The sight of my tired eyes stared back at me through the reflection of Petal''s pokeball.


    I didn''t look good. A deep weight seemed to hang off my shoulders like I wore a heavy pack. My mind felt cloudy and unfocused. I was exhausted, not just because I had just come out of the gym, but because my emotions were in total disarray. Ashamed, sad, scared, torn.


    How long had I spent hemming and hawing over my decisions until consequences came crashing down?


    We had walked to the arena in a strange sort of haze. Other passersby ceased to exist. My Oddish and Dunsparce, her Spinda and Oricorio, all of our Pokemon followed while keeping an eye on one another like the other group was about to pounce at any moment. An aura of hostile ceremony had overtaken us; we were fighting and now we were about to fight; my heart wanted to jump out my chest.


    Tuula Tuari stood on the other side of the street arena. A simple gravel field separated us, with a few concrete obstacles scattered like ramps of a skatepark. Around us, the narrow concrete streets of Heahea; a few parked cars; the distant sounds of the Heahea market crowds. Tuula glared at me from a distance, fists clenched, her Pokemon returned to her balls at her belt.


    "Hey!"


    Tuula''s voice boomed across the arena and broke me out of my daze. I wrenched my gaze away from Petal''s pokeball as I almost dropped it. Tuula took a step forward with a sneer, opening her mouth to say something then closing it. She practically trembled. Was it fury? Was it something else? I couldn''t tell.


    "T-Tuula, wh-what are the rules here," I stammered out. What were we even doing? "Are we fighting until, uh–"


    "It—It doesn''t matter!" She barked out. "Just– let out your Pokemon! We''re fighting! They''ll let us know when they''ve got enough! Just go!"


    I grabbed Oran Juice''s Pokeball and threw it.


    My Dunsparce hit the gravel. His attention was not at the fight first, but at me, and in his eyes I saw the same indescribable emotion that he''d shown to me in the locker room with my starter– and just as fast, he turned his gaze back to his opponent.


    The battle began in earnest. Tuula''s Oricorio hopped over the gravel in a zig-zag motion. This wasn''t the flight of a graceful bird; this was the hops and pounces of a furious ball of fluff; she reached my Dunsparce in a flurry of movement and started on her assault. Pecks of her beak and Pounds of her tufted wings battered my Normal-type from every direction, moving in and out of OJ''s space like a boxer. When OJ moved to retaliate with a Flail, his opponent moved out of the way and hit him with a Spark, his body spasming and rolling away from the blow.


    "A–ah! Just– down! Underground! Now!" I yelled.


    The Oricorio''s advance was relentless, blocking off all exits, and my Dunsparce''s escape so sluggish by comparison–


    "When Rui and I were sent to live on your island, we knew life wasn''t going to be easy. Shit''s easier in some ways and harder in others; my brother and I, we aren''t model students or the best trainers." Tuula began as our fighters clashed. "We know what people say behind our backs. We''re real fucking aware."


    What were we doing? I hadn''t even directed OJ to set his tunnels yet! I hurriedly traced my foot into an X on the floor, knowing that his senses could pick it up. Finally finding a breach in his opponent''s assault, my panicking ''mon pierced through the rough gravel and drilled through with a grating sound– a clumsy and unfocused effort, and the Oricorio managed to get one more Peck through before he disappeared through the floor.


    My heart wasn''t in it. I could see it– I was so distressed, so unfocused, that my Pokemon felt it just as well as I did – and now they suffered, they were unfocused, and they were taking blows in my stead. Come on, Selene! Steel yourself!


    "You''re running again." Tuula hissed. "You''re a coward. You''d rather run with your tail between your legs than say things to my face."


    Maybe she was right! Maybe I was a coward! Was I so wrong? Was I so wrong in wanting to not be hurt? Was I so wrong in trying to not hurt her?


    Tuula''s Oricorio wasn''t a sitting Ducklett as my Dunsparce traced his tunnels through the battlefield. She kept a steady eye on the ground, bouncing from one leg to another as though keeping up an inaudible rhythm. Oran Juice wasn''t secretive about what he was doing either, his tail popping out the ground at a few points to set exit holes to his tunnels.


    "I want to hear you say it. I''m gonna show you– I''m going to beat you, and I''m going to have you say it to my face." Tuula growled.


    Fear gripped my heart. I didn''t want to hear her say it.


