rebirth

chapter two – challenge

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three years ago

"Miss Touko! It's a pleasure to meet you as a challenger," Rosa greeted the awestruck trainer. "I see you have regained your badges, which makes you eligible to battle me. Are you ready?"

Touko's knees felt wobbly, even if she believed in her Pokemon. She left her Zekrom in the bag and not on her battle belt to make things equal between her and the new Champion. It was herself that she didn't believe in, despite all the hours she spent training and strategizing with her Pokemon.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" she said, placing a hand on a PokeBall. Rosa nodded, doing the same.

"Alright. Let's start our battle, Miss Touko!"

present day, hau'oli outskirts – touko

"Miss Touko! It's nice to meet you," the fifteen-year old Champion of Alola said, fidgeting slightly on her spot. "It's great when all these Champions come to Alola. Our island challenge is something you shouldn't miss, after all! And you, eighteen years of age, are still available to challenge the trials and the totems!"

Hau smiled. "Great! It's a good speech for when you meet Miss White," he said, clapping enthustiastically. The two were busy celebrating when they didn't notice a pair, an older man and a pony-tailed girl, approaching them.

"Okay, thank you so much, mister!" Touko said, bowing before doing a slightly awkward "Alola" hand gesture. She turned to the younger duo before her, who gaped at her mere presence. Confused, she introduced herself. "Hello! I'm Touko White. I was hoping I could meet the Champion here, and I was led to this place. The man said it was her house."

Moon jumped around, still nervous. "M-miss Touko! It's meet to nice you," she said, jumbling up her words. Her face turned to a dark shade of red before covering it with her hands. "I-I'm sorry! I can't do the speech," she said. "I'm Moon, the Champion of Alola. What do you need?"

Touko giggled, amused by Moon's reaction. "I was going to check the region for a guy named Touya. Have you, by any chance, battled him? I know his trademark look is a cap, a blue zip-up hoodie, jeans, and red shoes," she explained. "He always wanted to battle the League of all regions, and I was thinking if he dropped by here recently."

"Is it that guy who goes to the Chamber every 25th of the month?" Moon frowned. "He looks like that or something, and always said, 'I want to become stronger to battle the Leagues!' even though I beat him every time he comes up?" she asked, shaking her head. "I have to train even more because of that guy! He gets stronger every time, so I have to be two steps ahead of him."

Touko's jaw dropped. This was Moon, the truthfully unbeatable Champion of Alola. She even heard that the young girl saved the region from an Ultra Beast, which were creatures that weren't of this world. If Touya can't beat Moon, then how worse would Touko be?

"That sounds like Touya, alright," Touko admitted, quite sure that the quite yet blunt guy would say words like those. "Do you know where he trains frequently? I wanted to see him for...reasons."

"Nah, he seems to camp wherever he feels like it. I bump into him in Poni Plains, Tapu Village, Mount Hokulani, and hell, he might even be on this island right now," the younger female said. "What I'm saying is, he travels around a lot, and that might be hard on your part."

Touko processed her words, thinking about how she should get around Alola. "Do you have any recommendations? I've heard that the HMs, er, Hidden Machines, aren't really used around here. How do people fly around Alola, then?"

"Simple," Moon started, taking out a green remote-like object. "This is the Ride Pager. This will let you ride around the region with a registered Pokemon's help! People who would register the Ride Pokemon are either kahunas, captains, or even just the trial guide for certain routes. Of course, if you don't want to use one, you can use a Pokemon that knows Fly."

The older woman thought it over. 'Well, the island challenge seems like a good idea to expose myself to Alola, and it forces me to explore the region, too. I can go around to look for Touya better, since some routes are apparently closed off to trainers that have not yet finished the respective trial yet.'

"'Alright! I'll do the island challenge," Touko said, feeling excited and nervous. "Where's the first trial?"

Hau held a hand up even though he kept silent during the whole conversation. "Miss White, I'm Hau," he smiled at her. "Your Pokemon are hella strong, maybe even too strong for the trials which will, in turn, not let the challenge be a challenge at all. You should go catch new Pokemon for your new team, but you can keep your first partner!"

present day, nuvema town – n

"Unbelievable," N muttered, staring at his phone's screen as Touko once again ignored a call. Shaking his head, he willed himself to think of optimistic things. "Touko is just busy, wherever she is. She's safe, she's safe, she's safe..."

