"Ow ow ow...! Go easy on me, please!"

"Oh, hush it, you. Don't be such a baby."

Altair winced as his mother gently pressed an ice pack to his forehead as he sat in a chair at the kitchen table. His mother, Aurore, worriedly knit her brow as she narrowed her eyes at her son. It didn't matter to her that he was twenty years old now and could take care of himself perfectly fine; he would always be her little boy, no matter how old he got, and she would look after him as much as she damn well pleased.

Aurore Knight had long, straight, ebony-black hair the same dark shade as her son's, but her eyes were a brilliant, bright green. His father, Orion Knight, shared his son's hair color as well, but his eyes were a soft, steely-grey. Altair's midnight-purple eyes seemed to come out of no where, and were all his own.

"Mom, easy on the ice, please..." Altair shot her a pleading look as a sheepish grin formed on his lips, and he reached up to take the ice pack from his mother.

Aurore let go of the ice pack and threw her hands up into the air in frustration. "Fine, fine! You win! I give up playing doctor!" She sighed sharply and turned to go back to finishing the load of dishes she had begun to wash before her son had come barging in the side door and clutching his forehead in pain.

Altair laughed at his mother's huffy attitude as he removed the ice pack from his forehead, feeling much better now. "Sorry I worried you, Mom."

"How could you be so careless?" Aurore turned to look at him over her shoulder with nothing but concern written all over her face. "What if you got a concussion!?"

"Mom!" Altair cracked up laughing as his whole face was encompassed by an impossibly gorgeous, charming smile. "It's not like it was my fault I got smacked in the face with a door..."

Aurore paused for a moment as that fact processed through her mind before immediately conceding. "Yes, yes... You're right. I suppose it was that girl's fault, not yours."

"Don't blame her too much." Altair chuckled enchantingly as he stared down at his lap, thinking back to the look on the mysterious white-haired beauty's face when she hit him twenty minutes ago. "It was an accident, and she did apologize."

"What's this about a girl?"

"Oh, Orion!" Aurore turned her head to notice her husband had just walked in the front door, and she smiled to him. "You're home early."

Orion, Altair's father, hung up his pilot's cap on the hook at the front door as he walked in, still dressed in his full uniform. "Yeah, my flight didn't get delayed as I originally thought it would, so I'm back!"

"Hey, Dad." Altair waved to his father with the hand that currently wasn't holding an ice pack, which only caused Orion to take a closer look at his son's slightly bruised face and laugh.

"What the hell happened to you?" Orion chuckled as he stepped into the kitchen and took the seat next to his son, getting a closer look at Altair's red forehead. "All I heard was something about a girl."

"Well, you see---" Altair laughed as he began to explain, but his mother beat him to it.

"Some girl smacked our poor Altair in the face with a door when he was on his way home!" Aurore recalled her son's explanation of what happened in absolute horror, worriedly looking at her son.

Orion paused and looked between his wife and his son for a brief moment, then just cracked up laughing along with Altair, which only made Aurore more huffy. "Now how in the hell did that happen?"

"It really doesn't matter; it was an accident." Altair gently pressed the ice pack to his forehead, smiling as he thought back to meeting that strange girl. "She was interesting, though. I'll give her that."

"What was her name?" Orion peered at his son's awe-struck face, recognizing that look anywhere. That was the look Altair got any time he met a person he found to be intriguing or interesting in any way.

"I..." Altair paused, then looked a little disappointed all of a sudden. "...have no idea. I was in a rush, so I didn't ask..."

"Pity." Orion frowned a little, patting his son on the back. "Clearly, she was interesting enough to leave an impression on you. The look on your face says it all."

Altair laughed a little at his father's comment, agreeing with him. "Yeah, she was definitely weird. She apologized and felt really bad, and then did a complete one-eighty and got fuming angry and embarrassed when I teased her about it."

Orion let out a good, hearty laugh at that. "Sounds like a fun girl to get to know. Maybe you'll bump into her again soon?"

"Well, if I do, I definitely won't have any problems recognizing her." Altair found himself smiling as he thought back to all the silly facial expressions the strange girl made, having found her to be a really amusing stranger to mess with. "I've never seen anything like them."

"Anything like what?" Aurore quirked an eyebrow at her son, not sure what he meant.

Altair rested his chin in the hand of his arm that was currently propped up on the table, looking out the kitchen window at the bright, sunny sky that reminded him of her. "Her eyes."

