I woke up the next morning at the hands of Ribombee, more tired than I'd been in a long time. I would've forgotten about my classes, too, had she not been there to remind me in my groggy state. So I thanked her, if begrudgingly, and the two of us parted ways as we each went off to the first of our unrelenting sessions.

The very first thing I saw upon reaching the second floor was an abnormally large gathering of Pokémon outside Tapu Koko's classroom; at first I reckoned that there must've been some important sign hanging on the door, or that maybe the room was locked altogether, but as I approached the crowd, the real reason they were all there became clear. Blocking the doorway was the massive form of Celesteela the exchange student, who appeared to be trying her best to enter the room without actually realizing the growing number of Pokémon behind her. Needless to say, she was having quite a bit of trouble figuring out just how to get through, and I couldn't really blame her; if I had two huge, disembodied arms and a steel torso that wide, I wouldn't know what to do myself.

While most Pokémon were silent in their bewilderment, a few let fly frustrated curses, while others tried their best to offer suggestions, none of which Celesteela seemed to hear:

"Try putting one of your, uh...arms in first?"

"Can't you bend over or something?"

"Forget it, you listen to Koko from outside! Just let us in first!"

"Where's Koko when you need him, anyway?"

Another exchange student, Guzzlord, clumsily stomped his way up the stairs, and when he laid his four eyes on the debacle he offered his own advice: "Just eat around the door until there is room for you. It's simple."

That Celesteela did hear, and she quietly, yet boldly retorted, "Master Necrozma's already told you to stop eating everything, Guzz! Why do you think he'd be alright with me doing anything of the sort?"

"Can anything even fit down that neck of hers?" I heard one API-goer whisper to another.

Guzzlord just yawned in reply, exposing his gigantic mouth in full, then scratched his side and went off to Arceus-knows-where, not having contributed anything but discomfort to most of us Alolans. Sighing, Celesteela slowly brought one of her long arms through the door, did her best to squeeze her main body through, and pulled her other arm in after her; a grueling process, but one that was met with sighs of relief and even a bit of applause afterward. Although I was more confused than annoyed at the whole ordeal, I still couldn't help shooting the giant Pokémon a tiny glare as I effortlessly entered the room myself, even if I supposed I regretted it shortly thereafter.

"You all should be glad my family isn't here," Celesteela said with slight indignance as she slowly found a seat for herself. "My parents are far taller than that old door, and I'm small for my age anyway."

That made all of our stomachs churn.

A moment later, a door on the far side of the room cracked open and out came Tapu Koko, though anyone would be quick to notice the lack of his typical energy. The Land Spirit Pokémon looked tired, almost impossibly so, as if he had been awake the last night for longer than me or Ribombee or Midnight. On his way to the front of the room, he bumped into several pieces of equipment, including the projector, and didn't even bother to regard them after. Though the air was thick with apprehension from my classmates, eventually I decided I had to say something about the whole ordeal, even if all I could muster was an "Are you feeling okay, Tapu Koko?"

"Ah...yes. I'm fine. Just tired," the professor replied offhandedly.

A few desks over, Passimian wouldn't settle for such an answer. "What were you doin' in that room, Koko?"

"I was..." Koko blinked, and suddenly his eyes seemed to grow sharper and more attentive. Looking straight at the interrogative Passimian, he said, "Nothing. Nothing important. On with the day's lesson, then!"

I wish I could say that was the strangest thing that happened that day, but alas, I'll be honest. Not a day with the exchange students passed without being...interesting, to put it nicely.

I decided I'd have lunch in the forest above the API that day; after all, it was beautiful outside, and I wanted somewhere to be alone, or maybe recite a few of my lines in The Kalosian War. A rather steep, but braveable dirt path snaked its way up the cliff face behind the school, and with plenty of Berries in tow I climbed it until I met the shade from countless trees, and the singing of what had to be hundreds of little winged Pokémon.

It had always struck me as odd that so few students ever ventured to the forest; perhaps they thought it was off-limits, though as far as I could recall neither Solgaleo nor Lunala had ever said anything about restricting it. Or maybe they just found it frightening, like some feral Pokémon still lurked within it, waiting hungrily for its next kill. Of course, I didn't believe any of that; frankly, I loved visiting and exploring the forest from time to time, what with its verdant, earthy smell, and the mystery and wisdom of the trees and their shadows. If you sang in the forest, no one would judge you; rather, you'd be joined by countless other voices...all the voices in the world, it seemed at times. Part of me wanted to invite all my friends to such a magical place, and have them indulge in the same freedom and joy that I felt every time I ventured to it. But I enjoyed being alone for a time, and too much so for me to bring myself to tell anyone else about it. It was rather selfish of me, I know, but to me, the forest was mine. As long as it would stay that way, I considered myself at peace.

As I wandered through the place, considering each tree as I passed it, I looked for somewhere to stop and eat. I didn't get very far, though, and after a few yards I felt something cold suddenly meet my throat. I stopped dead immediately, flying into panic mode. I was being held at clawpoint by some other Pokémon, wasn't I? They could sever my head at any moment, they would sever my head. It was only a matter of time. I was wrong for coming to the forest. I'd finally been found, and now I was going to...

