She stood in the middle of a shallow, large lake between two mountains underneath the blanket of the dark, starry night sky. The crisp, light blue water only came up to her ankles where she stood, and a chilling breeze sifted through her curly white hair as she stood there in a somber silence. The valley between the mountains was blanketed in glowing, iridescent purple flowers and dark, forest green grass that surrounded the clear lake. Several hundred Volbeat and Illumise flying around above lit up as bright as the stars as their red and purple glows reflected on the clear water's surface.

Nova looked down to see she was wearing an all-white, high-low dress with a strapless, sweetheart neckline. The bottom hem of the dress was trimmed with a gorgeous ruffled lace, and the entire gown glittered like the stars with every movement she made. Her white hair was left down as it flowed along with the soft breeze, and she looked around her surroundings in confusion as she began to wonder how she had gotten here.

"Where...is this place?" Nova turned slowly in circles as she examined the valley with a scrutinizing look on her face. She looked up at the dark sky and stared absentmindedly at the luminescent moon, but she suddenly jolted in fear when she caught a glimpse of a dark shadow suddenly rush by her.

"Who's there!?" Nova looked around her in a panic, desperately searching for what just dashed by her and left a cold chill running through her body.

The dark shadow zoomed by her once more, and Nova quickly whirled around and narrowed her eyes as she searched for it within the darkness of the patch of flowers behind her. "Is anyone there? Hello!?" She scanned the dark, grassy area covered in flowers with her eyes, sharply breathing shallow breaths as her heart raced in fear.

As Nova kept her back to the glittering lake, she heard a light splashing sound behind her slowly begin to grow louder and louder. It sounded like someone was walking across the water and heading towards her, and her whole body tensed up in fear as she dreaded turning around.

A familiar scent caught Nova's nose as the dark figure behind her crept closer and closer, and tears pricked at her eyes at the smell of that cologne she recognized anywhere. That horrible, musky sandalwood she hated oh so much.

The footsteps stopped, and as a single tear rolled down Nova's cheek, she worked up the courage within herself to slowly turn around and face the figure behind her.

"Dad...?" Nova meekly called out as she turned around, and she felt her heart slam against her chest and sink down into the pit of her stomach when she was met with absolutely nothing.

The calm breeze suddenly picked up into a whirling, strong wind as it sharply ran through Nova like a cold chill, blowing wildly through her dress and hair as she looked ahead at the empty, open lake in despair.

______________________________________________

Nova shot straight up from her bed in a panic, clutching her heart for support as she heaved in order to catch her breath. Her heart was racing uncontrollably fast as tears pricked at her eyes, and the second she was able to regulate her breathing again, she fell backwards and let her head slam against her pillow as she sunk into her mattress once more.

"Again with that dream..." Nova lightly shut her eyes as her fear from that recurring nightmare slowly began to ebb away.

She always had that dream whenever she moved to a new place. Nova thought it was strange that it took two nights for her to have that dream this time. Usually, it happened on the first night, but this time her nightmare waited a little while longer to torture her.

In her nightmare, everything would happen exactly the way that it did this time. She would be standing in the middle of a lake within a mountain valley in the middle of nowhere, and she would smell the scent of her father's horrible cologne and feel as if he was standing right behind her. And when she turned around, he was never there.

"Ugh..." Nova groaned as she reached up with her arms and covered her face with her hands. "Why must you be so cruelly ironic, brain?"

She hated that her subconscious gave her this reoccurring nightmare so often. It always left Nova feeling on edge more than usual for a few days after having it, and she hated how much her absentee father still affected her even years later.

Nova hadn't seen her father in over nine years now. He abandoned both her and her mother without a word when Nova was really young. She never understood why he left, and neither did her mother. Nova didn't really care at this point in her life, but it bugged her that she was still having this dream nine years later.

After her father left, Nova's mother Celine began to move them around a lot. Nova figured that being married and settled down with her husband was the only thing that kept Celine's free spirit from traveling so much, so once her father left...

Well, it was pretty obvious what happened after that.

Nova rolled over in her bed and buried her face in her pillow, already dreading how poor her night's sleep was going to be when she woke up tomorrow morning. She tightly shut her eyes and pushed that dream as far from her mind as she could, and before she knew it, Nova had drifted off into a deep sleep once more...

_____________________________________________

Altair Knight stood outside Nova's bedroom door at 9AM sharp this morning, and he gently knocked on it with his knuckles as he leaned in to strain to hear her voice. "Hey, Nova... Are you up?"

No response.

"Nova?" Altair knocked again, but no answer came. He shut his eyes and heaved a heavy sigh, contemplating his options. Stand here knocking for an hour, or go in and wake her up?

Well, they had already lost so much training time with her over-sleeping, so...

Altair internally kicked himself for having to invade her privacy, but it was necessary. "Hey, I'm coming in." He slowly turned her doorknob and pushed open the door, stepping into Nova's overwhelmingly pastel-yellow room.

Altair carefully shut the door behind him, smiling wryly to himself as he spotted the lump for a girl snoring softly in Nova's bed. He carefully tip-toed closer, peering over her blankets and looking down at the twisted expression Nova wore as she was fast asleep. He bit his lip in attempt not to laugh at her amazingly unattractive, open-mouthed facial expression, and he had to hold his breath at the sound of her soft snoring that was accompanied by a little bit of drool running down her chin.

Altair bit the inside of his cheek as he got an evil idea, and he leaned down just enough to hover by Nova's ear as he softly spoke to her in a sweet tone. "Nova, it's time for school..."

Nova's face contorted as she grunted in her sleep, and she stirred slightly as she grumbled. "Five more minutes, Mom..."

"Mom?" Altair stood straight up with a devilish look on his face. "Last time I checked, we aren't that close."

Nova's eyes snapped wide open at the sound of Altair's smug voice, and she looked up in horror only to meet his smirking face looking down at her.

"AHH!" Nova let out a girlish scream as she rolled out of bed and fell to the floor with a hard thump, taking all of the blankets with her. "Oww..."

Altair grimaced as he looked at Nova's pained expression as a result of both that rude awakening and the hard fall. "Ouch... That kinda looked like it hurt."

Nova angrily shot up to her feet and glared at Altair as fiercely as she could. "Altair, what the hell are you doing in my room!?"