Aurore and Orion exchanged a quick, meaningful glance with one another as a tiny smile crept up onto their faces, and suddenly, the blur of a small girl came dashing into the room.

"Altair! You're home!!" A little girl with bright blue eyes and black hair as deep and dark as charcoal came whirling into the kitchen with a Stufful in her arms, and she immediately jumped into the arms of her brother.

Altair let out a laugh as he immediately dropped the ice pack he was holding and effortlessly caught his nine-year-old sister in his arms, and he cradled both her and Stufful affectionately. "Hey, Pandora! How's my little Panda doing today?"

Pandora Knight sat up to face her brother and grinned brightly with her sparkling blue eyes, and her short pigtails reached the bottom of her chin. "I missed you so much! I wish you came home more..." She looked down and frowned a little, causing Altair to feel like his heart had just been run through with a knife.

"Ful!" Stufful whimpered a little, agreeing with his master.

Altair had a guilty look on his face as he exchanged a glance with his parents, who couldn't help but smile at the sight of their two kids getting along so well with one another as they always did.

Altair wrapped his big arms around his sister's frail body and gave her a tight hug. "I'm sorry I'm always gone, Pandora... It's just my job."

"I know..." Pandora snuggled closer and rested her head on her brother's shoulder, enjoying the warmth from his comfortable embrace. "But since you're home today, do you think you could play with me an' Stufful for a little and teach us some moves?"

Altair's heart sunk with how lonely his sister sounded, and he couldn't help but remember the favor Professor Kukui had asked him to do earlier. "Pandora, I really want to, but..."

"Please, Altair...?" Pandora cut him off and batted her eyes at him, sticking her lip out to pout a little.

Altair was floored by the adorable look on her face, and he just exhaled sharply as she completely won him over. "Alright, alright... I guess I could. But just for a little bit, okay?"

Pandora's whole face was lit up with the biggest, brightest grin that resembled the very same smile that Altair always wore. "Thanks, Altair! You're the best!" She squeezed him tighter and pressed her cheek against his, shutting her eyes in delight.

Altair sighed happily as he relaxed his posture, holding onto his sister. "I will always make time for you, Pandora. Always."

______________________________________________

Meanwhile, back in front of Nova's house...

Professor Kukui shot Nova a meaningful glance as she stepped out the front door, looking in the direction of the house as he spoke. "Your mom there... She's sure looking forward to you getting your first Pokemon, yeah?"

Nova stepped off of her porch and onto the dirt road, sighing as she slightly pushed up the brim of her sun hat. "Yeah... She was really excited when she got her first Pokemon, so I guess she feels the same thing now seeing me get my own."

"Yeah, I can see that." Professor Kukui smiled and nodded his head, then turned to walk up the hill and ushered Nova to follow him. "Well, let's get going to Iki Town! Time for you to get a real nice Pokemon from the island Kahuna, oh yeah!"

Nova rolled her eyes and cut in curtly. "Don't be so dramatic."

"Haha, yeah! Sorry!" Professor Kukui grinned sheepishly as he walked up the hill in the direction of Iki Town, side-by-side with Nova. He looked around at all of the amazingly colorful tropical flowers, and all of the palm trees that gently swayed with the sea breeze. "Now this is more like it, yeah! Welcome to paradise, cousin. This is the Alola region!"

"It is rather beautiful..." Nova looked around her at all of the colorful vegetation, never having seen anything quite like it before in any of the other regions she had lived in. 

Professor Kukui reached up with his arms and stretched as they walked. "Folks here in Alola get along by living together with Pokemon and working together, too. After all... You can go anywhere, yeah, as long as you got Pokemon helping you out here." He grinned and gave Nova yet another strong clap on the back. "That's why we gotta get you to the Kahuna!"

Nova was nearly sent flying forwards by his sheer force, and she mouthed the word 'ow' as she reached up and massaged the shoulder blade Professor Kukui just smacked. "How far is Iki Town, anyways?"

"Not far, if we cut up here." Professor Kukui pointed to a small fork in the road that took them further up a hill and off to the left. "Come on!"

Nova numbly walked alongside her cousin as he awed at all of the stunning nature around them, even though he had seen it all several times before, and she was only just seeing it for the first time now. She hated moving, and she didn't want to even bother getting too attached to this place. Who knew when her mother would want to pack up and move again? Sure, she was nineteen and could technically move out and live on her own now, but...

