I only grew more and more anxious as the sun dipped lower and lower into the sea that evening; yet, it was a good kind of anxiety, like a premonition for good times approaching. And my friends felt no different. Vikavolt, Midday, Midnight, Trumbeak and I had all decided to stay in Hau'oli City for the day to wait for reunion-time, and they all got antsier with each bite of malasada just as I did.

What time wasn't dedicated to eating and worrying, though, I spent walking through the soon-to-be-crazy streets of Hau'oli with Trumbeak, and just...talking. I learned of her home life, she learned of my own boring one, and we made sure to share plenty of laughs over tales of our younger siblings and how they'd supposedly fare at the API. Trumbeak seemed thankful that she'd be long gone from the API by the time the older of her two sisters reached freshman year, but I groaned in envy that I wasn't so lucky. We just went back and forth like that for a while, just talking and laughing and feeling good, and I never wanted it to end. Lurking in the back of my mind, however, was the ever-present nervousness; for Midnight, for Raichu, for myself, for everybody, basically. I tried my best to force it down as Trumbeak went on about how Tapu Koko had loved her last year for her astronomy prowess, though she didn't really believe it herself and found Koko to be rather intimidating. But as the sun set, those thoughts claimed my mind once again, and my feathers stood on end as the first of the API students began to filter into the city for the reunion.

Dwellers of the Outskirts and Route 1 came first: Primarina and Raichu, and many others. Then came Ribombee from Melemele Meadow; Passimian, Salazzle, Comfey and Shiinotic born all the way on Akala Island; the Ula'ula-native Minior; and countless other Pokémon I didn't know, all coming from all over Alola to make names for themselves. It was amazing. When I expected a little Pokémon I'd seen in passing last year by the name of Crabrawler, instead a huge, white and ugly one crossed into the city, and I smiled when I realized that that same Crabrawler had since Evolved into Crabominable. Time and training changed us all, I supposed.

Tapu Koko offered excited greetings by the city's entrance as groups of friends passed in, big and small. Trumbeak went to greet Primarina and her other friends, so I followed, being sure to give Midnight a nudge and a reassuring wink while gesturing toward Raichu as I went. He clapped my shoulder gratefully and smiled, but didn't move otherwise.

I had no intention of talking to Primarina at first; I'd just let Trumbeak speak to the Soloist Pokémon for a bit and be done with the matter. But as I noticed something clutched tightly in her flipper the closer I got, I grew curious, and I narrowed my eyes in thought. Could it be...no, course not. There's no way.

"Hey, guys," Trumbeak chirped at her friend group, comprised of Primarina, Raichu, Ribombee and Comfey. "Glad you could make it!"

"Like I'd miss it!" Raichu replied loudly. "And this is your first reunion, isn't it, Trumbeak?" When her friend nodded, the Mouse Pokémon went on, "Yeah, well, prepare to make great memories you'll never forget! And now that you're with good ol' Decidueye..." The girls eyed me and immediately broke into fits of giggling, earning protests from blushing Trumbeak and a shift of weight from uncomfortable me.

"Alright, alright, that's quite enough," Primarina called off her friends once she collected herself. "Sorry, Trumbeak, it's just...we're all very happy for you, is all. So, did you want to hang with Decidueye first, or..." Suddenly, she looked up and saw me staring in thought at the object in her flipper, then proceeded to quickly hide it behind her back as if she didn't want me to know what it was. Her mistake, though; it only further provoked my curiosity.

"What's that you got, Primarina?" I asked, though I was positive she wouldn't tell me. Her friends grew wide-eyed and they looked at one another in fear, and sure enough, Primarina replied with a quick and sharp, "Nothing!"

I narrowed my eyes, but as I didn't want to start anything with the Soloist Pokémon (knowing who her boyfriend was), I simply said, "Alright, then. Say, I'm gonna go to the mall and get something to eat real fast. It'll be quick, so why don't you hang back, Trumbeak? I'll, uh...be sure to get you something!"

"Alright," Trumbeak agreed, if a little suspiciously. With a smile, I wheeled around and made for the Lycanroc, silently praying that they hadn't gotten far. I found Midday up ahead greeting little Minior, though his brother was nowhere to be found. Good enough, I decided, and I picked up my stride to almost the point of flying. When Midday's eyes rested on me, his face suddenly turned businesslike and grave, like he already knew my mouth had trouble to tell. Sun and moon, sometimes I wondered if he could see into the future, he was that perceptive.

I had to use all my strength not to slam into Midday at the speed I was going, but I managed to reach him without scathing either of us. My friend bid Minior a quick goodbye before turning to me, and not wasting any time in asking, "What's wrong, Decidueye?"