"You sleep really late." Altair pointed out nonchalantly without any regard for how fuming angry Nova was. "It's already way past first light; you're lucky I'm a nice guy and I didn't wake you up three hours ago." He paused, then wickedly grinned at her as he answered her question. "Oh, and your mom let me in. She stepped out to do some shopping about twenty minutes ago."

Nova waffled to form a witty retort to that, and she simply just grabbed Altair and began pushing him out the door with a half embarrassed, half pissed off expression on her face. "Ugh... Just get out!"

"Wha---hey!" Altair laughed and cried out incredulously as he felt her hands on his back begin to push him with some truly impressive force. "Nova, just wait a sec---"

"GET OUT SO I CAN GET DRESSED!" Nova screeched like a banshee as she gave Altair's back one final shove, sending him flying out the door as she slammed it in his face as hard as she could.

"OWW! HEY, THAT'S TWICE NOW YOU'VE HIT ME WITH A DOOR!"

Nova covered her face as she whimpered quietly to herself in utter embarrassment, unable to believe that all just happened. Her eyes suddenly snapped wide open in horror at a thought she just had, and she quickly ran over to her wall mirror. "Oh god, how bad do I look!?" She ran her fingers through her horribly tangled bed-head in disgust, and she quickly slapped her cheeks as she stared wildly at her dark bags under her eyes in the mirror. "Was I drooling!?" She wore a disgusted look on her face as she quickly wiped the dried drool from her mouth, and she internally kicked herself and pathetically whimpered as her face grew impossibly red. "This can't be happening..."

Nova sulked into her bathroom and quickly washed her face, making extra sure to get all of the dried drool off that had crusted around her mouth sometime during the night. Did Altair see that...!? Agh... So embarrassing...!

She quickly brushed her teeth and grabbed her makeup kit, then sat down in front of her vanity mirror. Nova wanted to die when she got a good look at the dark circles under her eyes, which Altair has undoubtedly seen when he was in her room a few minutes ago.

"Ugh!" Nova abruptly slammed her face down on her desk in comprehension, not even caring about how much it hurt. "That was way too soon for my adversary to see my morning face..." She abruptly sat up with an angry expression on her face, venting her frustrations as she grabbed at her hair. "As if he'd ever see what I look like first thing in the morning!"

Nova grumbled curses under her breath bitterly the whole time she applied makeup to her face, making an extra effort to conceal the bags under her eyes. She had the worst time getting back to sleep last night after that nightmare, and it clearly showed. She felt too lazy to wear much makeup today, not that she usually did anyway, so Nova stuck with some basic foundation, mascara, black winged eyeliner, and a pink lipstick for today.

Now, the most important question: what to wear?

Now that her face looked less miserable and Nova had tediously ran a brush through her curly hair and smoothed it back down, she got up and stood in front of her closet with a menacing glare. She had to focus and really put thought into what to wear today.

If she dressed up, Altair might get the wrong idea. Like she'd ever dress up for him!

...but if she wore her normal exercise wear, he'd see how much of a laid-back tomboy Nova really was under all her girly habits.

Nova scrutinized the contents of her closet and huffed to herself, crossing her arms. "Fine! I guess I'll just do something in-between, then! That jerk, making me think this hard first thing in the morning..."

She quickly grabbed a random array of articles of clothing and a matching pair of shoes, and she got dressed within five minutes. Nova scanned her jewelry tree and spun it around, trying to find a necklace of some sort to match. Her fingertips froze as she stumbled onto a very antique-looking locket, and Nova found herself unconsciously reaching for it.

She immediately regretted looking inside at the picture of her five-year-old self, hugging her father tightly with the biggest and brightest smile of innocence and naivety.

Nova's eyes narrowed as she snapped the locket shut, and she stomped over to the trash can in her room. She held out her hand that held the locket and opened it above the trash can as she shut her eyes.

...but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

Nova carefully opened her eyes to see that the locket dangled from her open palm where the very edge of the chain was pinched between two of her fingers, and she angrily bit the inside of her cheek as she balled the locket up tightly in her fist and threw it down on her bed. She was livid that even after all this time she still couldn't manage to part with it, no matter how much she hated her deadbeat father. Was it the dream she had last night that was throwing her off balance? She had a feeling that was why she was in an unusually bad mood this morning.

Nova sighed sharply as she motioned to grab Popplio's Pokeball off her nightstand, and she found herself staring down at it in the palm of her hand as the memory of her devastating loss yesterday flashed before her mind. She lost to an eleven-year-old not once, but twice. She was nineteen, and she lost to some kid! And not only that, but everyone around her was treating her like one too...

Kahuna Hala meant well, but he made Nova feel like a child from the moment she first met him. She had a feeling he saw her as on the same level as his grandson Hau, which only inflamed her inferiority complex about her age even more. Hau clearly saw her as an equal, which only pissed her off, given that she had eight years of seniority on him. Professor Kukui even felt like Nova needed a babysitter, and he had the nerve to go behind her back and ask Altair to keep an eye on her for the first island of her challenge. And Altair Knight, that insufferable, self-righteous, know-it-all... Ugh!

Nova furiously stuffed Popplio's Pokeball in her purse and stomped over to her bedroom door, about to jerk open the doorknob when she paused and stared at her reflection in the mirror.

Beige ankle boots with a short, chunky heel, a navy-blue, high-waisted, pleated skirt with a matching lace trim, and a white, long-sleeved, button-up, v-neck blouse. Her little beige purse rested on one of her shoulders, and Nova left her hair down as she strung a large, tiered pearl necklace around her neck. Her eyes were what caught her attention the most, though.

There was just so much anger behind them.

Nova sighed at her own reflection, relaxing her previously tensed shoulders as she felt disappointed with herself. "What am I doing...?"

Professor Kukui was just trying to help. Altair, too, as much as it pissed her off.

But... She couldn't help but feel depressed that Professor Kukui had so little faith in her to figure things out on her own that he had to sic Altair on her.

With a heavy sigh, Nova trudged out of her bedroom with slumped shoulders, feeling more withdrawn and bummed out than anything. She had no idea what was in store for her with her first 'training' session with Altair, but... Well, at least she would try and make the most of it.

Nova's cute little nose twitched at the sudden delightful smell of something cooking wafting through the air, coming from the kitchen. Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion as she quickened her pace as she walked down the hallway, and she was absolutely floored by the view in the kitchen she was seeing.