Then her mother would be all alone...

Nova was all Celine had in terms of family. Celine's only sibling was her sister, who lived in Kanto and was always so busy working in the Elite Four that she rarely had time for family. Nova's grandparents passed away years before she was even born, and then there was Kukui, Celeste's only child, who was native to the Alola region and lived here with his wife. Celine's ex husband was no longer in the picture, so her daughter Nova was really all she had left.

Nova just couldn't do that to her mother. After all, the reason they moved around so much was because Celine was restless and feared having people close to her walk out on her and suddenly disappear, just like her husband did nine years ago.

So...Celine kept them moving around in order to not have to worry about it.

Being alone was always so hard on her mother, and until she started her Pokemon journey, Nova had made a promise to herself to stay with her mother until then.

And today was now was that day. Honestly...she had mixed feelings about it.

Professor Kukui looked over at his cousin lost within her own thoughts and decided to try and break the ice. "So, Nova, you're lovin' Alola already, yeah?"

Nova looked off to the side of the road as they walked, disinterested in this conversation already. "...I guess."

Professor Kukui wasn't really fazed by that answer, having expected something along the lines of that from her already. "Hey, don't sweat it, cousin. It's pretty normal to feel a bit unsure when you're in a new place."

Nova's eyes dropped to the ground as she fell silent and didn't respond to her cousin. She stuck close to him as they walked, and as they passed by several islanders, each and every one of them stopped to wave to the both of them with friendly smiles on their faces. Nova shied away from their strange friendliness and walked closer to Kukui, who grinned and welcomed anyone's hello with a smile and a wave.

She just couldn't understand why everyone was so friendly here. Back in Kanto, a majority of people just kept to themselves and minded their own business. Having complete random strangers come up to her and say hello was just...weird.

Their short walk up the dirt path seemed to come to an end as they reached a small stone staircase leading up to a cute little village. Nova took notice of all the houses built in a circle around some sort of platform in the town up ahead, and Professor Kukui eagerly climbed the stairs and stopped at the top.

"And we're here!" Professor Kukui turned around to face his cousin as she ascended the stairs, stretching his arms out with a welcoming grin on his face.

"This is Iki Town...?" Nova stopped at the top and turned around in a full circle, getting in a good look at the place.

The green grass stretched on endlessly across the town, and red floral bushes surrounded each cottage built from dark brown wood and yellow roof tiles. Countless numbers of palm trees decorated the place and surrounded each house, and a little further into town was yet another small staircase built into the terrace-like terrain, accented by two chiseled stone tikis on each side. Those little stone tiki statues seemed to be everywhere in Iki Town, and just above the steps was a large open area decorated with a square wooden platform with steps on two of the sides opposite of each other. It almost looked as if it were a stage, and Nova couldn't quite figure out what it was used for just by looking at it. Towards the left at the edge of town was a rather lavish, large estate built in the same style of architecture as the rest of the little cottages, and Nova couldn't help but wonder what important person lived there.

As Nova turned in a circle and looked around, Professor Kukui looked straight ahead with a sense of pride as he rested his closed fists on his waist. "This town is where folks come to worship the Pokemon that watches over Melemele Island. Tapu Koko keeps us all safe and happy, see!"

"Tapu Koko...?" Nova snapped her head to look at Professor Kukui at the mention of the unfamiliar Pokemon, and she wore a look of confusion as she stared at him. She had certainly never heard of such a Pokemon before, or there being guardians of the islands.

Professor Kukui suddenly noticed how quiet and empty the town seemed, and he walked up to the second set of stairs and looked around in confusion. "Huh? What's goin' on here?"

Nova blinked as she stared at her cousin with a curious expression on her face. "What is it, Kukui?"

Professor Kukui knitted his brow and pressed a finger to his lips as he looked left and right once more. "We were supposed to meet everybody right here, yeah. And he's late too... Where did that kid run off to?"

Nova screwed up her whole face in confusion at the mention of that last part. "He? Who are you talking about? Is he the same guy you mentioned yesterday...?"

Professor Kukui just sighed and shrugged his shoulders, letting it go. He failed to acknowledge Nova's question as he turned and looked at her. "Ahh, I'll just introduce you two kids later. He's probably just running late, or got caught up in something."

Nova sighed sharply and looked off to the side, rolling her eyes a little. "...that still didn't answer my question."