The words kept on repeating in his mind like a mantra, reminding him every day of Touko's current state. He hadn't tried the internet yet, though, but he'll be sure to do it after he takes his brunch. As he made his way to the kitchen, he saw Bianca's hair and Mrs. White's own ones, the people obivously busy.

Bianca was the first one to notice him, and waved him off with a spatula covered in batter. "Hey, now! Don't worry about this, it's your brunch! I know last night hit you hard, so you can relax a little bit today." she said before turning to the food she was making.

N did as he told, sitting obediently on the couch, waiting for the usual "food is ready!" that he missed for two years, remembering the memories he had in the house. Dazed, he didn't notice the hand that was gently placed on his shoulder. He looked up to see Bianca's eyes staring back at him.

"Heya, N! We're good to go, the food is ready!"

x

"N," Mrs. White started, N's head shooting up to look at her. "Do you know where Touko is, already?"

N shook his head, feeling embarrassed that he still didn't know even if he had Lilligant rant to him last night. "Not yet. I was thinking of calling her, but even then she wouldn't want to talk." he admitted, fighting the urge to keep his head down. Mrs. White frowned.

"Well, that's right," she said, nodding her head in agreement. N saw her eyes dart to Bianca's form before closing them. "Say, what would you do if I told you about her whereabouts now?"

His eyes widened in surprise, not expecting the woman to help him find Touko. "I—I would go look for her, Mrs. White," he said, a smile threatening to break out on his face. "And then I'd tell her how sorry I am and—"

The woman held up a hand, and N stopped talking immediately. He saw a smile forming on her face that was quickly wiped out when she opened her eyes again. "That's all I need to know. Thank you. I knew it, that somewhere inside you, you really love my dear Touko. Bianca made sure to tell me that this morning."

N stayed silent, thinking over her words.

Love.

Touko was amazing, beautiful, compassionate, strong-willed, and everything he didn't even know if he deserved it or not. She was a heroine in her own right, yet he was just a puppet to an evil organization. But even so, Touko helped him on the way to recovery, even if it wasn't a full recovery. She helped him even if no one wanted to, and for that, he was extrremely grateful and admired Touko as a whole, flaws and all.

Yes, he loved Touko.

x

"Whoopee!" Bianca cheered, surprising both Cheren and N who were preparing items for N's own trip to Alola. She pranced around, throwing flower—flowers?! – around the place. "We got N to confess his love for Touko White! Now all that's left is to have Touko admit her feelings as well!"

Cheren ignored Bianca's squeals, turning to N with a deadpanned expression. "Just ignore her, okay?" he said, exasperated. "She's still an airhead after all this time. You'd think she'd mature when she's eighteen, but she still gets loud over things like these."

N hummed. "But you do love Bianca, yes? Even if she's all these things, you still love her," he said, teasing Cheren lightly. The Aspertia Gym Leader huffed, the red hue creeping up to his face.

"H-hey! You're the one we're focusing on right now," Cheren said. "I would talk to Bianca when it's the right time, but for now, Touko is more important. It doesn't mean I approve of your relationship, even after four years, though," Cheren eyed N warily. "You left her first, but if she loves you, then I'll be fine with it. It's what she's happy with, anyway."

The two worked in silence after that, the bubbly girl now tired with her prancing and dancing around. After all of the necessities were packed, N thanked Cheren and even Bianca for helping him get closer to Touko even after he left her.

Cheren opened his mouth to make a correction to that, but Bianca elbowed him. "Shush, Cheren!" she said, giving him an angry look. She turned to N, smiling at him apologetically. "It's no problem, N. You realized that Touko got hurt when you left, and now you're willing to make up for it. She stopped you from leaving three years ago, and now it's your time to find her again."

"Well, that was worded much nicer than what I was about to say," Cheren muttered, rolling his eyes. "I'm going to agree with what Bianca said, but if you ever hurt Touko again, I'll..." he trailed off, his arm being squeezed by Bianca way too tightly. "Good luck finding her. She never contacted me after she arrived there."

"Yeah!" Bianca pouted. "She doesn't talk to me anymore, and I'm getting worried," she said, sighing. "Give her a hello from me, okay?"

heahea city, a week after melemele grand trial – touko

"Your Pokemon are growing nicely, Miss White!" Lillie, a friend of Moon, praised. Touko's Pichu and Wingull were improving, alright. Her orignal Pokemon weren't on her battle belt, yet they were hidden in her bag. "They were eager to battle Hau's Pokemon."