Out of breath, I replied, "Just...come with me...to the old Battle Buffet...quick!" With that, I was off again as fast as I could still go, Midday right on my heels. We dodged through big groups of API students who shot us odd looks as we passed them, but we didn't dare let them slow us down. Into the mall we went, up the stairs and toward the Buffet, which had since been repurposed as a Berry shop. The Crabrawler at the counter, whom I had come to know as Crabominable's mother, barely paid us any heed as we made for the back of the shop and began to discuss what I had seen.

"I swear, I'm going crazy, Midday...I could've sworn I saw...oh, man, you won't believe this—"

"Spit it out, then!" Midday demanded in a harsh, urgent whisper. "And try not to let anyone hear!"

"Alright, alright," I dropped my own anxious voice down to a whisper similar to my friend's. "Trumbeak and I went to talk to Primarina, and I could've sworn I saw the exchange program paper in her flippers. What's more, she tried to hide it from me the second she saw me looking at it! You know what that could mean?"

Midday said nothing for a time; he only stared down at his paws in deep thought for what seemed like an eternity, leaving me to sweat awkwardly in the humid Berry shop in wait for any sort of response. When he finally looked up, his sharp and angry (and quite uncharacteristic for Midday, I might add) reply made me jump:

"You're darn right, I know what it means! It means that all because of Midnight, maybe everyone in the API knows of the program, and Arceus knows what anarchy could be going on right under our noses! Oh, I knew this would happen, but he's just gotta go and brush it off like he always does, and before I know it he goes and—"

"Hey," I interrupted in a quieter voice, though I was apprehensive to try and calm the growing dust storm that my normally collected friend had become. "Maybe it isn't that bad. How d'you know Primarina would tell everyone, anyway?"

"Have you even met Primarina, you fool? She knows everybody, and wouldn't hesitate to tell them all her deepest and darkest secrets, either; we're looking at Ribombee, Raichu, Comfey. Pokémon that know Pokémon that know Pokémon. And there's no doubt she's also told Incineroar by now, and while I may not have shared conversation with that cat, I know enough about him to say he's unstable and untrustworthy. So yeah, just our luck it's Primarina who found that paper. Incredible." He flared his nostrils, sat, and looked at the ground in defeat. Or perhaps he was still forging a way to reverse all that had happened in that mind of his. An unpredictable one, Midday.

"Well, uh, all isn't lost," I tried in encouragement. "We can still fix it—er, prevent it from getting worse, I mean. We just have to get the paper back from Primarina before she shows anyone else."

"But the damage has already been done," Midday sighed. "Once word gets out there, there's no stopping it, I suppose." He paused for a moment, then suddenly looked up at me with a glimmer in his pale cornflower eyes. "But you aren't wrong. No one at the API is stupid, nor are they blindly accepting. They're gonna need proof of any abstract exchange program, and if we destroy the evidence..." Almost as fast as he had turned defeatist, Midday jumped up from his sitting position and started pacing the Berry shop, though he still kept his voice to a whisper. "We just gotta keep an eye on Primarina for the night, and seize any opportunity we get to take back what's ours. I'll tell Midnight, so just try to lay low until your chance comes, alright?"

I nodded, and the Wolf Pokémon started on his way out of the Berry shop at a brisk trot. Just as he reached the door, he turned back to me and said genuinely and soberly, "Thanks, Decidueye. You were right to tell me about this." With that, he was off, leaving me completely alone.

"Well? You gonna buy something, boy?" I nearly jumped out of my feathers at the voice of Crabominable's mother, whom I had forgotten was there entirely. She sat impatiently on top of an old cash register, stamping one of her four legs on it, her arms that ended in giant claws crossed tightly. I laughed sheepishly, and grabbing enough Berries for Trumbeak and I to share out of one of the many boxes in the shop, I walked over to the clerk, Pokédollars at the ready.

—————

I met Trumbeak standing alone outside the mall; Primarina and her friends had decided to move on to other places, and she had chosen to wait for me. Splitting my swath of Berries with her, we strolled through Hau'oli City, stopping by at several stands providing sign-up sheets for the API's many classes along the way. I didn't hesitate to enthusiastically sign up for jazz band, Kalosian history, art, and several others with no real direction, while Trumbeak eagerly took all sorts of science classes and whatnot. I decided to take astronomy because she was doing it, though admittedly I didn't know the first thing about the stars and their patterns and movements. To my relief, though, Trumbeak promised to help me through it as she laughed at my more dullard side.

As I eagerly grabbed a Toucannon-feather quill to jot my name down on the list of choreography attendees, a voice suddenly came from behind; not of Trumbeak or the Lycanroc, but one that sent chills through my body and made the quill in my feather-hands stop mid-word so that Decid would take choreography instead of Decidueye. It was Primarina, right behind me.