    She continued. "You''re going to admit I''m a fucking failure."


    Huh?


    Wait–


    What is she talking about?


    Words failed me, and yet I still tried to voice them. "Admit– admit what? I– I don''t understand–"


    Tuula trembled. She visibly seethed, fists gripped tight and arms taught. Her voice cracking, swallowing her feelings, she snapped back. "I– I know what you think of me. I know what everyone thinks of me. That– that I''m just a broke street kid that won''t amount to anything!"


    The spiral of emotions I''d been stuck in stopped– the running train of my thoughts crashed into confusion as I faced Tuula in battle. What– what were we doing here?


    For a moment, the fight resumed, trainers and ''mons on autopilot. A desperate game of cat and mouse had begun, with Tuula''s Oricorio and my Dunsparce at each others'' heels. With our tunnels set up, OJ was free to pop in and out of them in a much more frantic manner, surprising his opponent with a Secret Power that sent out a spray of shrapnel at the sensitive Flying-type.


    I was worried– worried and concerned. This wasn''t a fight to say she hated me, this was a fight to make me say I hated her– but this was wrong! Why? Why hurt yourself this way?


    The Oricorio slowed her pace– now she was as hurt as my Dunsparce was, and it showed. Both of their stamina were dwindling down as they visibly took shallower and shallower breaths. Tuula called out an order, and Oricorio focused her pace, shifting her movements to wide beats of her wings. The rhythm that she had been bouncing to changed, and as she did so, I could see faint feathers and static floating off her body.


    In one quick motion, she swooped to and into OJ''s tunnels. I had to refrain myself from stomping the ground with my foot to signal OJ to flee, holding desperately to my wits, before I heard the muffled sounds of fighting.


    This– this wasn''t bad for us. This was a gamble, because surely my Normal could fend off this Flying-type underground. For a moment, us trainers stayed silent as a chorus of shrieks and thumps echoed from beneath the battlefield, feathers and static shooting off from one end of the tunnels.


    An ear-splitting Screech made the gravel on the ground tremble– then right after, an even louder braying of my Dunsparce (was that a Screech of his own?) had us trainers recoil from our spots. Shortly after, a growing rumble signaled the imminent exit of our fighters, as Oran Juice shot off from the tunnel in a Rollout dragging Tuula''s battered Oricorio on the ground.


    The Flying type rolled a few feet before laying prone, unmoving.


    Tuula was quick to return her Pokemon to her ball, and swiftly sent her starter into the fray.


    My poor Normal-type looked totally, utterly spent. He gasped out heavy breaths, his gaze unfocused, his body twitching occasionally. He''d brought down his opponent but he was practically out for the count. Even as Tuula''s Spinda materialized on the battlefield, my Dunsparce turned to me with great effort and brayed out a snap "Dun!", doing his best not to let his tiredness show.


    He was too tired, maybe– he was clearly out of breath, he had been hit by some sort of electric attack that had his muscle lock up, and the Oricorio had clearly done something before she had fainted; the field was peppered with faint feathers that shimmered and sat like traps. Despite OJ''s best efforts, I couldn''t let him stay on the battlefield any longer.


    I grabbed OJ''s ball, and– "What the fuck are you doing?" interrupted Tuula.


    "Huh– I''m– I''m returning my Pokemon?"


    "The fight isn''t fucking over. Your Pokemon can still fight– you gonna be a coward even when your own team encourages you not to be?"


    This– my eyes darted between Tuula, my Pokemon and hers'', our fighters waiting for my decision– I was a coward. I was a coward but at the same time I didn''t want to agree with her; I didn''t want to agree with her when she thought– when she wanted me to admit that–


    "Augh!" I recalled OJ with a flick of his ball, then threw Petal''s unto the battlefield. "Shut up!"


    "...What did you say?"


    "I said shut up!" And with a freshly materialized Oddish looking back at me, incredulous, I continued, "Yeah! I''m a coward! Cool! Well, you! You''re– you suck!"


    Tuula reeled and I made a motion at the battlefield– and in this motion our fighters took this as a sign to throw themselves at one another.


    It was all a flurry of frantic movement in the corner of my eyes. One side in flowing, erratic motion that stirred the Oricorio''s loose feathers like a sandstorm. Unlike the close range slugger that Love Tax had shown itself to be in the past, this Spinda entered a strange dance that sent numbing feathers in the air like a cloud, mimicking Oricorio''s movements.