"Yeah!" Hau exclaimed, cheering for Touko. "Your Peeko was amazing! My Pokemon didn't stand a chance against it," he said. "Moon said she'll be here in a few minutes, just wrapping up some things with a challenger."

Touko's hopes rose. "Touya?" she asked, getting nervous but disappointed when Hau shook his head.

"Lusamine, apparently. Moon said they talked about an important thing, and she didn't want to budge about it," he shrugged. "Hey, let's get some malasadas! Miss White, you tried those in Hau'oli city, right?"

The older girl nodded. She was about to say something when her Xtransceiver rang on her wrist. She answered the call while her friends looked on in awe. "Hello, Bianca! How are you?"

"Hi, Touko! I'm fine, thanks! How's your search for Touya holding up? Still hanging on?" Bianca said, grinning at Touko. "Are you alone right now?"

Touko shook her head. "No, I'm with my friends right now. I'm going to get malasadas," she said, carefully choosing her words. She didn't want to reveal any of her locations, getting the feel that a certain guy would be following her. Her friend's expression didn't change, though.

"Oh, cool! Bring home malasadas for me, too, okay? It's been two months, and I can't wait for another four!" Bianca cried out, earning a giggle from Touko. "Hope you find Touya soon! Tell me when you're alone, I'm going to fill you in on a juicy secret. Bye-bye!"

Bianca winked at her before her Xtransceiver shut off. Hau was the first one to speak up, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Wow! It's an Xtransceiver. I've only seen that in the books in Professor's lab. It looks so cool," he raved, looking childish for a 16 year-old Kahuna. "And it looks better than our phones, here! I mean, Moon's RotomDex could double as a phone, too, but since we don't have RotomDexes, we're sticking to phones."

"Oooh, my RotomDex got excited at the mention of it!" someone behind them said. Lillie was the first to turn around, followed by Hau and Touko. Moon greeted them with bags of malasadas, the oil getting to the paper bag. "I got you guys malasadas when I dropped by Malie."

"Thank you," Touko said. Moon's eyes widened, remembering that the Unovan Champion would be here with them. She bowed, stuttering apologies. "No! It's alright. My presence would be overpowered by your friends', of course."

"I'm so sorry, oh Arceus, I actually forgot that you were doing your island challenge," Moon said, her words threatening to jumble up like the first time they met. "I don't think I got enough—you can get my share of malasadas!" she offered. "So—so, um...how was Melemele? Can I see your Pokemon?"

"Sure."

Two Pokemon came out of their Balls, both standing proudly. A Pichu and a Wingull were present, letting out cries of excitement. Moon squealed. "Oh! They're so cute. They must be super powerful, too, being trained by Miss Touko herself."

"She breezed through the trial and the Grand Trial!" Hau said with enthusiasm, proudly showing off the Pokemon and Touko. "I bet she'll sweep Akala's trials, too! Oh, won't you, cuddly Pichu?"

The Pichu squeaked before running off to Touko, hiding behind her leg. Touko laughed, picking up the Pichu. "Aww, Pepper! Hau is harmless, don't worry," she said, cooing to the small Pokemon. The Wingull beside Touko squawked, landing on Touko's shoulder.

Hau held both of his hands up, as if admitting defeat. "Your Pokemon don't seem to like me, Miss White," he said, pouting. "Anyway, let's get to Brooklet Hill, where you'll meet Lana! She's the captain for the Water-type trial. As for me, I'll get back to Melemele and see if there are any challengers."

He wished Touko a good luck before leaving for Melemele. Lillie turned to Touko and Moon. "I'll stay here. I heard that there was a new clothing shop that opened just a few weeks ago, and I don't really have a reason to visit Akala as often as I want to," she said, shaking her head. "You guys go on to Brooklet Hill, okay? Good luck on your trial, Miss White."

As soon as they passed by the Tide Song Hotel, though, Touko swore she almost saw a scientist she hasn't seen in years.

x

"Route 4! I haven't gone here for a while," Moon said, playing with a PokeBall in her hand. "I might go on a catching spree, too. I've got a whole bunch of Quick and Ultra Balls."