Altair was humming to himself as he stood in front of the stovetop, flipping a rather large pancake with the pan with expert coordination and skill. Nova's eyes widened at the sight of her dining room table being decked out with several plates of food: bacon, eggs, and even toast with butter and jam... There was also a pitcher of juice sitting elegantly in the middle of it all, as well as two empty plates with silverware placed next to them. Two empty glasses were tediously placed with the rest of the tableware, and Nova was absolutely floored with what she was seeing.

Nova bit the inside of her cheek as she narrowed her eyes at Altair's back, even more pissed now that she knew he could cook. "...what are you doing?"

Altair turned and looked at her, smirking as he saw that she was now fully dressed. Although he was kind of disappointed he couldn't see her as that silly drooling mess from earlier, having found it pretty funny. "What does it look like? I'm making you breakfast."

Nova just stared at him unbelievably. "...but why."

Altair rose an eyebrow as a determined look came across his face. "When you train with me, we start early, and we build up our energy with a good breakfast to keep us going for the whole day." He flipped his final pancake onto a large plate stacked with several of them, and he carried it over to the table as Nova cautiously took a seat at one of the place settings. "You'll get used to it."

Nova eyed all of the various foods around her in both dumbfounded awe and admiration. "I seriously don't think I'll ever get used to this..."

Altair took a seat across from her as he set the plate of pancakes down, and he grabbed the pitcher of juice and poured himself a glass. "I hope you don't mind, but I sort of just helped myself to whatever was in your kitchen."

"Mind?" Nova stared at him incredulously as she dropped her jaw. "Dude, I can't even make toast without burning it..." A self-deprecating look came across her face as she looked at him, frowning a little as she began buttering a piece of toast and putting it on her plate.

"Hm!" Altair smothered a laugh as he looked at her embarrassed face, and he gestured to her to hand him her plate.

Nova blinked at him curiously, but complied nonetheless. Altair gentlemanly began putting various amounts of everything on her plate, since it was a little hard to reach them from where she sat at the table. He picked up one of the pancakes with a fork and plopped it onto her plate, and as he handed it back to Nova, a bitter look came across her face.

"Why did you make it look like a Stufful?" Nova's intense frown encompassed her whole face as she glared at the cutesy Stufful-shaped pancake. She bitterly grumbled in a low tone as she looked down awkwardly. "I'm not a child..."

Altair's eyes widened when she pointed that out, and a sheepish expression came across his face as he awkwardly reached back and scratched the back of his head. "Oh, sorry. I guess I'm just used to making them for my little sister like that, haha!"

Nova just stared at him and his endearing, embarrassed grin, unable to believe he was for real. Just who was this guy...?

"...you have a sister?" Nova coughed as she awkwardly made conversation, shoveling a huge bite of the Stufful-shaped pancake into her mouth, despite all her complaints. She tried not to make a delighted sound as she got a good taste of the amazing buttery pancake.

Altair bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from laughing at Nova's clearly pleased face, easily seeing through the walls she put up as she enjoyed his cooking. "Yeah, her name's Pandora. She's my pride and joy." He smiled fondly as he thought of the curious little girl playing with her beloved Stufful back at home, missing her already.

"How old is she?" Nova half-heartedly continued the conversation as she engorged herself on her breakfast. 

"She's nine." Altair took a swig of his juice as he continued. "We moved here to Alola when she was first born. Better healthcare facilities here."

"Huh?" Nova widened her eyes as he let that slip, unsure of what he meant. "What do you mean?"

Altair seemed to have caught his mistake as he paused, widening his eyes in shock. "Oh! That's right, you're new here." A sheepish grin came across his face that was laced with a hint of sadness underneath. "Sorry, I'm just used to everyone around here already knowing me and Pandora, and our family's situation."

Nova's whole face twisted in confusion as she pressed him for answers. "What are you talking about? If you don't mind me asking, I mean..."

Altair looked despondent as he avoided Nova's strong gaze, staring absentmindedly out the window. "Ah, it's alright. She's okay now, more or less, but Pandora was born two months premature. Her lungs hadn't fully developed yet, as well as her other organs, so she's just been a very frail, weak girl since the moment she was born." He glanced down at his plate as he began to pick at his food with his fork. "She has trouble breathing sometimes, and she can't over exert herself too much. Alola has some really good healthcare facilities for kids that have my sister's specific condition, so that's why we moved here when I was eleven. I've lived here ever since."

Nova felt herself awkwardly shifting in her seat, not really knowing what to say in response. "Oh... I'm really sorry." Altair didn't say anything to that, so Nova cleared her throat and changed the subject. "So...you're not originally from Alola?"

Altair's smirk was back in no time as he looked over in Nova's direction, and it was as if his spirits had never been low at all. "Well, I don't really look much like the locals, now do I?"

No he most certainly did not.

Nova's eyes were drawn to his almost triangular-shaped body type, starting with his broad shoulders that came down to a narrower waist. His light grey, button-down shirt was loosely buttoned only halfway up, and the collar messily stuck up as if he hadn't a care in the world. Over top of that was a darker grey vest, and Nova caught sight of the worn, black leather jacket strung over the back of his chair behind him. His rather longish, shaggy black hair naturally fell in front of his alluring purple eyes, which was a stark contrast to his rather light skin. Even though he wasn't showing much skin, it was hard not to notice Altair's strong figure and toned muscles.

"Nova?" Altair rose an eyebrow as he looked at her, catching her in the act of checking him out. "You can stop staring at me now, you know." He flashed her a quick, snarky grin, casually bringing the brim of his glass to his lips.

Nova jolted with surprise as her attention was suddenly called by him, and her whole face was red as she embarrassingly covered her mouth with her hand. "I-I wasn't staring at you! I just...!" She waffled for a response, and as Altair chuckled at how flustered she was, Nova suddenly snapped and slammed her hand down on the table. "Can we just get on with all this training already!?"

Altair quickly shut his mouth at her sudden outburst, trying his best to respect her wishes and not crack a grin at how funny her reactions were to watch. "Alright, I'm game. So, I figured we should start with the basics and chat for a bit about Alola first."

Nova's eyebrows twitched slightly as she shot Altair a confused look. "Why? Isn't it the same as any other region?"

"Actually, no." Altair smiled wryly as he looked at her. "Alola's quite different than every other region in this world."