About a minute passed, though it felt like an hour, and nothing happened. The chirps of nearby Pokémon seemed to fade and distort to an intimidating degree, though it might've just been my imagination. Scared to breathe, I slowly brought my eyes to my right side, where a tiny, familiar creature, about a foot in height, floated next to me at eye level, moving even less than I was. His left arm, which doubled as an impossibly sharp blade, was resting against my throat as if to kill, but he himself didn't seem to be paying any attention to me. In fact, his gaze (if he even had one) was fixed dead ahead, like he didn't even know I was there.

I waited another minute, then gathered up all my courage, and spoke: "You're...Kartana, right? What are you doing here, and what do you want with me?"

The exchange student made no movements, and didn't say a word. After a moment, I tried again, getting less scared and more angry now: "What gives? If you want to kill me, why haven't you done it already?"

"I am under a strict code of honor, to not inflict harm upon any living thing in Alola, so decreed by Master Necrozma," Kartana finally said, almost mechanically. He still didn't look at me. "I take it you are a living thing. You...are a living thing, correct?"

"Of course I am!" I spat. "So if you aren't allowed to kill me, then why are you holding me at swordpoint?"

"You see, I am under another code of honor. I have been instructed not to let any living thing past this point."

"Instructed? By who?"

Suddenly, a third voice, this one heavy, gravelly and stoic, sounded from past Kartana and I: "I know that voice. Let her through, Kartana. Blacephalon says she isn't of any harm."

Kartana obliged immediately, pulling his blade-arm away from my throat in the blink of an eye. I breathed heavily a few times, relieved to be free of Yveltal's wings, then slowly passed Kartana and soon found myself in a little clearing, where the sun was free to shine down upon the flowers and grass and a giant stone wall. I blinked in confusion upon seeing the wall; it definitely wasn't natural, and I never recalled having seen it before. Only when one of the bricks suddenly gave way to a curious blue eye, then another, and another, did I stagger back in surprise upon realizing that I was facing Stakataka.

"Hello," he grumbled.

"...Hey," I replied. The exchange student didn't make a further effort to continue the conversation, so I brought myself to ask, "So what are you doing in the forest? And why don't you want any company?"

"I was sleeping. Taking in the light in your sky. It's warm." It didn't take me long to figure out that he was talking about the sun. "It's better to sleep alone."

"Well, I'm, er...I'm sorry to disturb your sleep."

"It's alright."

I waited a few more moments, and again Stakataka said nothing. In an attempt to clear the awkwardness, I thought of something I could get him talking about for more than five seconds. "So...what's it like where you come from?"

"There are lots of Stakataka," said Stakataka. "Not much of anything else. Me and the other exchange students all come from different worlds. ...We attend the same school, though."

"And your school...what's that like?"

"We learn. About things," said Stakataka. "There isn't much to do there. Not as much as there is here. No football games. No drama club for Blacephalon. Not much light to sleep in."

It took everything in my power not to roll my eyes at the mere mention of Blacephalon's name. The thought of gossipping with a wall immediately struck me as ridiculous, but alas, I couldn't help myself. "What do you think of Blacephalon, anyway? I see you two together kind of a lot."

"He's, what you would call, my best friend. The closest I suppose I have to one, anyway. I don't always understand him. But I trust him."

"Well, I'd say he's..." My words dwindled off, and I thought for a moment. If begrudgingly, I decided against creating any further bad blood between the exchange students and myself, even if I was itching to call Blacephalon every name in the book and then some. "Ah, never mind. So—and I'm sorry if this offends you—are you a Pokémon? I've never seen anyone like you or the other exchange students."

Stakataka made an odd sound that I guessed was supposed to be a laugh. "I thought the same of you when I arrived. There are so many different kinds of you, all in one world. It's very strange. But, yes, we are all Pokémon. I myself am many Pokémon."

I blinked. "What do you mean?"

Much to my surprise, the brick in the top left corner of Stakataka's face revealed its eye, then detached itself from the rest of the Pokémon and swiftly tumbled down onto the grass, where it looked at me almost humorously and blinked. Then, as fast as it had come down, it climbed back up the foreigner's face and fit snugly into the same place it had left, returning to a brick like nothing had even happened.

"Each of these bricks is an individual Pokémon," Stakataka explained. "They all come together to form Stakataka."

"Wow," I sighed in amazement. "Can they think for themselves?"

"That would be hard to explain. Even I don't really know. But I can tell you that I think as one life-form. One Pokémon. I am Stakataka."

"Sun and moon," I breathed. When the Pokémon, the odd assembly that he was, looked confused, I explained, "The lights in the sky. Sun during the day, moon at night. They're both really important not just to Alolan culture, but to the whole world."

"Hm. I've heard Naganadel utter those words, 'sun' and 'moon'. Now I understand." Stakataka looked at the ground for a moment in pondering, then turned his several eyes to me. "Thank you, Primarina."

I couldn't help but smile and laugh. "No problem. I'm gonna go now, but, uh...thanks for the talk!"

I turned back the way I had come, back towards the API, this time with no Kartana to threaten my life. All around me, the trees seemed a little friendlier, the sun seemed to shine a little brighter, and my mind, while overall light, turned and thought over the outrageous idea that a Pokémon like Stakataka could possibly be best friends with one like Blacephalon.

Back on campus that evening, as I wandered through the halls and the common of the great API, I saw Pheromosa walking briskly, with Salazzle, who looked genuinely happier than I had seen her in years, at her side. Up in the arts building, Shiinotic was sitting and talking and laughing with Celesteela in one of the classrooms. As I fell asleep that night to the distant crashing of the sea against Melemele Island, I decided that maybe the exchange Pokémon weren't all that bad or strange.