"I wonder where everyone else is?" Professor Kukui continued to not pay attention to Nova's complaints as he glanced around, pondering something. "Maybe they're all back there on Mahalo Trail..." His eyes wandered to a huge archway at the back of the town, which lead up to a giant spiral, stone staircase at the end of a long, grassy trail.

"Mahalo Trail?" Nova quirked an eyebrow in confusion, not following Professor Kukui's ramblings whatsoever.

"That's where the ruins of our guardian deity, Tapu Koko, are, yeah..." Professor Kukui briefly explained, then suddenly turned around with an exuberant grin on his face as he faced Nova once more. "Nova! Do me a solid?"

Nova was a little caught off guard by his sudden enthusiasm and took a cautious step back. "U-uh... Sure?"

"Go find the Island Kahuna!" Professor Kukui grinned and pointed in the direction of the large forested archway at the back of the town, then rested his hands on his waist. "I'll wait around here to make sure we don't miss each other."

"W-what!?" Nova snapped her eyes wide open in shock, frustrated by her cousin's impossible request. "But I have no idea what they look like!"

"The Island Kahuna?" Professor Kukui smirked wryly as he drew his head back warily. "You can't miss him. He looks just like a Kahuna!" He waved off her concern, as if what the Kahuna looked like was painfully obvious.

Nova's face fell into an intensely fed up stare as she slumped her posture. "...great. So helpful."

"See you in a bit, cousin!" Professor Kukui grinned and waved good-bye to her as she moodily stomped by him, heading in the direction of this supposed 'Mahalo Trail.'

Nova gripped the strap of her bag as she walked and rolled her eyes, waving to Professor Kukui sarcastically with her back turned to him. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be back in a few minutes...probably. It's not like this is an entirely new region to me or anything. But I'm sure I'll be fine by myself! Totally won't get lost or anything..."

The faint sound of Professor Kukui's hearty chuckle was the last thing Nova heard as she ascended the little staircase and began making her way towards the entrance of the trail. Just as she got up to the large platform in the middle of the town's plaza, she spotted the figure of a girl up ahead, who was standing right in front of the archway and lingering there.

Nova stopped where she stood as she stared in the mysterious girl's direction, tilting her head to the side a little. "Huh... That's odd. Who is...?"

The mysterious girl wore a floppy white sun hat with an extra wide brim, which was decorated by a pale blue ribbon tied around the center. She was dressed in a white, v-neck sundress with a baby blue collar and lace trim around the bottom, white knee-high socks with light blue lace tops, and powder blue Mary Janes. The mysterious girl had long, straight, titanium blonde hair that came down to the top of her back, and two braids framed the front of her face, as well as rather choppy bangs running straight across her forehead. She was carrying a Pokeball-themed barrel bag that was swung over her right shoulder, and Nova widened her eyes in surprise when she saw the bag suddenly shake on its own.

The mysterious girl looked down at her bag and began talking to it, which only made Nova grow more suspicious. "Really? You want to go up to the ruins? I don't know what you hope to find there..."

Nova watched as the strange girl walked ahead and suddenly disappeared somewhere inside Mahalo Trail, and she couldn't help but wonder...was that girl the Kahuna? She figured it couldn't hurt to catch up with her and ask. What was the harm, right? Even if she wasn't, maybe she knew who the Kahuna was.

Nova jogged to catch up to the girl, but the blonde had surprisingly been walking rather fast, and Nova was still quite a ways behind her. She didn't want to suddenly call out and startle her, so Nova quickened her pace and began climbing the spiral stone staircase all the way up to the top of the trail, which stopped at the edge of a cliff that had a long, rickety bridge running over a fast-moving ravine one hundred feet below, and the bridge connected to the other side where Nova could see the ruins Professor Kukui had briefly mentioned.

As Nova walked up behind the girl who had suddenly stopped a few feet away from the bridge, she was once again startled by the bag strangely shaking on its own.

"You can't come out! We'll get in trouble if anyone sees you." The blonde girl whispered in a harsh tone to her bag, causing Nova to grow a little concerned with the girl's sanity.

As Nova opened her mouth to speak to the girl, the zipper on the blonde's bag suddenly opened on its own, and a purple and blue blur of something escaped from the bag and immediately dashed out onto the bridge.

"No! Nebby, get back here!" The blonde girl grew intensely worried as she cursed her luck, helplessly looking out at the spot in the middle of the rickety bridge where the blur was now lingering.