"If you don't mind me asking, why?" Touko asked, her curiosity piqued. She heard of people breeding for trade fodder, but she didn't know if people caught to use the Pokemon as trading items. She hoped Moon wasn't either.

"Ah...you see, you're not the only one with a traveling friend," Moon said. "I had a friend, and he always liked children and Pokemon. We had plans of donating Pokemon to orphanages, so they wouldn't be lonely," she said, a blank stare in her eyes. "But he went missing, too. He left his RotomDex at his house, so we don't know how to reach him. The Dex didn't know where he went, too.

"His Pokemon were gone, and he didn't leave a note or anything. I haven't seen him ever since I became Champion, but I continued our plans of donating Pokemon to anyone who needs them. Of course, I don't get the extremely strong ones, but I don't like the idea of breeding, too. I make sure that the wild Pokemon I catch would want to be given away or if they want to be released. But getting babies from their mothers is just...sad. I don't know what I'd do if I were given a newly-hatched Pokemon that got separated from their parents.

"Oh," Moon gasped, the light coming back to her eyes. She gave Touko an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, I rambled on. Are you here to catch Pokemon, too? In that case, have some Heal Balls," she said, getting a few of the pink balls from her bag. "You can immediately bond with your Pokemon after catching it, and the design is nice, too."

"Thank you, Moon," Touko said, taking the balls from the younger girl. "Hey, it was a fine story. I think that wherever he might be, he's proud of you. Also, you can call me Touko."

"Ah, thanks, Touko."

The two separated for a while, and after a few encounters with Yungoose and Grubbin, Touko ran into a pale Eevee, who looked too pale to be healthy until it shone in the light, indicating that it was a shiny. She gasped, sending out her Pichu silently. "Okay, I'm sorry, Eevee, but...Pepper, use Thunder Wave."

Her Pichu quietly paralyzed the Eevee, who seemed shocked to have been hit by an attack. Touko and Pichu was suddenly in its line of sight, and it let out a cry of frustration before running towards Pichu. "Oh, Pepper! Dodge, and tackle it! Not too much, don't make it faint!"

Her Pichu followed her commands, dodging the incoming Eevee and tackling it, pinning the Eevee to the ground. Touko threw a Heal Ball at the Eevee, and after three rolls, it clicked.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, feeling a bit sorry for the sudden attack on the shiny Eevee. She picked up the Heal Ball and sent out the Eevee, who was now growling. "I'm sorry, Eevee. Do you want to be released?"

As soon as she asked the pale Pokemon that, though, her Pichu stepped up and squeaked, communicating to the Eevee. The small Pokemon cocked its head, willing to listen to the small Pichu before it cried out, walking towards Touko with a renewed energy.

"Oh. I take it you want to be a part of our team now?" she asked. The Eevee pawed at her legs, and Touko picked it up. "I take it as a yes. Let's go train now, Eevee! Actually, Vee would suit you, wouldn't it?"

melemele island, a week after departure – n

a week after shiny encounter with touko

"I feel like...Zekrom has been here," Reshiram said as soon and N stepped out of the boat and onto the Marina. People were busy, crowding all over the place and rushing to greet or say their farewells to their loved ones. "We need to get out of the crowd as well."

Getting out of the crowd was as hard as a Rattata getting out of a horde of Tauros. He embraced the fresh air of Hau'oli City, the place blinking red on his Xtransceiver's Map. "There are a total of four islands, and we are on Melemele," he sent out Zoroark, who looked at him expectantly. "Do you think Touko took the Island Challenge?"

"Truthfully, I do not know," Zoroark said. "She may have started it, but maybe decided to end it sand take her search for this Touya seriously. Let us ask-"

His Zoroark got interrupted by a loud man, who bumped into N. "Oh! I'm sorry, man. I didn't see where I was going, and—hey, what a powerful looking Zoroark!" he said, grinning. His eyes darted to N's. "I'm Hau! I'm the Kahuna around here. Say, would you mind having a Pokemon battle? Just a friendly one."

N crossed his arms. Well, it was rude of him to deny a batte, and he would make himself look bad in front of people. And the Kahuna seemed to be well-respected, too. "Alright. But please, help me after this battle."

Hau beamed. "Sure, dude!"

Hau sent out his Raichu first, which took on a form that N wasn't sure that he has seen before. He didn't miss the curious look on N's face, which he commented on. "It looks amazing, right? Alolan forms are different from the other regions, and that's why they look like that."