Nova felt herself naturally tilting her head to the side as she prodded him for more information out of sheer curiosity. "How so?"

Altair tried not to laugh at how adorable she could be when she wasn't too busy being pissed off at something stupid or slamming a door in his face. "Well, for starters, there are no gyms or Gym Leaders. No Pokemon League, either."

Nova screwed up her face in shock as she cried out. "What!?" She crossed her arms tightly over her chest and knitted her brow together. "What the hell am I supposed to do on this challenge, then!?"

"Haha!" Altair enchantingly laughed at how quick her personality did a one-eighty. "Hold on, don't get too ahead of yourself. Give me a chance to explain first."

Nova stuck out her bottom lip to pout as she sunk back further into her chair, bitterly crossing her arms and looking off to the side. "Sorry..."

"Alright, so this is how it works." Altair clapped his hands together and leaned in across the table a little as he made eye contact with her. "Alola's made up of four islands, and each island has a Kahuna presiding over them."

Nova's face relaxed once more as she quirked an eyebrow. "Like Kahuna Hala?"

"Exactly." Altair simply nodded his head as he continued to explain how the region worked. "Kahuna Hala was chosen to watch over Melemele Island by the guardian Tapu Koko, just like the other Kahunas were chosen by their respected guardian Pokemon: Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tapu Fini...and so on."

"Tapu Koko?" Nova's eyebrows disappeared into her hairline at the sound of that familiar name, and she found herself staring down at the table, quietly muttering to herself as she became lost within her own thoughts. "That's the Pokemon that saved me two days ago..."

"Hm?" Altair looked at her in confusion, not having heard what she just said.

Nova felt herself become a little flustered at the thought of explaining the whole bridge fiasco to Altair, not wanting to give him another thing to tease her about, so she quickly covered for herself. "Oh, uh... It's nothing."

Altair looked at her face in suspicion for a moment as he studied her killer poker face, finally giving up after a minute and going back to their conversation from before. "Well, instead of gyms, we have trials here. Each trial is run by a Captain, who are kind of similar to Gym Leaders in a sense."

Nova's interest was piqued by that as she unconsciously leaned forward to listen to him more attentively. "Oh, really? How?"

Altair smirked a little as he noticed her becoming more interested in this conversation. It was nice actually being able to talk to her about something, rather than just bickering back and forth nonstop. "Captains run their trial sites, and you have to complete a certain task issued by the Captain in order to pass." He laughed a little as he saw Nova's eyes practically gleam in anticipation as he continued. "Each trial varies from Captain to Captain, so I can't give you any specifics, really. But once you complete a trial, you'll be given a Z-Crystal specific to the Captain's preferred Pokemon type in recognition."

Nova thoughtfully nodded her head as she began to take in all of this information. "Like type-specific Gym Leaders and their badges?"

The corners of Altair's mouth naturally curled up into a smile as he watched how quick she was catching on to all of this. "Yeah, exactly like that."

"Z-Crystals are for this thing, right?" Nova held up her wrist and pointed to the bracelet Kahuna Hala had given her yesterday, genuinely curious about the thing.

"Mmhmm. That's your Z-Ring." Altair nodded his head between taking a few more bites of his breakfast. "Hmm...how to explain..." He paused and pressed a finger to his lips as he carefully thought over his words. "Ever hear of Mega Evolution?"

"Mega Evolution?" Nova's eyes instinctively widened at the familiar term. "Yeah, of course. That's a huge thing to practice and study back where I'm originally from."

Altair stopped everything he was doing as those words left her lips, focusing only on her with widened eyes. "You're from Kalos?"

"Well...yeah." Nova's eyes snapped open in surprise at his eager look, and she awkwardly averted her gaze and looked around. "Although I've moved around so much, it's kind of hard to remember that..."

Altair's smile practically encompassed his whole face as he let out a laugh that sounded as comforting as bell chimes on a peaceful morning. "Huh, that's a weird coincidence. I'm Kalosian too!"

"Seriously?" Nova stared at him wildly with her big, sunset-orange eyes, shocked to hear this.

Altair eagerly nodded his head as he flashed her an ecstatic grin. "Yeah! I'm from Dendemille Town. You?"

"Couriway!" Nova's bitter facade seemed to falter briefly as a genuine smile came across her face, shocking Altair to his very core.

"Huh, that's really cool." Altair found himself staring at her sunny smile in awe, flashing her an unbalanced grin as he looked at her. "Who knows, maybe we bumped into each other as kids once?"

Nova's smile seemed to disappear as she awkwardly stared down at her lap. "Hah, yeah... Who knows."

Altair paused to wonder what made her smile vanish so quickly, kind of sad to see it go so fast. He changed the subject as Nova put her walls right back up again. "Well, anyways, your Z-Ring is a lot similar to Mega Rings and Mega Evolution." He rolled up his sleeve to show her his own Z-Ring, which had previously been concealed under his shirt sleeve. "Instead of mega stones, you get Z-Crystals here, and what those do is power up a Pokemon's moves."

"Their moves?" Nova's head tilted to the side as she stared at Altair with utmost confusion, listening intently in order to understand this.

"Yeah." Altair nodded his head as he chose his words carefully, trying to explain this to her in the easiest way possible. "So you know how mega stones can unlock a power within a Pokemon and allow them to evolve into another form?"

Nova nodded her head, having remembered something about this from her time spent in Kalos. "Yeah, something about a Trainer's bond with their Pokemon, right?"

"Exactly." Altair pointed at her with a smirk, grinning at her correct answer. "The stronger your bond is with a Pokemon, the more you can power up their moves and unlock that special Z-Power with the help of your Z-Ring."

Nova slowly nodded her head as she processed all of this new information. "Ah, I see."

"...but you really don't need to worry much about that right now." Altair chuckled a little as he got a good look at the stupid expression on her face, seeing how hard she was trying to retain all of this. "Today, we're just going to focus on the basics."

Everything she was thinking was clearly written all over Nova's face as she slowly exhaled in relief. "Oh... Okay."

"You seem relieved." Altair smirked down at his food as he took a bite of his pancake, not even looking at her as he smugly made this observation.

Nova's eyes snapped wide open in shock, completely stunned that he somehow had just read her mind. "W-what! N-no, I---"

Altair wryly smiled at her as he took a sip of his juice. "Don't worry, Nova. I'm not going to overwhelm you too much on your first day."