    On the other side, my Oddish anchored themself in the ground, drawing upon the upturned earth and carving roots into the battlefield. This Spinda had new tricks but my Oddish was more efficient in their control than last they''d met– they poisoned the air before the Spinda could whirl it away, and now the battlefield was coated in a mist of noxious air that mixed dangerously with LT''s Whirlwind.


    Tuula blinked tears in her eyes, an arm straining against buffeting winds that carried loose gravel and Oricorio feathers. "That''s all you have to say, huh? Come on! Spit it out! LT, Nuzzle!"


    "You..! You''re– augh!!! Petal– back up and Acid! Wide spray!" I could practically only see red. My heart was racing. I gripped the hem of my shirt tight until my knuckles went white and cut Tuula off. "You''re just– so annoying! You talk over people like you always have something to prove! For once just– listen, and stop thinking for me!"


    The other girl buckled on her spot, hurt, blinking in confusedly. Her eyes narrowed, mouth agape, gears turning fruitlessly as she tried to align her worldview with mine. "Well– it''s all–"


    "I don''t want you to say those things about yourself! It''s not true!"


    She reeled, now totally lost about what to feel. "Where the fuck is this coming from? Are you shitting on me or defending me? I''m a shitty town kid! I''m a shitty person!"


    "It– it doesn''t matter where you come from!" Now I was yelling, because beyond any fear I felt there was something more important to me– my concern, my affection– "You''re passionate! You''re determined! You trained with the Kahuna''s Makuhita at Hau''s place! That takes heart!"


    She wrenched her eyes away, but her voice rose over the sounds of battling. "You wouldn''t say that and not talk to me for two fucking weeks. You''re a liar. You hate me."


    "That''s–" This isn''t what I meant. This isn''t what I wanted. I''d made a mistake. "That''s wrong. That''s my fault. I know very much what it''s like to be alone."


    We fought with words and we fought with blows, with pounces and punches and puffs of poison, with reaching vines and confusing dances. It didn''t matter that Spinda could steer all those feathers in a storm that stuck to my starter, it didn''t matter that it mimicked the Oricorio''s Moves and battered my Oddish with Pecks and Aerial Aces. I will win, I will win I will win I will win


    "Augh!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, "I don''t hate you! I was trying to protect you!"


    "From fucking what?!"


    "From what people think of me!"


    The battlefield went still.


    The anger that had animated my body this whole time seemed to disappear. I was left drained, panting, sweaty, looking at a ruined battlefield and our two Pokemon paused in motion, staring at me intensely.


    On the other side of the field, Tuula had a similar confused expression than the one I had adopted when she had started berating herself. "Whuh– what are you talking about?"


    The torrent of emotion had stilled; the well had run dry. I felt numb as I replied, "Our classmates hate me. I don''t belong here." I was so tired. "I''m no good."


    I couldn''t even look at her.


    "Matsu– what makes you think–"


    "T-there''s a group convo with everyone in class in it," I cut her off. "I wasn''t invited. I''m– I know they think I don''t belong here. That I d–don''t deserve to do the challenge."


    I could only look at the ground as tears flooded my vision.


    "I–I''m sorry." I should probably leave. "I''m sorry for being here. I didn''t mean to–"


    Stomp. Stomp. Stomp, stomp, stomp– there wasn''t much I could do when Tuula grabbed my shoulders with such force that we stumbled, and both of us tumbled to the floor in a graceless tangle of arms and legs.


    I winced from the impact– and opened my eyes to find Tuula, dyed-pink hair cascading down her face, practically pinning me to the ground.


    "I don''t agree with that," she hissed out. "You do belong here. You do deserve to do this challenge an'' all. Fuck what anyone else says."


    It was hard to believe her. "B-but– the convo–"


    "Fuck the group convo, Matsu." She shook her head and helped me sit up. "I can''t– I can''t believe you''ve been stressing yourself out over this all this time. That I''ve been stressing myself out over you stressing yourself out all this time."


    What?


    "So that''s it? You were avoiding me because you thought you''d do me a favor by making sure your," her hands came up to do air quotes with her fingers, "bad rep'' didn''t rub off on mine? That''s the reason?"


    What could I do but give a faint nod?


    "Aughhhh." Tuula leaned back and ran a hand over her face. "Matsu– there''s like less than ten people in that group. It''s all the people who suck and don''t matter– yes, Sawney included. They don''t choose who do and don''t belong, okay?"


