What shallow sleep I had gotten was abruptly ended by a shadowy figure's mediocre attempt at being quiet as he rose from the bed below me, buzzed across the small dorm and slipped out the door, shutting it less than gracefully behind him. So there went Vikavolt, I groggily realized as I forced myself to sit up in my own bed. My friend was gone, until next spring at the very earliest, and who would take his place only Arceus knew. Just as he had promised, the sun didn't look to have risen yet, according to the small window next to my bed. Yet, I couldn't bring myself back to sleep, so I had to settle for completing as many late assignments as I could before dawn did break.

It was a Saturday, which meant significantly less stirring among the Pokémon in neighboring dorms; many of them likely didn't care so much about the exchange that it'd make them lose sleep, which only made me envy them. It was an entire hour before I jumped at what sounded like footsteps going down the stairs from outside the room, and, with trepidation, I crept down from my bed and cracked the door open.

"You're up early, Decidueye," Salazzle recognized me immediately despite my being covered from her view by most of the door. Prided in her femininity, the Toxic Lizard Pokémon yawned and stretched her long, thin arms above her head as if to swoon me with her form, but even I knew it was just a ruse (she did it to just about everybody), so I kept my stout-faced frown on. The guitarist sighed and rolled her eyes when she saw her flirting wasn't working, and more casually said, "Vikavolt has left, then?"

I nodded, pushing the door open a bit more.

"My roommate has as well. Lurantis," Salazzle's eyes turned upward, then went back into another roll. "Smart little Pokémon, but strange. She'll probably enjoy the Ultra Space." She sighed. "We're down an alto sax, though."

I didn't fully trust Salazzle or her swath of brothers; the way she talked slowly and condescendingly, the way she flaunted her form—it rubbed me the wrong way. Yet, with nothing better to do, I quietly asked her, "You don't find the whole exchange program a little...weird, do you?"

"A little weird?" Salazzle sneered. "The deans are out of their minds. Nothing I can do about it, though." With that, she slinked down the corridor connecting the dorm building to the common, leaving me with no more than a mischievous "See you."

Later that morning, after most of the API-goers had gotten up, I was standing off to the side of a congregation of them in the common with nothing better to do than stare at my talons and think. Trumbeak was speaking with some of her other friends, the twins with some of theirs, but I didn't mind the me-time. It was painfully short-lived, though, as the sudden ringing, warm voice of Solgaleo in my head made me jump in surprise:

"Good morning! There is a greeting assembly for all of our exchange students in the auditorium, and it will bring me, Lunala and the API pride should you decide to join us for it. I will see you shortly!"

The telepathic message faded, leaving me wondering why Solgaleo alone had decided to relay it; usually he and Lunala eagerly announced them together. I didn't bother to dwell on it for long, though, and the next thing I knew I was pushing through a small ocean of students who whispered to each other something I had already worried enough about to really care for anymore. I was one of the first into the auditorium building, giving my beak a few seconds of extra time to drop at the sight of the Pokémon on the stage.

...Were they Pokémon? I had certainly never seen anything like them before; arranged side-by-side to face the auditorium's seats, some were enormous, some were impossibly small and thin, some had multiple eyes, while others had none at all. The oldest-looking among them levitated in front of the others, and was lean, appearing to be made of pitch-black prisms, with a hungry look about him and no shine in what seemed to be his unblinking eyes. Round his neck was a loose ring of purple leather that ended in a small white crystal emblazoned with what looked to be a black eight-pointed star. He kept his gaze on Solgaleo, who stood with the foreigners on the stage carrying himself proudly as ever despite the weirdness. When the Sunne Pokémon turned to me across the room and smiled, I promptly found a seat as if on cue, not wanting to prolong any awkwardness.

More and more Pokémon filed into the seats around me, if notably fewer than during the assembly a month before. The exchange students paid them each a bit of heed as they came in with a look, a nod or otherwise, but the tall black figure continued to fix his own dull stare on Solgaleo; maybe they were communicating telepathically? I didn't know.

Once everyone who had decided to show up was settled, Solgaleo stepped forward beside the prismatic creature and exclaimed, "Best of mornings to you all! Lunala was unfortunately unable to attend this assembly alongside me, yet I can assure you she is in good health...and just as excited as I about what is currently transpiring. With that, I have astounding pride and honor to announce the arrival of these eleven prestigious Pokémon, and one of their renowned professors, at the Alolan Pokémon Institute! Far from their homes they've traveled to meet us here, in the good name of knowledge, discovery, and widening our own world. Thus, I desire and expect you to give them utmost respect as they speak, and as they spend the term alongside us here." He stepped back then, nodded at the black Pokémon, and sat down.