Nova paused and watched him finish his breakfast in silence, awkwardly shifting in her chair as she found herself not really knowing what to say. "...thanks."

"Don't mention it." Altair didn't look at her as he cleared their dishes away, taking them over to the sink to wash.

Nova watched as Altair just took care of everything---from the cooking to the washing of the dishes, trying to find the right words to say. "...umm..."

"Hm? Something wrong?" Altair looked up and over his shoulder at her, pausing in the middle of scrubbing the plates.

Nova's eyes fell to the floor hesitantly as she spoke what was on her mind. "Yesterday... They said you're the Island Challenge Champion. Is that true?"

Altair closed his eyes and nodded his head one time as an awkward look came across his face. "Ah, that."

Nova didn't understand why he acted so strangely about being the Champion, and she found herself narrowing her eyes at him slightly in confusion. "But I thought there wasn't a Pokemon League or anything here, so how...?"

Altair looked down and kept his back to her as he started to dry the dishes he just washed. "Well, the island challengers are tasked with completing all seven of the trials held by their respected Captains. And once you complete the trials, you battle each Kahuna in order to have them recognize you as worthy." He quickly put everything back where he got it from, turning to face Nova as he casually rolled his shirt sleeves back down. "Once you beat them, you become the Island Challenge Champion." Altair placed his hands on the back of his chair as he leaned forward slightly, looking directly at Nova in the eyes. "It's not quite the same thing as being the Pokemon League Champion, but for now it's the highest position you can obtain here in Alola."

Nova looked up from her lap and awkwardly met Altair's strong gaze. "So... You're the Champion?"

Altair's eyes darted away from hers as she looked at him, and he awkwardly scratched the back of his head as he spoke. "Well, I'm at least one of them. There's only been a few of us who have gone all the way and completed the Island Challenge, and I'm just the last one who's done it." He looked down and negatively shook his head to himself, frowning a little as he did so. "That was nine years ago, though."

"Wow..." Nova couldn't help but widen her eyes slightly in awe, but Altair didn't seem to share her excitement.

"It's really not a big deal." Altair didn't look at her once as he stared out the window, growing more and more distant from the conversation with each passing minute.

Nova quirked an eyebrow as she suspiciously eyed his depressing mood. "...Geez. Modest, too." She frowned as she leaned her head in her hand, propping her elbow up on the table as she glared at him in annoyance. "Do you just not have any flaws, Mr. Perfect?"

Well that seemed to snap him out of his trance.

"Mr. Perfect?" Altair whirled around and stared at her in shock, widening his eyes slightly as he met her scrutinizing gaze.

Nova smirked wryly to herself as she began counting off some of the qualities she had observed about him since they first met. "You're some hot-shot Champion of a region, stupidly determined to help me for reasons I don't even understand, an amazing cook, super modest, knowledgeable..." She trailed off as she spoke as the tiniest, bitter smile found its way to her lips. "It's kind of annoying how hard you make it to hate you."

Altair took this opportunity to change the subject and turn the tables on Nova, wanting to avoid talking about this. "Oh? Does this mean you're warming up to me now?" He grinned as he leaned in close to Nova from across the table, instantly making her as flustered and uncomfortable as he thought she would be.

"NO!" Nova snapped at him as she felt her cheeks color red in embarrassment, and she turned away from him awkwardly in her chair as she crossed her arms.

Luckily for Nova, the sound of the doorbell reverberating through the house saved her from Altair's teasing, and she narrowed her eyes slightly in annoyance.

"Who the hell could that be?" Nova glared over at the door as if it were the source for all her problems. "If it's Kukui, he'll let himself in without even waiting for me to open the door..." She sighed bitterly as she rubbed her temples in attempt to rid herself of her headache.

"You should probably go check anyways." Altair nonchalantly suggested before suddenly getting a wicked grin on his face. "Or would you rather I go get it instead?"

Nova's eyes quickly widened in horror at the thought of Altair answering the door instead of her. Let him answer the door and have to explain to whoever rang the bell what he was doing in her house this early in the morning while her mom was out? HAH! No.

Nova quickly scrambled up and nearly tripped over her chair as she ran over towards the door. "No, no, it's fine! I got it!" She turned her head back to quickly shoot him a glare, ushering him to stay put. "You stay here."

Altair instantly knew what she was thinking just from the flustered look on her face, and he held up his hands innocently as he grinned at her. "Really, it's no problem, I can---"

Nova stopped and whirled around just long enough to angrily yell at him, throwing her tightly balled up fists down to her sides. "JUST SIT DOWN AND STAY PUT!"

Altair threw his hands up in defense as he smothered a laugh, casually sitting back down in his chair as he sarcastically rolled his eyes. "Yes, your highness..."

By the time Nova reached the door and opened it, she saw that the person who had walked up and rang the doorbell had already begun to walk back down the steps in attempt to leave.

"Lillie...?" Nova widened her eyes slightly at the sight of the familiar blonde, wondering what she was doing here.

Lillie stopped when she heard Nova's voice, and she gripped her Pokeball-themed drum bag as she hesitantly met her eyes. "Nova, the professor said..."

"Hey, Lillie!" Altair suddenly came up from behind Nova, clapping her on the shoulder enthusiastically as he stood right behind her with his leather jacket swung over his shoulder, completely invading her personal space bubble. 

Nova gritted her teeth and shut her eyes as she felt her whole body tense up, angrily fuming under her breath at the taller boy. "Altair, I swear to god..."

Lillie's face flushed bright red, and she slapped a hand over her mouth as she timidly shied away from the door. "O-oh, um, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to interrupt, um, I can come back later---"

Nova's cheeks burned as she realized Lillie had gotten the wrong idea, and she frantically waved her hands back and forth as Altair cracked up laughing. "No, no, no! Lillie, you're not interrupting anything! Seriously!" She shot the blonde a pleading look, looking absolutely defeated as she briefly glared at Altair from the side. "Please, what is it?"

Lillie awkwardly pulled at the hem of her dress as she rocked back and forth on her heels. "U-um... The professor asked me to come get you, so I'm here to escort you to his Pokemon Lab, if you'll come with me."

Nova sighed sharply to herself as she rolled her eyes. "Why does everyone in this damn hemisphere have no faith in my sense of direction..."

"Probably because it sucks." Altair coolly responded to her rhetorical question as he walked out the door with a cocky grin on his face, purposefully bumping into Nova's shoulder on his way out.

