Sorry it took a while. I had trouble with ideas here, but here's a chapter taking the focus away from Hano for a bit. Keep in mind I renamed all of Hano's friends, so may want to read the first few chapters so as to not get confused. Please leave a review as usual, and enjoy.

Nacrene City, eleven days earlier...

A Sneasel rolled on the grassy earth to dodge the incoming release of discharge that a nearby Magneton was using. As sparks flew and the Sneasel leaped up to deliver a Night Slash, two boys watched the sparring match in entertainment, with a third patiently waiting.

Growing restless, the third kid said, "Skorupi wants his turn. How long will we have to wait?" A Skorupi next to him chirped in excitememt, clearly restless.

The second boy replied, "Skorupi will get his turn when Sneasel and Magneton are done sparring. Now sit down, Doku. Excadrill would wreck him, anyway."

The first kid sighed and said, "Tetsu, it's super annoying listening to you boasting about Excadrill. Can you please shut up? Just because you evolved your pokemon first..."

Tetsu quickly responded, "You say that all the time, Enjo. I have a right to if I want."

Taking a deep breath, Enjo continued, "You know, I wish Hano were here. He'd probably sort all this out."

Doku then said, "Where did Hano go? It's like he just disappeared. That letter said he was in Pinwheel Forest, but we never saw him..."

Soon, a blast of light danced before their eyes and Sneasel was flung at them, fainted. Doku yelled, "Yes! Skorupi, your turn!" 

Skorupi ran up to the clearing, now somewhat charred, as his opponent, a Growlithe, stepped up, barking. As the two pokemon soon went at it, Tetsu resumed the conversation saying, "Where do you think Hano went? I honestly miss him. He was a good friend, even if he's a pokemon himself, and a mythical, too."

Enjo laughed and said, "Jeez, Tetsu, you're starting to sound like me. But yeah, I want Hano back, too. I bet he'll return eventually, right? He can do whatever he wants now." 

Doku, watching Skorupi dodge a Flame Charge from Growlithe, concluded, "There's not much we can do about it now. For now, all we can do is train our pokemon, the hardest we've ever done. We have to evolve them. Hano would definitely be impressed by that!"

In a skeptical tone Enjo replied, "Are you sure? Hano's probably seen countless legends and mythicals by now. I don't think anything impresses him now. He's so lucky."

Andrew, a little irritated, said, "There you go with the legends again, Enjo. Ever since Hano became Celebi you don't shut up about them!"

Enjo chuckled once more and replied, "How could I? Meeting a legend is already super lucky! The chances of your friend becoming one and then playing with them must be unbelievably low!"

Nodding, Doku said, "Enjo's got a point, Tetsu. I don't think any of us realize how lucky we are. I'm not sure if even Hano realizes it."

Looking up, Enjo said, "Well, we'll see him eventually. Maybe I'll find a Fire Stone soon. Then I can have a legendary pokemon of my own. Maybe the Nacrene Museum's gift shop has one." 

Scoffing, Tetsu replied, "Well, you both can bet I'll get a Magnezone before either of you get an Arcanine or Drapion."

As Tetsu's quip devolved into an full-on argument between the three boys, they all later contined to wonder if and when Hano would come back.

Ruins of Conflict, Melemele Island, present...

"Be careful, sweetie!" 

"Alright, Mom, I will!"

A small, amphibious sprite waddled up to the base of an old bridge, and then looked back at her human mother walking away down Mahalo Trail. She wasn't exactly suited for traveling on land herself, being much more adapted to the water, so embarassingly, she needed her mother to take her up here.

If there was one thing Marina was sure of, she never wanted to be carried in a backpack ever again.

Unfortunately, this was as far as she would get. The bridge to the Ruins was old, and neither she nor her mother wanted to risk it. Luckily, she had other methods.

Concentrating energy, Marina willed the ends of her antennae to light up, casting a bright gleam to radiate out from her. She certainly hoped the Tail Glow would catch the attention of the island deity within these Ruins, but she didn't have to wait long. A yellow streaking light zipped through the sky, descending in front of her in a burst of static, revealing Tapu Koko. The electrical fairy stared down at Marina in curiosity, asking, "Although I should be asking what you might need from me, I'm also intrigued to know how you got here in the first place."

Sighing, she replied, "I had to get my mom to take me." Although Tapu Koko's expression didn't really change, Marina did catch what she interpreted as a stifled chuckle. With a slight hint of embarassment, she continued, "Yeah, yeah. I'm here to ask you something, though."

Raising a nonexistant eyebrow, the island deity replied, "And what might that be?"

With that, Marina started, "You remember the battle we had against Necrozma a week ago? Do you mind explaining why you and all the other Tapus suddenly disappeared right after that and never appeared again, not even in the battle against Arceus?"

Tapu Koko was caught off guard by that question. He stayed silent for a moment for saying, "Well, Necrozma was the biggest threat to Alola. We had to do whatever it took to stop him, under Arceus' direct command which is why..." Tapu Koko froze as he'd realized his mistake. "I've said too much, haven't I?"  

Marina glared at the now nervous guardian. "Explain. Now."

Tapu Koko sighed, before saying, "Fine. At this point, I think it's safe everyone knew the truth."

"Necrozma indeed was the original god, and Arceus did dethrone him. However, I doubt he had told you how he had done so. That was where we came in. Arceus had created us as a front for his ultimate plans. We would go to each island and claim to offer protection to the people, which we performed dutifully. As a parting gift, we had given the people of Alola the gift of Z-power, which Arceus had collected over time from the sheer amount Necrozma exuded. Thus, when Necrozma inevitably revealed himself to his people, the Z-crystals were used as intended, and Necrozma was defeated. Arceus sent us merely to kill Necrozma before he had undergone Ultra Burst, and as we failed in that task, we were fearful of Arceus' wrath, and so we hid, unable to confront him. I'm very sorry."

It has hard to describe how Marina felt. She had been lied to. All of Alola had been lied to. The Tapus had been working against them the whole time, little more than double agents for Arceus. Looking back at Tapu Koko, he had hung his head down in shame. He was sorry about what he would've done, but that still wasn't an excuse. Wordlessly, she turned around, and waddled off down the trail, ambling at a rather slow pace. The Melemele deity anticipated this reaction, and followed her, asking, "Please forgive us. We haven't actually done anything harmful... I could even offer you a ride to your house... Manaphy?"

Marina wasn't listening. She didn't want to hear anything. All she did was turn around and head home. She didn't care if a ride from Tapu Koko would get her home faster. She had lost all of her respect for the deities that she had once looked up to.