The foreigner, more than likely the others' professor, finally tore his stare away from the great dean, brought one of his large clawed hands rather forcefully to his head for a moment, and spoke. It was telepathy like Solgaleo's, only faster, quieter and raspier, and hard to understand at times:

"Necrozma...from dark Megalopolis. This place...Alola...is light..." The Pokémon, Necrozma, smacked his head again, then brought his claws to his crystal amulet and clutched it tightly. The API-goers looked back and forth out of fear of his strange appearance, speech and movement, but not one uttered a word. "I...oversee, yes...school in dark Megalopolis. Yes." He levitated upward so the eleven other Pokémon were fully visible. "And here...my pupils..."

One by one the exchange students introduced themselves. There was Nihilego, who spoke slowly and longingly in spite of her expressionless (well, faceless, really) form; Buzzwole and Pheromosa, a highly athletic couple whose muscle proportions I'd previously thought to be impossible for any Pokémon to achieve; Xurkitree, who just screamed his name over and over while his spiked ball of a head flickered and glowed sparratically; Kartana, who at the height of one foot was barely even noticeable, but quickly and solemnly uttered his introduction; the enormous Celesteela, who took a full two minutes to realize it was her turn to speak; Guzzlord, a malevolent-looking four-eyed beast who had to be told numerous times not to start eating the curtains of the stage; Blacephalon, whose high-pitched voice gave me a headache during the five-minute introduction he gave himself; Stakataka, who said little about himself but was large and sturdy enough for Blacephalon to lay on top of him; and two others, who I managed to tune into long enough to hear the full introductions of.

The first of them was small, purple and hot pink, and always wore a bright blue, glowing smile to match her equally vibrant blue eyes. With a playful nudge to the Pokémon next to her, she floated to center-stage and exclaimed, "My name's Poipole, and, um...yeah!" After a few chuckles from the audience that she seemed not to notice, she heartily continued, "I like my friends and my brother and my home...but your home is a lot different from mine. Mine isn't as happy as here; mine is more darker and more, er...melon-tcholy—"

"That's enough, Poipole," a larger Pokémon growled from behind her. He was purple too, with the same glowing blue eyes as Poipole, except he was much taller and draconic, with two slowly flapping wings sprouting from his shoulders and three deadly-looking needles jutting from his abdomen. He calmly flew over to the tiny Poipole and looked at her sternly. "Yours is darker, not more darker. And it's melancholy." As the little Pokémon, head down, sadly floated back to where the others were lined up, the tall one sighed, shook his head a bit, and said quietly to the audience, "Pardon my sister. I am Naganadel, and that's all that's necessary for you to know."

"Yes," Necrozma's raspy voice overcame our thoughts before we could process any more of our own. "I...my pupils...we from dark Megalopolis and beyond...we stay here...in light Alola. Yes..."

The assembly was dismissed with not much more said; Necrozma turned to his students to say something to them, then diligently followed Solgaleo out of the auditorium. The students weren't far behind, API-goer or foreigner, yet they felt free to keep their distance from each other. I found I wasn't much different, with a gulp, when I saw Guzzlord eyeing me rather hungrily.

—————

That evening, I agreed to go out with Trumbeak and the Lycanroc to the old café in the Hau'oli Pokémon Center. The morning's assembly was fresh in all of our minds, but no one brought it up all through the trek from Verdant Cavern to the city, which I was thankful for. Necrozma and his strange students were the last things I wanted on my mind, however hopeful I may've been that we would eventually grow used to them, especially since the fears of what the Ultra Space-dwellers wanted with the API were still fresh in my thoughts.

The café, to my delight, was in no short supply of Tapu Cocoa, a humans' recipe preserved through time and brought to Hau'oli from Route 2 back by the Cavern. Midnight and I happily ordered two servings of it while Midday rolled his eyes and asked for a Roserade Tea, and Trumbeak ordered a Lemonade. The Abra running the shop obliged and got to work with a psychic precision no human could've achieved, leaving us to talk.

"So, what do you think those Pokémon meant when they kept talking about how 'dark' their homeland was?" Midday, to my dismay, wasted no more time in bringing forth the topic of the assembly. "I mean, Necrozma, Poipole—"

Midnight sneered. "Yeah, yeah. Maybe they don't have Electric-type-powered lightbulbs like we do or something."

"Er, that Xurkitree looked like a walking lightbulb to me," I chimed in.

"And it's more than that, fool," Midday nudged his brother half-playfully. "It has to be. They kept bringing up how 'light' Alola was compared to their own land. So perhaps wherever they came from—"

"Ultra Space," clarified Trumbeak.