Nova squinted her eyes in attempt to get a good look at whatever had suddenly just escaped the blonde's bag, and she was shocked to see what appeared to be a Pokemon of some sort. She had never seen anything like it before, so was this one of those Pokemon her mother mentioned earlier that were specific to Alola...?

The 'Pokemon' appeared to be a small, dark purple and royal blue bundle of stars with a smiling face on it, almost resembling a nebula. Two little (arms...?) stuck out at the top of the Pokemon's head, and a light blue little cluster of stars were at the end of them.

Nova was about to say something to the girl when all of a sudden, a fast whirling sound of wind abruptly whipping by her head startled her, and she watched as the figures of three Spearow rushed by her and immediately gunned for the strange Pokemon on the bridge.

"Oh no, Nebby, look out!!" The blonde girl instantly panicked and began to tremble slightly the second she took a step closer to the bridge, and she seemed to be frozen in fear as she could only watch what was about to happen.

Nova instantly became alert as she watched the three Spearow attempt to dive-bomb the peculiar Pokemon, who was crying out in terror as it cowered in fear. "Pe-e-ew...!"

Nova walked forward and stepped on a small twig, and the abrupt snapping noise drew the attention of the blonde girl. "Ah... H-help... Save Nebby!" She locked her panicked green eyes with Nova and instantly found herself asking her for her assistance. "Those Spearow are attacking it! But...but I'm too afraid to go out there... My legs feel like they might give out..."

Well, she certainly didn't have to ask twice.

Before Nova even knew what she was doing, her legs moved with a mind of their own, and she ran across the ground towards the bridge. She stopped before stepping onto the rather shaky-looking bridge built out of very old, almost rotted wood, and she grasped the ropes on each side as she carefully began to step across each plank. She kept her eyes on the poor Pokemon in trouble as she warily began crossing the bridge, and Nova suddenly lunged forwards a little when one of the planks she had stepped on had given out beneath her. She quickly jumped to the next plank as she stared face-down at the ravine beneath her, and she reached up to place her hand over her racing heart to calm herself. Nova gripped the rope railings tighter as she nearly tripped over loose planks on the bridge two more times, and as she approached the peculiar Pokemon, she slowly knelt down and covered its small body with her own, shielding the crying Pokemon from the three Spearow that were circling above it.

"Agh...!" Nova winced as she felt the claws and beaks of the Spearow graze her back a few times as they dive-bombed her in attempt to get to the strange Pokemon, but she held out and braced herself for the pain in order to save the poor thing.

The little nebula Pokemon looked up at Nova, this complete stranger who had selflessly run out to save it, and was relieved by her bravery. It felt horrible that Nova was using herself to protect it, and as a stern expression crossed the Pokemon's face, it drew in a deep breath and began charging power.

Nova looked down at the Pokemon beneath her when she spotted a blueish-purple light out of the corner of her eye, and when she saw a ring of power suddenly begin to come from the Pokemon, she grabbed onto it tight as a giant orb of power exploded and surrounded both herself and the Pokemon, sending the Spearow flying away and simultaneously destroying the bridge that was underneath them.

Nova held onto the Pokemon tight and cried out in fear as they began to plummet all the way down to the ravine filled with sharp rocks and fast-moving currents, and as she squinted her eyes tight and braced for impact, she heard the blonde girl back up on the cliff scream in horror.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

IT'S ONLY CHAPTER THREE AND I LEFT YOU WITH A CLIFFHANGER, YES, I KNOW XD

Although it's not much of a cliffhanger for those of you who played the game, but I know about half of you haven't, so... Lolololol have fun suffering until I post chapter four XDDDD (don't worry, I'm super pumped to write this book right now, so you won't be waiting for long).

I thought it was a FANTASTIC way to end the chapter XD I spoiled you too much with getting to see Altair being adorable and fawning over his cute little sister, so I had to just leave you in suspense for a bit!

Fan art for this chapter was oh so amazingly created by none other than VanillaWind~! Thank you so much, Julia!! ^-^

Any fan art you would like to submit can be emailed to me at [email protected], for those of you who asked on the last chapter. I'm so touched that you guys are already photo-shopping and drawing me stuff already ;~; daww... I'll put each and every piece of your artwork on chapters of the book and tag you in my author's notes to give you credit!! Thank you so much for your unwavering support, my lovelies~! <3

Read, comment, vote, and enjoy!