Nova dropped her jaw angrily as she quickly regained her balance. "Wha---!? Hey!"

Before Nova could really say anything else to Altair, her mother suddenly came around the corner with a large paper bag of groceries in her arms. "Oh, Nova!"

"Mom?" Nova's angry demeanor melted away as soon as she blinked at her mother owlishly.

"Before you go... I just wanted to wish you good luck." Celine gave her daughter the biggest, brightest grin she could possibly muster. "Seriously, I mean it."

"Oh... Thanks." Nova awkwardly smiled back, not really knowing what to say to that after all the arguing they had been doing about the move the past few days.

"Don't forget to call me sometimes, okay?" Celine nudged her daughter with her elbow as a wry grin came across her face. "I'm going to miss you so much while you're gone!"

Nova felt her face relax as a smile laced with sadness came across her face. "Okay, Mom. I promise."

Celine stood in the open doorway as Nova walked down the front porch's steps, and she waved good-bye to the three young adults. "Bye! Have fun!" She paused as a serious look came across her face, and she pointed to the only boy out of the three standing before her. "Altair, you be sure to look out for my daughter, alright? She's all I have."

"Mom!" Nova embarrassingly cried out as she glared at her mother, stomping on the ground with one foot as she balled her hands into tight fists.

"Don't worry, Ms. Lise." Altair gave her a little wave as a sadistic smile came across his face, and he turned to smirk at Nova as he leaned close to her face. "I have every intention of keeping a very close eye on your daughter."

"Ugh..." Nova closed her eyes as she exhaled her annoyance, only causing Altair to laugh at her.

"Now that's what I like to hear!" Celine chuckled as she clapped her hands together, turning to go back into the house. "Bye, Nova!"

Lillie stared at the door as Celine closed it, seemingly off in another world as she looked at the place where Nova's mother just was. "You...have a very nice mother." Whatever mood she was in, she seemed to snap right out of it as she turned to look at Nova and Altair. "We should get going. I'll show you to the Pokemon Research Lab."

"I've been there once before!" Nova cried out in displeasure, groaning as she rolled her eyes.

Nova's complaints seemed to fall on deaf ears as Lillie walked ahead, taking the lead as she led the two behind her down a small hill blanketed with tall grass. "You can only reach the professor's lab by treading through the tall grass down here. Since I'm not a Trainer, though, I have to rely on repels to get by." A little bead of sweat rolled down Lillie's forehead as a sheepish look came across her face. "The professor says he can research moves better when he is surrounded by so many Pokemon, so I would assume that is why he set up his lab down here on this beachfront."

"That sounds like him." Nova rolled her eyes as they reached the bottom of the small hill, now standing on the little, secluded, sandy beachfront with a sole hut placed on it.

What Nova said seemed to have made Lillie realize something, and the blonde looked at Nova curiously as it dawned on her. "Oh, right... You're his cousin, aren't you?"

Nova cocked her head to the side as she shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, but we've got a solid fourteen years of age difference between us."

Lillie slowly nodded her head in response to that. "Ah, I thought it was strange that you looked so young compared to him, and that you were just now starting your journey..."

Nova's face grew red from top to bottom as steam practically shot out of her ears. "God, it's not that strange to get a late start on a Pokemon challenge!"

"HAHAHAHA!" Altair had to hold onto his stomach as he let out that huge laugh, only enraging the white-haired beauty more.

"SHUT UP!" Nova embarrassingly turned to Altair as she barked at him.

Lillie awkwardly grinned as she tried to remain calm on the outside, even though she was internally panicking at just how much those two clashed and didn't get along. "Oh, um, Nova..."

"Hm?" Nova's angry facade shattered as she turned to Lillie with a curious expression on her face, only causing Altair to smirk and roll his eyes at how quick her mood flipped the switch.

"About Nebby...er, I mean, Cosmog..." Lillie quickly corrected herself as a worried expression came across her face. "Cosmog seems to be a very rare Pokemon. It came from far, far away."

"Pew!" Lillie's bag shook, only making the blonde grimace in annoyance and hold onto it tight in order to steady it.

"It seems to have a very strange power..." Lillie sighed as she finally got her bag to stay still, shooting it once last glare before she turned and looked at Nova once more. "It used that power to save me once when I was in danger." She frowned a little guiltily at that, glancing down at the bag. "But some...other people want Cosmog for themselves, to use that power." She looked straight ahead at Nova, gesturing to Altair who was standing beside her. "That's why only the professor, Kahuna Hala, and other people I trust, such as Altair, know about it..."

"Wait, you know about Cosmog too?" Nova turned to Altair with widened eyes, not having any clue that he was in on the little secret.

"What? You're kidding, right?" Altair laughed a little as he looked at her incredulously. "You've seen how much that little ball of mischief likes to escape Lillie's bag."

They both simultaneously looked over at Lillie struggling to get her bag to stop shaking, and a sheepish look came across Nova's face as she awkwardly grabbed the back of her neck. "Hah... I guess you have a point there."

"Can you keep a secret?" Lillie shot Nova a pleading look, swearing her new acquaintance to secrecy. "Can you not tell anyone else about Nebby or what happened on that bridge? Please..."

Nova flashed Lillie a tired smile as she reassured her. "Don't worry about it, Lillie. I won't say anything."

"Thank you...!" Lillie's whole face erupted into the sunniest grin at Nova's response.

Altair placed his hand on Nova's back as he ushered her forward, then began walking ahead of her as they motioned in the direction of the lab. "Now, come on, let's get going to see the professor already. Knowing him, he's eager to show you something, Nova."

Nova looked off-put as she glared at Altair's back for pushing her along, annoyed beyond comprehension as she rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Coming, mother."

"I heard that."

"WOULD YOU STOP HAVING SUCH PERFECT HEARING...!"

Lillie let out a distressed sigh as she watched Nova run ahead and chase after Altair, who just proceeded to laugh and run ahead of her further every time she tried to catch up to him. She looked down at her bag as a tired, unbalanced smile found its way to her lips, and she sighed once more at the sight of the small hut shaking as loud noises from a Pokemon battle began to erupt from it.

"Sigh... There they go again." Lillie complained under her breath as she shook her head, dreading what the current state of the lab looked like as she caught up to Nova and Altair.