"Ultra Space," Midday nodded rather exasperatedly. "doesn't have a sun or a moon. Doesn't have light. And so this...this would be completely foreign to them."

"Could that be why they were acting so weird, Necrozma especially?" Trumbeak asked. "Just because they weren't used to Alola's sunlight?"

"I hope it's that simple," I sighed. "The last thing I want to worry about right now is our school being targeted by some crazy beasts."

"I'm plenty suspicious, too," Midday said with a nod of agreement from Midnight. "But I wouldn't have my guard so high up. There isn't any reason to think we're being targeted or something. It's just shady is all."

The reassuring words of my friend calmed me a bit as our drinks finally arrived, and we spent the rest of our time at the café speaking on lighter subjects such as sports, assignments and the like. I tried to think back to what I had perceived in the eclipse's Ultra Wormhole, to see if I could get an idea of what exactly the foreigners' home looked like, but all I found was that I oddly had trouble recalling any of it specifically, as if it had just been a dream. I didn't bother to bring it up to anyone, though, as I didn't exactly want to soil the night with any more heavy topics.

Afterwards, the four of us made our way to the Shopping Mall, where a handful of other students had met up. As we climbed the stairs to the second floor, I noticed a few couples dancing upon an elevated platform to the left, likely used as a small stage in its day, and still kept in tip-top shape by the workers there. An idea forming in my mind, I turned to Trumbeak and gestured to the platform with a smile. She returned it, and before either of us knew it we had leapt onto the stage, wings around each other and talons moving a bit less than gracefully in a dance we couldn't stop laughing throughout.

A small radio in the corner played upbeat Hoennian mainstream music by one Loudred; energetically we swung to the tune, smiles spanning our beaks, pretending we knew what we were doing. Somehow our coordination was on point; the second I advanced, Trumbeak stepped back, and so on. I got ideas, carved out a vague little routine in my head based on the beat of the song, and Trumbeak seemed to read my thoughts as she complied to each movement I made. We moved left, we moved right, I lifted her above my head, and she swiftly flew over me to my other side just for us to catch each other in our wings once again. As the song came to a close, we stopped, stared at each other for a second, and then burst out laughing with nothing else to say. Across the mall I swore I could see an Oricorio scowling.

Watching us from in front of the stage were the twins, who beamed when they saw us, Midday more so than his brother. Right before the next song was about to start, I turned back to my girlfriend and just barely heard the voice of none other than Raichu approaching the Lycanroc from behind me: "'Lo, Midnight. So, I talked with Primarina the other day, and..."

Whatever happened next between those two didn't matter to me. A Kalosian waltz started up, and suddenly it was like everything faded out of existence, save for Trumbeak and I. We didn't need to say anything, or overthink anything. Our talons moved automatically; incorrectly, but automatically, leaving us to stare into each other's eyes with smiles more sincere than we had ever given or received. Trumbeak leaned in then, and pecked my cheek softly with her long beak, giggling a bit as she did so. My breath was thoroughly taken away, and I was positive the red on my skin right then was strong enough to show through my facial feathers. And all that time the waltz kept playing, the world kept turning, and we kept on dancing, soon accompanied by Raichu and Midnight Lycanroc.

—————

I returned to my dorm late that night with the greatest mood since summer. Still humming the tune of the Kalosian waltz to myself, I casually inserted the key into its hole and opened the door, only for my heart to drop into my talons when I looked up.

Light still on, my bed was covered in a sticky-looking purple web, some of which had dripped onto the floor and bottom bunk. Atop the web was the large sleeping form of Naganadel (which was all that was necessary for me to know), who snored and growled upon my pushing open the door. I stood shocked in the doorway for probably a good five minutes, trying desperately to find something to say. Finally, I just harshly whispered, "Hey!"

Naganadel snorted, and his glowing blue eyes shot open immediately, boring into mine with an intensity that made me step back a bit. He lifted his long neck, spread his wings far as they would go and growled, "Yes?"

"Er, I...that's..." Avoiding eye contact at all costs, I nervously pointed to the bed. "my bed..."

Naganadel's next words were delivered as if he was explaining something to an Egg: "I entered this dwelling when your great sun still shone and found no one on this bed to claim it. I, then, claimed it for myself. Therefore it is mine." With that, he annoyedly fell back onto my bed and took no time in resuming his noisy sleep. After several moments of confusion and disbelief on my end, I found I had no choice but to sigh, flick off the light with a tiny, yet harmless growl of protest from my new roommate, and crawl into the bottom bunk. The rest of the night was spent attempting to get a bit of sleep while continuously dodging the bits of sticky fluid that fell from the web above me, and trying to block out the draconic snores of the beast atop it.