It is said that when the sun meets the moon in the Alolan sky, one can see into another world, if only briefly...

Those had been Lunala's exact words last spring. Lunala's and Solgaleo's, actually. For the last month of the term straight it was pretty much all they had said, and while it may have started off all interesting, deep and philosophical, any Pokémon would now agree it was just tiresome and annoying. If their goal was to drill it so deep into my mind that every time I closed my eyes I saw one of them uttering it, then I'd say they succeeded with flying colors.

You're probably wondering why they would say such a thing. Well, it all has to do with this eclipse; you know, when the moon covers the sun and everything goes dark, even though it's midday. Apparently eclipses are supposed to be super important to the two API deans, Solgaleo and Lunala. Unsurprising, as they were once heralded as gods, basically, of the sun and moon respectively. I guess when humans disappeared, they didn't really have anyone to worship them anymore, and so they took it upon themselves to found the Alolan Pokémon Institute, or the API for short.

But back to the eclipse. They constantly reminded every student, and I do mean every student, to go out with their families come summertime all the way to Mount Hokulani to witness this thing. And as a denizen of Melemele Island myself (Iki Town, to be exact), it was quite a trip to make, as Hokulani's all the way on Ula'ula Island! But, with a ton of prompting and badgering, my parents finally agreed to take me and my little brother Dartrix up there to witness the eclipse. There's only supposed to be one every hundred years or so, so I considered myself quite lucky.

So, as spring turned to summer and my sophomore year at the API came to a close, we prepared for a great vacation on Ula'ula Island. My family and I had wings, but they weren't strong enough to fly so far as from Melemele to Ula'ula, so we settled for going by plane, a strange human contraption that allowed them to fly almost like some Pokémon. We've since adapted the idea and made it our own for land-dwelling Pokémon; it's proven to be quite handy.

My best friend Vikavolt also decided to tag along, much to my excitement. His family would hang back on Melemele while he took the plane with us. Me and him had been friends, well, ever since I was a little Rowlet and him a Grubbin. We promised to grow up together, become strong together. And that we did. I don't have any idea what life would be like without him, especially at the API.

The whole ride to Ula'ula, Vikavolt and I talked about our summers so far, which proved a bore quickly, because summer had only just begun. So, we spent the rest of the time annoying Dartrix until my parents threatened to throw us both off the plane if we didn't stop. I knew they wouldn't follow through on it, but it still shut both me and Vikavolt up until we arrived.

We arrived at Ula'ula late one night at Malie City, where we decided to stay. Come morning, we would start to move towards Mount Hokulani for the eclipse at around 2:00 PM. Vikavolt and I pleaded my parents to let us explore the city late at night. He wanted to stop at a few shops, but I had something else in mind.

"You know how Pokémon can get at night," my mom argued when we asked about exploring. "I've heard the Raticate Gang are just as prevalent here as back on Melemele."

"Come on, Mom, I can take 'em!" I retorted, rustling my feathers a bit to make myself look bigger. "And it's not like I'm going alone, I have Vikavolt with me!"

"Oh, fine. Under one circumstance." She looked toward Dartrix, who stood impatiently stamping his talons down by the hotel entrance, and a mischievous smile tugged at her beak.

"You wouldn't..." I started as I realized what she had in mind.

"I would. Still want to go, Decidueye?"

I looked at Vikavolt, and he shrugged two of his four insectoid legs. He had always been very quiet around my parents for some reason, which grew aggravating when I really needed him.

I sighed and rubbed my temples in frustration, but eventually I just gave in. "Fine. Let's fly, Dartrix."

My brother's eyes, which usually remained pompously closed, opened wide. "Wait, you mean I have to—"

"Yes," I said impatiently. "Now let's go!"

Reluctantly, Dartrix flew over to Vikavolt and I, but he didn't look at either of us. He'd be starting his freshman year at the API come fall, but I wasn't quite sure he was the right...let's say maturity for it. He was well-behaved, don't get me wrong. Though, he might've been a little too much so...

My mom disappeared into the hotel, and then it was just me, Vikavolt and Dartrix, in the dead of night in Malie City. This was my first time in the city, or all of Ula'ula Island, for that matter, so I took in the clearly Johtonian influence with wonder. Beautiful lights were hung up everywhere like red stars, and even after dark Pokémon hustled about between the shops, scurrying down the historic cobblestone streets.