"Don't tell me he's battling inside the lab..." Nova stared ahead in dumbfounded shock, unable to imagine how this could possibly go well.

"The Pokemon Research Lab has its own charm, as you can see." Lillie sweatdropped a little at the exclamation, and she sheepishly looked over at Nova as she walked up to the front steps. "I've actually been, um, imposing on the professor here for the past three months." She let out a tiny, awkward laugh, meekly reaching up to adjust the brim of her white sun hat. "I'm not much of an assistant, but it's the least I can do to pay him back for letting me stay here." A depressing expression encompassed Lillie's whole face suddenly as she frowned down at the sand. "Maybe I'd be more help if I were a real Pokemon Trainer, too..."

"Lillie..." Nova sympathized with Lillie's strife, frowning along with her.

Even louder banging noises and Pokemon cries erupted from inside the hut, as well as several "woohoos!" and "yeahs!" from Professor Kukui.

"The professor...he never stops researching moves." Lillie shook her head as an awkward smile came across her face. "Not even...inside the lab itself." She looked exhausted as she slumped her shoulders, pressing a hand to her forehead. "Looks like we'll have to patch the roof again... And I had just washed his lab coat and gotten it clean, too. Now it'll be in shreds..." She whined quietly to herself as she dreaded how much more cleaning and fixing she'd inevitably have to do today. "And I'm no good at mending clothes...so he'll just have to buy another new one..."

"Ah, don't worry about that, Lillie." Altair patted her on the back comfortingly as he wore a charming grin. "I'll always help you with repairing the place if you ever need it. And that guy goes through so many lab coats; no one expects you to keep up with him."

"Thanks, Altair. I really appreciate that." Lillie's exhausted look completely vanished as it was replaced with an ecstatic smile.

Nova awkwardly stared on at the shaking hut, pointing ahead to it as a nervous bead of sweat rolled down her forehead. "...we should probably go inside before he does any more damage."

"Agreed." Altair and Lillie both nodded their heads as they spoke in unison.

The three quickly ran inside the lab before Professor Kukui could destroy anything else, and Lillie instantly groaned at the sight of all the overturned furniture and Pokemon footprints all over the rugs she had just vacuumed this morning. Professor Kukui and Rockruff stood in the middle of all the chaos with sheepish looks on their faces.

"Hey there, Nova!" Professor Kukui waved over to his cousin, who only groaned and slapped her forehead as she pretended not to know him. "Thanks for getting her for me, Lillie!"

"Of course. However I can be a help..." Lillie sighed as she looked around at the huge mess, already making a mental note of all the extra chores she would have to do now. "I am supposed to be your assistant, right?"

"Rockruff's moves were just so stylin', and I was making good progress with my research." Professor Kukui grinned excitedly to Lillie as he made an excuse for battling indoors again, and the blonde only looked more miserable as she was unable to respond to that. "Say, Nova, lemme see your Pokedex for a sec, would yah?" Professor Kukui held out his hand to his cousin, who stared at him wide-eyed in response.

"Oh, uh... Sure." Caught off guard by his sudden request, Nova quickly began rummaging through her bag for her Pokedex with a confused expression on her face. "Here you go." She held out the red, rectangular-shaped object to him, only to have her cousin immediately grab it from her with an eager look on his face.

"So, what do you think of the place?" Professor Kukui took her Pokedex in his hands as he looked around. "Not bad, huh?"

Aside from all the overturned furniture and dirt-covered paw prints everywhere, Nova had to admit that it was pretty impressive. For a tiny hut on a beach, the whole place was furnished pretty well, and there was even a loft and a bottom floor to the place. In the back was a giant fish tank filled with Luvdisc, and Nova found herself staring at her cousin with a confused look on her face alongside Lillie as they both realized Professor Kukui was talking to the Pokedex and not them.

"Huh...?" Lillie quirked a brow at the Professor, who was seemingly holding a one-sided conversation with Nova's Pokedex.

"But that's not why I called you here, eh?" Professor Kukui seemed pleased with himself as he pulled out a box from his desk, and he grinned excitedly. "Here! It finally arrived!"

"It...?" Lillie's face twisted into an even more confused expression, which would have been comical to Nova if she hadn't been making the same face as they both looked at Professor Kukui.

"What's wrong, Lillie?" Professor Kukui looked over at his assistant as if nothing strange was going on whatsoever. "Don't make me do all the talking!" He paused at Lillie's dumbfounded look, and he laughed heartily as he began equipping a new part to Nova's Pokedex. "See, there's this Pokemon inside your Pokedex called Rotom..."

"Rotom?" Nova looked over at Professor Kukui in utmost confusion, remembering a little something about that Pokemon. She had once encountered one in an old mansion back when she lived in Sinnoh, and...well...

Let's just say that when you scare a Rotom, your hair tends to be nothing but a frizzy mess for the next few days, if not a week or two.

What Professor Kukui was doing seemed to finally dawn on Lillie, and she turned to Nova with a smile as the professor continued to fiddle with her Pokedex. "Oh, I can tell you about Rotom! It is a peculiar Pokemon with a body made up of something like electricity. It can take up residence in machines."

Nova grimaced as she subconsciously began running her fingers through her hair, only causing Altair to laugh and give her a weird look. "Oh yes, I'm pretty sure I've met one before..."

"And to put that crazy skill of Rotom's to work..." Professor Kukui excitedly began talking about the Pokedex as he began finishing up the upgrade. "It's the next generation of Pokedexes, but it's only complete once Rotom has gone into this body specially developed for it!" He practically had stars in his eyes as a kid-in-a-candy-store look encompassed his whole face. "A whole new way for people and Pokemon to communicate. Woo!" He grinned and gave Nova a thumbs up. "And there's only a few of these beauties out in the world so far!"

"What, really...?" Nova's eyes instinctively widened in awe as she quickly looked to Altair beside her.

"Yeah, even I don't have one of those." Altair shook his head, confirming Nova's unspoken question.

"And now if I power up your Pokedex with the parts that I just got in..." Professor Kukui had a look of concentration on his face as he pushed a few buttons, and...

"Kzzzt!"

A bright flash of light erupted from Nova's Pokedex, and the little startled electric Pokemon came flying out and headed straight for Nova.

"Whoa!" Nova leaned back to dodge the Rotom suddenly flying at her, but she lost her footing and began to fall backwards.

