I'd been instructed to deliver Tapu Fini some papers in the arts building, and I happily obliged, naturally; it wasn't hugely important or anything, but I'd jump at any potential excuse to get my legs moving after the monotony of sitting in class for hours. Fini was rather happy to see me, too, and while I wouldn't consider myself the hugest book-Wurmple at the API, it was always nice to discuss the literature of the greats with her.

Afterwards, I was about to take the stairs down to the auditorium and back to class when a sharp voice, definitely not that of Fini, called from behind me: "What is this?"

At first I assumed the vague question wasn't intended for me, so I kept walking. Only when the voice rang again, this time with a slightly more aggressive "You, in the green! Roommate! What is this?" did I turn around and poke my head into the room where it seemed to have originated. Turns out, none other than Naganadel was waiting for me, bent inquisitively over a violin with his glowing blue eyes boring into mine.

"You mean that? It's a violin," I answered, slightly annoyed. For me, there was almost no worse sight than Naganadel; ever since he'd arrived in Alola he'd effectively kicked me out of my own dorm, and even if the professors knew about it, seeing how I'd resorted to sleeping in the hall, they didn't do a thing about it. Heck, I'd rather have been assigned a stack to the ceiling of history work than have to spend another night with the beast in my room! But, seeing as he wasn't going to leave me alone until I explained to him what a violin was, I grumpily continued, "It's a musical instrument that was made by humans. I don't know how it's played—you've gotta stick it under your chin or something. And, for the record, it's Decidueye."

"Surely," Naganadel replied, though it was obvious that his full attention was on the little instrument. He plucked one of the strings with his claw, his eyes widening at the resulting note. I, however, couldn't care less about his musical fascination, and I promptly made my way out of the arts building, my class now seeming like a better alternative.

—————

"Mr. Lycanroc! In what year was—welcome back, Decidueye—the first official Furfrou-trimming contest held by Kalosian human aristocrats?"

Midnight, whose head had been comfortably resting against his desk as I reentered Tapu Bulu's classroom, shot upwards, a look of fear crossing his face as his eyes met the Land Spirit Pokémon's. "Sir, I thought we were learning about the—"

"Kalosian War. Correct," Bulu growled as I took my seat next to Midnight, giving him a semi-confused, semi-knowing glance. "Lycanroc—and all of you, really, all of you—it isn't my place to make sure you're paying attention. It isn't my place to keep you from cheating on exams, or make sure you're turning in your assignments, or walk you through your whole life like you're all Eggs. I'll offer you help if you ask for it, but truth be told, I don't particularly care about any of you as individuals. It's up to you to care about yourself and your futures. I am not your father; in this room, I am nothing but a messenger. However, there is something I do care about, and it's the world at large!"

"...Oh, no," Midnight muttered; he knew what was coming just as well as I. I may not have minded Bulu as a professor overall, but if you set him off, you set him off. And, judging by the way he was beginning to float around, as if pacing the room, and the way his nostrils were starting to flare, it was obvious to any API-goer what was about to happen.

"Have you ever talked with a child about the humans?" Bulu began. "I'm sure you all have. And what do they always ask, the innocent little dimwits they are? 'Why aren't the humans around anymore? What happened to 'em? Where'd they all go?' And it's hard to tell them what happened to the humans, isn't it? It's like talking about Yveltal and death and all that, surely! Fact is, the humans disappeared because they deserved to disappear! How the actual extinction happened exactly, I don't know; if you're in Fini's mythology class you've probably read the Hoennian legends about it, but that doesn't matter. What matters is why.

"Look what happened during the Kalosian War! Look what happened when strong, virtuous Pokémon allowed themselves to be used by humans! Humans were full of jealousy, of spite, of hatred, of greed, and of cunning. And they weren't ever satisfied; look to the younger brother of King AZ for irrefutable proof! He just couldn't be content with the seat of power and esteem he held; he wanted to be king, and for that he started war. He rose up an army, not just of humans but of well-meaning Pokémon, and would gladly cast their lives aside in the name of the ever-elusive—non-existent, really—power. And it was because of this war, of this human nature, that the life of an integral Pokémon was taken: Floette, all that AZ cared for, breathed for, lived for. And this human nature, let me tell you...it provided love that clouded judgement, and drove humans mad; they would do anything to experience love that they had lost.

"So what did AZ do? He built the machine that you all know as the ultimate weapon, and with it he brought Floette back to life...at the expense of countless other Pokémon lives." At that point, Bulu paused, letting us all take in the gravity of what he had just said. Some of the fainter-at-heart students in the room had started crying, and admittedly I'd be lying if I said my own heart wasn't pumping more intensely than usual. It skipped a beat, however, when Bulu suddenly slammed one of his hooves down on a desk with such strength that I was shocked he didn't break it clean in two. "And then!" he roared, causing a few Pokémon to start quivering. "Then this human's anger at the world, at the war that had killed his one Pokémon...it took away any smidgeon of sanity he may have had left. So, out of pure, mad spite, the man turned his weapon on both warring armies...and he destroyed them both!

"If any of you ever see yourselves travelling to Kalos, be sure to pay Route 10 a visit; for on that path are the countless graves of Pokémon sacrificed...and for what? Practically nothing! Nothing but the perpetuation of hatred and terror and destruction inevitable within the humans' world! And dear Floette, who still resides in Kalos today...she did eventually reunite with AZ, but only when he finally realized the error of his ways...3,000 years later. Thirty times the lifespan of the oldest humans. Tell me, what does that say about our predecessors?

"When our honorable deans, Solgaleo and Lunala, built the API, and when the Pokémon of Alola and beyond carried over human technology into their own daily living, they took care to retain what few virtues the humans held, and cast out what drove them to their deserved doom. They learned from the greatest teacher: history. For generations now, Pokémon have upheld the foremost unspoken rule, to listen to history; not to hang their heads in boredom when it speaks, or laugh off its tellings of calamity, or forget about it the second they hear it. You all, as the carriers of Alola's torch, the most prestigious youths in our region, strong and fortunate enough to be here today, should be here for more than yourselves! You must listen to history, or else it will repeat itself so it can be heard. Rise above the vices of humans; we are Pokémon! We have considered our world before ourselves, and it's allowed us to reach impossible heights...but the moment we adopt human selfishness, the moment we fancy ourselves smarter than history, like we don't need history...that's the moment our empire will come crashing down. Remember that. After all, quiet stones speak volumes."