N nodded, putting himself into the battle now. "They look amazing, indeed," he muttered to himself before shouting a command for his Zoroark. "Zoroark! Use Night Slash on the Raichu!"

"Raichu, use Thunderbolt to stop the Zoroark!"

Zoroark got close to the Raichu, fast, but even its speed couldn't match Raichu's. As soon as he got close enough to slash the yellow Pokemon, the Raichu sent a thunderbolt its way, stopping the Zoroark and letting it crash on the floor. It stood up again, but this time with yellow sparks floating around its body.

"Paralyzed!" N exclaimed, trying to think fast. He reached out for a berry and threw the red berry for Zoroark to feed on. Immediately, the sparks disappeared, and Hau clapped.

"Cheri berries! Raichu, use quick attack!"

"Counter with a Night Slash again!"

The Zoroark let the Raichu close in on it before it slashed at the body with glowing claws, hitting the Raichu with a super-effective attack. The Raichu fainted, forcing Hau to call it back. Immediately, he sent out a Crabominable. N didn't recognize it, but he heard a small voice.

"Raichuuu! I will avenge you, don't worry, man!" the Pokemon said, crying out. Hau took notice of this and laughed.

"Looks like Crabominable is excited to battle your Zoroark. Use Close Combat!" Hau commanded, the Crabominable moving at the Zoroark with readied fists.

"Use Night Slash again!"

Zoroark waited for the Crabominable and lunged at it, pinning it to the ground with its claws. The Crabominable didn't seem fazed, though, but was able to throw off the Dark-type before hitting the Zoroark with Close Combat, making the Zoroark faint.

The rest of the battle went on, commands being shouted out and Pokemon being withdrawn until Hau emerged as the winner, barely winning the match with his Incineroar. "That was exhilarating!" he cheered, congratulating his own Pokemon. "You rock, guys!"

N could hear the faint voices of the weakened Pokemon, who sounded happy even after almost fainting. "You rocked too, Hau!" "Master Hau, it was a pleasure to serve you!" "Are we going to get malasadas after this?"

"Anyway," Hau continued. N snapped out of his trance and stopped listening to the Pokemon's chatters, focusing on the Kahuna before him. "What was it that you wanted me to help you with?"

The crowd dispersed, and N followed Hau to a malasada shop which had less customers than usual. The employees greeted Hau with excitement, and he greeted them with the same level of enthusiasm. The greenet observed this before speaking up. "Have you heard of a girl named Touko White?"

Hau perked up, excited to talk about the trainer that just sweeped his Grand Trial Pokemon a few days ago. "Oh, hell yeah! I even talked to her. She's so cool, even if she has a brand new team. She's a pretty strong trainer, but I guess it's because she's Champion," he paused. "Why are you asking?"

N almost choked on his malasada. Touko had been here days ago, and she'd been with the Kahuna. "She's doing the Island Challenge?" he asked, not knowing what to really ask Hau. He wanted to bombard him with questions like, "Is she okay?" or "Is she happy?" but he settled with the current question for now.

"Yeah! She seems to be enjoying it, too," Hau said. "Are you a friend of hers?"

"I hope so."

The two sat in silence, unsure of what to say until Hau spoke up. "Well, I could lead you to her. She took on Akala a week ago, but with her pace, she's probably on Ula'ula right now. Or doing Mallow's trial," he said. "Cheer up! You'll find her in no time. I'll even accompany you to Akala right now, if you like."

N brightened up. "That is quite alright. I have to see her as soon as I can," he paused. "I didn't tell you my name yet. I'm N."

"N? Like, just N?"

"The name's longer, but I prefer to be called N," he explained. "It's Natural Harmonia Gropius, by the way."

"That's a mouthful," Hau said, immediately slapping his mouth. "I'm sorry! That was so rude." N laughed, waving Hau off.

"Indeed, it is. It's the truth, anyway," N said. The two were once again enveloped in silence before Hau's phone rang, Moon's name shining on the screen. Once Hau accepted it, though, a different face greeted him.

"Gladion! You're back!"

Author: Hello! Chapter 2 is up! I bet 3 is going to take a long time, since there's school and all. I added something mid-way: timeline is going to show for both's situation. I hope that makes things easier.

Please review!