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    It was so difficult to let hope back in. Like a dim little ember, it faintly warmed the inside of my chest, and I just nodded and listened to what Tuula said.


    She turned her head away. "Sigh– Matsu, I– I really respect you, you know that? You know your shit, you listened to me even when I was a butthead, your starter is like the coolest Grass-type I know. Don''t– don''t put yourself down like that." A flurry of emotions went through her face, and she quickly added, with a weird smile, "Matsu, I– I wanna be your friend."


    Tears pooled at the corner of my eyes once more and I saw Tuula flinch like she''d made a mistake. "I–" and I snorted loudly with how clogged with emotion I felt, "I want to be your friend too. I''m really sorry about– about, uh, leaving you in the dark."


    "Yeah, alright." She grinned as she wiped her nose and tried to play it cool, but her eyes were red and her tone heavy with emotion. "But for real– Fuck what other people think, alright? You''re not in their head, so don''t go choosing what they think for them, it''s not fair."


    Well, hold on.


    "Isn''t– Isn''t it what you were doing too, earlier, though?" Tuula''s eyes squinted but I still continued. "Like… all that stuff about how ''people think I''m a sh– crappy person'' and all that."


    "Yeah, well–" Her eyes darted between mine, embarrassment starting to tint her face red. "That''s! That''s– that is not the same thing at all, though! Like you shouldn''t do it, but I– uh– fuck, Matsu, stop fucking giggling! You''re so fucking cringe!"


    <hr>


    [Sorry for leaving you out of nowhere. I''m at the center with Tuula.]


    "Come on," Tuula sighed. "Don''t overthink it. Just send it."


    Tuula was running a hand through her Oricorio''s feathers – a futile attempt, as her unruly feathers were in a permanent state of unrest, even more so with the splint at her wing.


    We had just rushed down the street to the closest pokecenter, left our Pokemon for the nurses there– Oran Juice the Dunsparce and Nae-Nae, Tuula''s Oricorio, had been returned to us while our starters were next to be patched up. My Dunsparce squirmed in my lap as I minded the bandages around his midsection.


    I was fine. Tuula was fine as well. It wasn''t all water under the bridge; Tuula had insisted that I ''owed her one'' and I''d have to repay her at some point; but the important part was that we were friends. Real friends. I have lots of people that care about me and want me near them. I do.


    I couldn''t remember the last time I felt so relieved.


    Right now, though, I had written a text to apologize to Hau and explain where I went. My finger agonized over the send button.


    "You and I know Hau doesn''t give a shit. Cora doesn''t give a shit and doesn''t secretly hate you."


    "Hmph. Okay…" and I finally pressed the screen. "...Okay, it''s done. It''s done!" I flopped back against the waiting room chair, spent. "Blegh."


    Nae-nae snapped a beak at Tuula''s fingers and she yelped, then laughed, as the Oricorio escaped her hands and hopped her way up a lamp onto some shelves, trilling all the way.


    Tuula''s Oricorio was a brand new addition, one that had joined her just a few days before her team''s fight with the Kahuna. Her Pokemon had gotten strong, with Love Tax the Spinda putting a clear dent on my Oddish with unpredictable moves and slippery evasion. Much had been lost during the flurry of our argument, and our fighters had basically stopped as we trainers were making up, but I wondered… how would the fight have ended?


    "Oh, um–" I fidgeted with my fingers– I was trying to forget I had ghosted Tuula over nothing all this time, talking to her like nothing had happened. Not easy! "Congratulations on your Grand Trial, by the way."


    Tuula shook her fingers, giggling and wincing from the peck her Flying-type had given her. "Hah, yeah, thanks. Not gonna lie, it went a lot better than I expected!" She squinted up at her Flying-type with a strange smile.


    "...How was her fight?"


    "Oh she didn''t fight. Love Tax did! Turns out, my Spinda''s the fucking best at Copycat. Both of them have been training a bunch to copy Nae-Nae''s moves, and I got the Kahuna good with a Normal-type that could throw Flying-type stuff at his fighters."


    "I thought Copycat was about…" …a lot of things, and a very complex move to pull off, but here Tuula talked about it like it was just Tail Whip. "...Isn''t it about mirroring a move a fighter just did?


