feel.”

She heard him sniffle. “I dunno if I can say it back yet,” he mumbled. “It really is, it's big, it's a lot. I don't have room for all the things I feel as it is.”

“You know what, though?”

“Hmm?”

“I'll be there when you do.”

There was a long silence. In the dimness of the moonless night, the rest of Moon's senses were keyed up. She could hear his breathing, could feel the gentle ripple of it on her shoulder; every nerve that was in touch with him sang with an aching sorrow. She grieved with him, as she grieved for herself; but it was a luxury they did not have time for.

“After,” he said, almost inaudibly. “After it's all over.”

“Yes. Just like we said earlier.”

“You— you promise?”

“I promise I'll be there. When everything is finished, and when you're ready to say it. I'll be waiting.”

A soft, relieved sigh. “Okay.”

Hau returned, holding a water bottle. He still looked miserable, but a half-hearted smile slid onto his face as he approached them.

“Cute.”

“Damn straight we are. And we're going to bring Lillie back, so you can be cute too.”

“A truce,” said Gladion, turning to look at Hau. “You stop giving us shit about the pace of our relationship, and I'll stop glaring at you when you do PDA with my little sister.”

Hau laughed. It sounded rather damp, given that he'd been crying. “I'll take it.”

They shook hands. Gladion let go of Moon, but his hand slipped back into hers and he squeezed it once, nodding when she turned to look at him.

“Hey, Soliera?”

Soliera had been watching them. Moon didn't know if she'd overheard them or not but she nodded and withdrew a Pokéball from her belt.

Moon was surprised to see that the Solgaleo was not white, as she had expected— but deep red, with hints of space-aura and gold that reminded her of Nebby in its mane.

“You have heard everything?” Soliera asked it.

The Solgaleo offered a short nod. Its eyes flicked from Moon to Gladion, finally resting on Hau; he padded forward, sniffing curiously for a few moments before poking out its tongue and licking Hau's tear-stained face.

“Ah— um, that's kind of,” stammered Hau, and Moon knew he didn't want to say gross to a god but his expression suggested it.

Salt, was the Solgaleo's comment; and his voice was deeper than Nebby's, which Moon supposed made sense. I do not like to see younglings cry. Shall I open a door?

“If you do not mind. Here are the coordinates.”

Solgaleo pressed a paw to the scanner that Soliera crouched to offer; he nodded regally and turned to face the center of the altar before bending his knees to crouch.

Climb onto my back. The one in front hangs to my mane, and the one in back hangs to the one in front.

Moon glanced at Gladion. “Front or back?”

“Back.”

Moon climbed on first, sliding herself up to just behind the Solgaleo's neck. It was not like riding a Tauros or a Mudsdale— for one thing, Ride Pokémon had saddles, and were not nearly as wide.

Hang on tightly. You will not hurt me by pulling.

“Okay.” She put her helmet on, twisting it in place before burying her hands in the scarlet mane. Her hand ran into a starlit patch, and a chill raced up her arm; a bead of gold bumped her other hand, and a frisson of warmth soothed the chill.

Gladion climbed on behind her, sliding in close. They had shared a Charizard and a Mudsdale before, so she was used to this; but she had the feeling that this would be more like sharing a Tauros. His arms went around her waist, and she heard a click as his helmet tapped against hers.

“Testing,” murmured Phyco, in the microphone that connected to their speakers. “Raise your left hand if you hear me.”

Moon raised her left hand; behind her Gladion did the same.

“Very good, thank you.”

“Are we going to be able to talk to you in Ultra Space?”

Phyco shook his head. “We would lend you a communicator, but we are required to keep ours on one of our persons at all times. They track our movements for Zossie and Dulse. They may be able to speak to you when you arrive in the Ultra Sea."

“They're good radios, for somewhere that's super far away.”

“We estimate that physically, Ultra Megalopolis and Terra share a galaxy— you call it the Milky Way, and we call it Spira.” Soliera hummed thoughtfully. “I believe the distance in miles calculates up to the quadrillions, possibly even pentillions. Luckily the ancient paths will allow you to travel, quite literally, at the speed of light— as Solgaleo himself is a form of light.”

“Wow,” said Hau, after a few moments of silence. “Really good radios.” Moon snorted.

I shall open the door now, said the Solgaleo. Are you not in a hurry?

“Sorry— um, yeah, I guess. Go ahead.”

“Be gentle with them, please,” said Soliera. “It's their first time in the pathways.”

If Solgaleo could sigh, this one would have sighed at that moment. As you say.

He stretched the way a cat did, back legs stretching up in the air as the lower legs bent; then all his legs straightened and he let out a bellowing roar, rainbows rushing from his mouth.

An Ultra Wormhole, tinted oddly scarlet, formed before them. Moon could hear the panic of Gladion's breath in her speakers.

“It's okay,” she whispered, knowing that only he and Phyco would hear her. “Hang on to me. I've got you.”

His arms tightened further, until there was no space left between them.

“Leave some room for Arceus, guys,” joked Hau. The effect was rather subdued by the worry creased into his forehead and eyes.

“I am leaving zero room for certain death,” muttered Gladion. “Also, like hell am I wasting an opportunity like this.”

Moon felt herself go scarlet inside the helmet; Phyco coughed.

And now we go, said the Solgaleo. It politely paused for a second, allowing them to prepare; and then it was bounding forward, forward, forward—

* * * * *

Please look forward to Luminescence.