"Yeah, I would've left it at home," she was whispering to a friend. "But my parents offered to clean my room tonight, and you know how my father is about making sure I stay out of trouble. There's no way I couldn't've taken this thing with me and have it remain safe at the same time. Now my best bet is just making sure no one gets too suspicious about it."

Her friend, whose voice I recognized to be Ribombee, replied, "Well, good luck with that. It won't be easy. Where's Incineroar?"

"He wanted to stay back," Primarina answered. "He's been terrified to set foot on this pavement, or even out of my place, really, after...you know. Tell me, have you seen Raichu?"

I had turned around to face the two Fairy-types long before Ribombee shook her head no, and by then I had gone far enough away from the registration stand that their next words were out of earshot. But that was fine by me, as I had learned everything I needed to know. There was no doubt now that Primarina was carrying the classified document, and it made me as fearful as it did excited.

The night whiled away in admittedly more suspense than I'd've liked it to. Trumbeak and I signed up for a few more classes, we munched on our supply of Berries, and learned more about each other, but whenever I saw Primarina or any of her friends I immediately went into attack mode. I would motion stealthily to Midday and Midnight (who was annoyed at me for interrupting his attempt at flirting with Raichu), one of which would walk up to Primarina and start talking with her while the other twin tried to sneak up behind her and take the paper from her flipper. But alas, it failed every time, which often caused Trumbeak to rather nervously question my motives in seeing the paper in the first place. By the end of the night I was so frustrated that I was just about ready to call the twins off and give up.

That is, until it happened.

I spotted Primarina signing up for another year of drama club, and at first I simply sighed and let it pass. But as I did a double take, I noticed something: she had carelessly left the exchange program paper on a nearby bench so that she could use both flippers to sign her name, and I almost fainted at the revelation. Now was our chance.

I waved my wings a few times to get the attention of Midnight, who was busy talking with a laughing Raichu. "Decidueye, what are you doing?" Trumbeak asked, but I paid her no heed as the Wolf Pokémon looked in my direction and wore a face equally surprised as mine when I pointed to the paper sitting in the open, waiting quietly for someone to take it. His mouth broke into a fanged grin as he quietly made for the paper, making sure to tell Raichu he'd be right back. At least his night seemed to be going well.

I crossed my feathery fingers as my friend got closer and closer, praying that Primarina wouldn't move until after he had made off with the paper. I should've known, though, as should've he, that it was wishful thinking. My heart dropped into my talons the second I saw the Soloist Pokémon turn, but by then it was too late. Not seeing her, Midnight's paw met the crinkly paper the second Primarina's flipper did, and the two looked up at each other awkwardly for what seemed to be hours. Then, all chaos broke loose.

"Midnight, what are you doing?" Primarina demanded as her grip on the paper tightened. Midnight was stronger than her, though, so before she could pull it toward herself he yanked it out of her flipper, almost tearing it in the process. He said nothing, but simply started to back up nervously, wanting to escape the situation before anyone saw.

Primarina would have none of it, though. She raced toward Midnight at surprising speed and pushed him to the ground. He yelped as the paper spun out of his paw and landed on the pavement next to him, and much softer than he did, I might add. He desperately tried to scramble up and grab the precious document again, but Primarina managed to get it first, hitting him with her tail all too intentionally in the process. That, to my horror, set Midnight off, and he rose with his paws now balled in fists in a fit of instinctual rage.

"Counter!" he snarled. Heart racing, I darted toward him in an attempt to make him stop, but I couldn't get there fast enough. He smacked Primarina across the face, knocking her down and causing her to lose her grip on the paper. All around, Pokémon gasped and rushed toward the incident; Primarina's friends screamed and crowded around her, cursing at Midnight, while others curiously circled around the two and blasted them with questions that no one knew how to answer. Midnight himself wore a red, shocked face, and before anyone else could question him he scooped up the paper and pushed his way out of the crowd. Some turned around and looked at him angrily, Raichu included.

"Raichu, I-I..." Midnight's voice dwindled off into nothingness as the Mouse Pokémon folded her stubby arms and turned away, leaving both Midnight and I feeling utterly defeated; him for obvious reasons, but me because I felt as if I had gotten him into this. I'd been the one to call to attention the paper in the first place. If not for me, my friend would still be having a good night. He'd still have a shot with Raichu, and Primarina would be okay. Suddenly I felt as if the entire idea to get the paper back was just stupid. I'd never considered how Primarina would feel about all of it, and right then my own actions made me sick.

It only got worse from there, though. Midnight turned sadly from Raichu only to look up into the angry eyes of Tapu Bulu, who had come to see what all the commotion was about. Neither of them had to say a word for everything to be understood. "Come with me," Bulu ordered, and the normally rebellious Midnight followed him silently. As they disappeared down the street, and Primarina's friends helped her up, it all ended, and the streets returned to stillness.