    She shrugged. "Yeah, yeah, I guess, but LT''s been doing it since it was baby, so… iunno. LT trains a while with another ''mon and can do some of their moves okay for a few hours. They been training together and they make it work."


    I had more questions– but Tuula swiftly waved the subject away. "It doesn''t matter– what about you! Did you find anything new about the–" she took a furtive glance at the other trainers in the waiting room, then continued " –the, uh, the thing? You know, the grass thing at the meadow?"


    Oh, yes. The thing.


    "I, uh." I stammered. I knew exactly what she was talking about. I whispered, "The what?"


    "Pshhh!" She batted at me with a hand like I was spilling a secret. "The! The thing! The thing where you and I and our Pokemon went," she shook her hips, "and then you went," she mimicked something rising in the air with her hands, "and the fuckin prairie went bwoop bwoop bwoop," finishing her motion with a videogame level up jingle. From up on her perch, Tuula''s Oricorio gave Tuula''s display a single raised eyebrow.


    "That''s not how it went at all!" I shout-whispered, looking around to see if we were being listened in on. "Listen, it''s– no. I know what you mean, and no. I– I haven''t looked into it. Much."


    She crossed her arms and glared– "Ok, ok, listen," I cut her off before she could object.


    She squinted her eyes harder.


    I didn''t know what to actually say.


    "So you''re just scared," she concluded. "Like you were scared of all that stuff that wasn''t true at all. Shaking my damn head."


    "Augh! No! Listen." I took a deep breath. "I''m not scared like I''m scared of… what others think of me. I''m not scared like I''m– like I was scared of hurting you by association or whatever. When we were at the Melemele Meadow and it all went down, I saw something…"


    Wonderful? Beautiful? Mesmerizing?


    "Something uncomfortable. And then I dissociated for like half an hour and vomited all over my shoes." I sighed. "It''s not exactly something I want to experience again."


    Tuula threw her hands in the air and groaned, then caught herself, bringing her voice volume down. "Come on! Matsu, I saw you– I saw you do magic, Matsu. I saw you float up and glow. And then plants fucking sprouted all around. You don''t want magic?"


    I flopped back down on my seat, pouting. "...No. Not really. What even for?"


    Tuula leaned forward. "Matsu, you could use it during fights. You could use it for…" and she practically whispered the word, "...research."


    "Don''t use that word against me." I poked a finger into her chest, glaring as hard as I could. "I– I don''t want it, Tuula. I don''t want to find out that I''m an esper, or an aura whatever, or anything of the sort, I just want to be… me. Boring ol'' me." I squeezed one arm with the other hand. "That''s all."


    Tuula''s face went through a journey. Annoyance, frustration, disappointment, pleading, until–


    "If it''s got nothing to do with me or whatever, you''ll be the first and only one to learn how to do it, sure," I conceded.


    "Yesssss," Tuula hissed, pumping a fist.


    <hr>


    There is something unreal about having money.


    Not money my mom gives me when I want to buy a new game or some snacks but actual money of my own, money I made by clearing the Verdant Cave Trial and the Melemele Grand Trial; money that I am responsible for and have to choose how to spend.


    So when Hau suggested we ate at some fancy place and half our Pokemon lit up, I could hardly say no.


    What we ended up at was a cheap local place serving familiar food; cubed palm hearts and seaweed over rice, grilled mushroom and fried eggs with gravy, steamed berry in nanab leaves. We were all sitting in garden chairs around a plastic table, a smattering of paper plates holding the bounty of food we''d gotten for our Pokemon and us. The place was packed. Behind the bar, a tall Passimian tossed a wok over the grill as a woman handled the customers'' questions.


    It smelt so much like home.


    Petal the Oddish was busy in an animated argument with Stella the Cleffa, giggling in between mouthfuls of her meal, both sitting upon our laps. Loa the Torracat sat on a chair as she tentatively tried to maneuver a fork and feed a buzzing Toku, the former still unused to the newfound mobility of her opposable thumbs, the latter eagerly tasting a new treat. Meanwhile, my Dunsparce seemed content to listen in to the ongoing conversations and clean the plates of any stray crumbs.


    It was time to plan where to go next.


    In a few shuffled motions, we pushed our food and drinks, making way for the unfolded map that Hau spread over the table.


    "We''re here." Hau pointed to the L-shaped metropolis on the west coast of Akala.