"It's gorgeous, isn't it, Decidueye?" Vikavolt breathed. He slowly buzzed around the street, getting a good look from all angles. I nodded in absolute agreement.

"Yes, yes, it's just fine," Dartrix stamped his talons again and let out a loud hoot of a sigh. "Now when can we check out all the shops they have here? I've heard they've got better things on Ula'ula than back home."

"Come on, Dartrix!" I chastised him. "We're in probably one of the most well-kept and beautiful places in Alola, and all you care about is shopping? I really can't believe you sometimes."

"Er, Decidueye..." Vikavolt rubbed his legs together nervously. Believe me, when I got going at Dartrix, few wanted to approach me. "You can go explore more. I'll go with Dartrix, if you don't mind."

I sighed. At least I could count on Vikavolt to keep my brother in line. "Alright. I have Pokémon to meet, anyway." I winked at my Bug-type friend. He returned the gesture with an excited flutter of his noisy wings.

The two Pokémon departed and hit the malasada shop first, much to Dartrix's annoyance. Somehow he didn't like the Alolan delicacy much; I guess it was just another one of the many strange things about him. Once they disappeared inside the shop, I turned and made a break for the Malie Outer Cape. I wasn't quite sure of its exact location, but with a bit of help from the locals and the street signs, it wasn't long before the buildings of the city began to disappear and were replaced by tall grass. A fence crossed off a cliff at the far end of the cape, from which a great sea illuminated by the moon waved back and forth calmly. Only one building overlooked this sea: a huge, rectangular former Recycling Plant, now overrun by a gang of Grimer and Muk, from what I'd heard. It was eerie to see such a thing, especially at night, but night was my friend.

A patch of grass rustled from behind me, and I jumped a bit, but quickly caught myself. Come on, Decidueye, don't be such a Torchic! I turned around to look at the grass and called, "Oh, ha ha, very funny, guys. Think you can scare me?"

I expected either one of them to come out and try to jumpscare me at any moment. But still, there was nothing. I waited a few more moments, then the grass rustled again, and I saw a shadow moving within it. I heard whispers, but they didn't sound like the Pokémon I was expecting. I took a few steps back, beginning to get legitimately worried now. "This isn't funny, you two! Get out here!"

I saw a thin black tail dart out of the grass, then slink back in silently. I had seen tails like that before, and it certainly didn't mean anything good. I held my breath, knowing only one thing: that rustling in the grass wasn't caused by the Pokémon I was looking for.

"Hey, you!" a deep, sly voice came from the Recycling Plant. "What d'you think you're doing at my Recycling Plant?" I whirled around in fear to see none other than a giant Muk crawling toward me, accompanied by several green Grimer. His colors constantly turned from pinks to greens to yellows, and his hard eyes bored into mine. I stared at his sharp fangs, made of crystallized trash, and gulped. I'd heard they can be lethal, and I'd just landed right in one's territory. The Muk nodded to one of his Grimer minions, and the little Sludge Pokémon handed him a large piece of trash quickly and nervously. Not taking his eyes off me, Muk bit off a chunk of the garbage and chewed slowly. I gagged and backed up from the approaching Pokémon, and stepped on something furry and thin.

"Oy! You wanna go, mate?" Another voice came from below, and I looked down quickly. To my dismay, my talons rested right on the tail of a small black rodent-like Pokémon: a Rattata, one of the grunts of the Raticate Gang. His whiskers twitched angrily as he tried to pull his tail out from under my talons, but that was the least of my worries. Deeper into the tall grass I saw a dark, rotund form rise, and it only took half a second for my heart to drop as I realized just what I had gotten myself into: I was face to face with a Raticate.

I yelped and backed up into the advancing Grimer and Muk, who had begun to laugh at my misfortune at this point. There was nowhere to go. The combined forces of Raticate and Muk had me surrounded. Instinctively I plucked one of my own arrow-like feathers and nocked it on one of my bowstring-like leaves, ready to fire, but the gangs only laughed.

"Can't touch us with a little feather, Ghosty," Raticate taunted. "You shouldn't have come here, and you'll soon see why. Get him, boys!" He stuck out one of his paws, and countless Rattata leaped from the grass straight at me.

"Don't leave us out!" Muk added with a mouthful of trash, and his Grimer began advancing on me as well. I may have been capable of holding my own one-on-one, but against entire gangs, I was helpless. I was done for.