    "There''s three Trials on Akala island." Hau''s finger traced route 4 up from our current location. "Just north of Heahea is Brooklet Hill. It''s like a big slope that has a bunch of lakes and waterfalls on it– big touristy location. Most of the time, you get there by walking route 4 to Paniola and following a guide, but you could also just get a boat ride in Heahea and get directly there from here."


    Gulp.


    "I hate to say no to a simpler option, but I''d rather not take the boat again, alright?" Lillie declined, pausing to spare a quick wink in my direction.


    "...Sure!" said Hau.


    Phew.


    "Another Trial is through the Hohonu jungle. It''s wild territory? Kinda? Less scary than when we faced Mankeys and a Sparrow but still a rowdy time! There''s no markers for it on the map, but route 5 north of Paniola cuts right through it and there''ll be ranger stations when we get close enough."


    I raised a hand; I knew a bit more about this one. "Officially it''s the same thing as Melemele Meadow, or Brooklet Hill, or anything labelled ''protected area'' on the map– rangers have an agreement with the Pokemon there to warn rangers if anything happens to a Trial-goer. We would be about as safe as one would be on any given route up until we move outside of it." I gave a tentative smile. "Let''s try not to stray off-route this time?"


    Hau just rolled his eyes and continued. "The third Trial is at the Mt. Wela Marowak colony. It''s the furthest from where we are– it''s also the easiest Trial, I hear. We''ll have to circle around the island from the east or the north, but we''ll get there eventually."


    "A volcano? Is it active?" Lillie mused aloud.


    "Last I heard, yeah, I''m pretty sure!" Hau grinned and licked his lips, clearly psyched by the idea.


    "Hmm," she pouted, not sharing the sentiment. "So– we have all three of these Trials to take on in any order, and then we move on to the southern part of the island to take on the Grand Trial, right?"


    I nodded. That was the long and short of it.


    "So, obviously, the lakes-and-waterfalls Trial is the closest," Hau began. "That''s what most people do. Go by foot, take the boat, knock off a Trial within a week of getting to Akala. One trial, done."


    I really wasn''t looking forward to it. Lillie seemed to sense it, as I felt a comforting hand pat my back.


    "But, you," Hau pointed to me, "you''ve been having a bad time lately."


    "...Me?"


    "Yes, you."


    "Hau, don''t pressure her." Lillie shuffled closer. "Yes, you''ve been a little off lately– we can tell! But take your time, okay? You can tell us what''s on your mind whenever."


    They could tell? Really? "Uh, I mean–"


    "Listen, I ain''t gonna pressure ya, cuz." He held up his hands, then tapped the map once more. "I can just look with my eyes and see you''re not doing too good– if I can help it, I wanna try to make it so that your time isn''t worse, yanno? So, uh, hear me out."


    From Akala, he traced a path with his fingers: to the east, through route 4, 6, 7 and 8; a long path that took us halfway around and across the island leading to the mountain to the north east.


    "We could choose to do the Wela Trial first. We''d have to take the long way through all the routes that circle the island from the east– but our first trial through Akala would be the chillest. As chill as a Trial at a volcano Marowak colony can be."


    Was I that obvious?


    "Oh. Um." I could hardly believe it– to be that simple. "Uh. Is that okay?"


    Lillie gave a warm smile and nodded. Hau''s grin only grew and he continued. "Yeah, of course, cuz''. We''re a team!"


    I felt the faint shuffling of my Oddish on my lap and just nodded in response, wiping my face on my sleeve before any tears could form– I wasn''t about to start crying. Not yet. Petal''s leaves found my other hand and squeezed.


    "And you know, to be honest, there''s still gonna be a ton of cool stuff on the way!" Hop practically hopped in place, Toku the Lediba and OJ the Dunsparce getting excited alongside him as he rambled, "Hano is a really cool town– big cultural scene, concerts all year, big hotels and fancy places, royal avenue and the battle dome– oh! Oh!! There''s Pikachu valley! That''s on the way over! Yeah, that would be sick–"


    "Just to make sure I understand," Lillie stopped him in his tracks, as she leaned over the table and pointed at the routes between Heahea and Hano town. "These red dotted lines– it''s all highways, right? Roads for non-trainers?"


    Hau glanced down, then back up, and gave a quick nod.


    Lillie smiled and crossed her arms, a playful but stern smile on her face. "If we can help it and not have to trek to Hano for a week on end under the Alolan sun, then we are taking the bus."