Altair widened his eyes in panic as he saw what was about to happen, and he quickly reached out for her and lunged forward. "Oh, Nova, look out...!"

Nova braced herself for impact, but as seconds ticked by and no pain came, she cautiously opened her eyes only to see Altair's right in front of her.

Altair had effortlessly reached out and caught her in a lunge, holding her up and supporting her with one of his arms that was around Nova's lower back. Their faces were dangerously close, but the only one who seemed to notice this, or care, for that matter, was Nova.

"Um, you can let go of me now..." Nova bit her tongue as she felt her cheeks flushing ever so slightly at their close proximity.

"Ah, right. Sorry." Altair smoothly pulled her back up to a standing position with incredible strength, worriedly looking over her. "You okay?"

"Just fine..." Nova awkwardly looked away from him, shooting the Rotom hovering beside her a nasty glare.

"Sorry 'bout that, Rotom." Professor Kukui sheepishly apologized to the Rotom as he adjusted the brim of his baseball cap. "Guess I surprised you?"

"Zzzt?" Rotom looked away from his glaring contest with Nova, now glancing over at Professor Kukui.

"Rotom, here! I powered up your favorite 'Dex!" Professor Kukui finished all of the adjustments he was making, then held the Pokedex out to Rotom with a smile. "Give Nova here a helping hand, hm?"

"Kzzzttt!!" Rotom eagerly flew into the Pokedex and disappeared, and to Nova's surprise, the Pokedex took a Rotom-like shape as its face appeared on the screen. Rotom flew around Nova in a circle before landing in her hands, and it looked up at her with a grin on its face---er, screen? "Hi, Nova! Itzzzzz nice to meet you!"

"Ahh!" Nova let out the cutest, girlish shriek as she nearly dropped her Pokedex from shock. "You can talk!?"

Rotom looked annoyed as he sassed his new Trainer with an electronic-like voice. "Of courzzz I can talk, silly girl. Dontzzz you have earzzz?"

"Wha...!" Nova dropped her jaw at Rotom's snarky attitude, then quickly hardened her expression into a glare as Altair busted out laughing. "Hey now, I don't need your sass, mister!"

"Hahah!" Professor Kukui wiped a tear from his eye as he laughed, then pointed over at the Pokedex in Nova's hand. "See, Nova? Now Rotom can talk right to you!"

"I can see that..." Nova bitterly glared at Rotom, who stuck out a tongue at her in response.

"From what I can tell, yeah, it looks like Rotom has taken a liking to you!" Professor Kukui gave her a positive thumbs up, thrilled that this worked out so well.

Nova rose a single eyebrow as she shot her cousin a look, rolling her eyes. "...by flaunting its snarky attitude? I've already got a tour guide with one of those, thanks."

Altair stopped his little side conversation with Lillie and looked over at Nova at the sound of her voice. "Hmm? Did you say something?"

"Nothing..." Nova awkwardly averted his gaze, mentally cursing his good hearing.

"And this will help, how, exactly?" Lillie cocked her head to the side in confusion, voicing both her and Nova's thoughts.

"Nova hasn't been here in Alola too long yet, hence why I asked Altair to stick around with her." Professor Kukui pointed to Altair, who comically saluted him in turn. "So, I decided to give her this special Rotom Dex as well to help her navigate around once he's done training her."

"Thanks, Kukui." Nova smiled at her cousin's thoughtfulness. He always did like to look out for her, ever since she was little, too.

"Don't sweat it, cousin!" Professor Kukui clapped her on the back with his usual force, causing Nova to let out a distressed cough and fall forwards a little.

The door to the lab suddenly opened, and a certain familiar eleven-year-old grandson of Kahuna Hala strode in. "A-lo-la!" Hau grinned brightly as he waved to everyone, and Nova turned to look at him.

"Hau..." Nova blinked her eyes at his sudden entrance, and her eleven-year-old rival walked right past her.

"The salty breeze sang to me and brought me here to you!" Hau outstretched his arms comically, earning a laugh from Lillie. He then paused to look around excitedly, not having been to the lab before today. He stopped in front of a ladder leading up to the loft, pointing up at it. "Whoa-ho-ho! Is that a loft? Cool!"

"No, it's not!" Lillie suddenly flew in front of Hau and protectively stood in front of the ladder with her arms out. "It's private!!"

"Huh?" Hau looked confused at Lillie's sudden behavior, not picking up on the hint.

"Um...the professor has been kind enough to let me use it..." Lillie awkwardly tried to explain, looking kind of sheepish as she faced Hau.

Nova sighed and rolled her eyes as she saw that Hau still wasn't getting it, so she stepped in to save the blonde. "...in other words, Hau, it's girl's territory. Off-limits to boys such as yourself."

"Ah, gotcha." Hau awkwardly grinned as he apologetically nodded his head in understanding. "Sorry, Lillie!"

Professor Kukui smiled as he looked over at Lillie, placing a hand on Altair's shoulder. "If you see a person or a Pokemon who needs help, you just help them... Right, Altair?"

"Right." Altair didn't even hesitate to nod his head, firmly crossing his arms over his chest with a endearing smile on his face.

"And that's why I'm letting Lillie stay up there in the loft." Professor Kukui nodded his head as he wore an eager expression. "Alright, Nova, now that you've got your Rotom Dex, let me explain a few things about your Island Challenge."

Nova widened her eyes and blinked a few times as she looked from her cousin over to Altair. "Oh, Altair's already given me a pretty good run-down of what it entails, Kukui."

"Has he now? Good! Then I'll make this brief." Professor Kukui looked over at the black-haired man in question, grinning ecstatically as he clapped him on the back. Nova dropped her jaw when she saw that Altair didn't even budge from the full force of her cousin's strength, only causing her to wonder just how strong Altair really was. "The Island Challenge is your chance to become the strongest Trainer around---the Island Challenge Champion!" Professor Kukui clapped his hands together excitedly, drawing Nova's attention.

"Like Mr. Perfect here?" Nova casually ribbed Altair with her elbow, who only reached over and playfully shoved her in response as he kept his gaze straight ahead.

"Exactly!" Professor Kukui grinned, then suddenly looked confused by what Nova called Altair. "Wait, huh?"

"Never mind." Nova suddenly shook her head as she dismissed it. "Forget it."

"Ah, well, it's a great adventure for you and your Pokemon to go on together!" Professor Kukui resumed his mini speech, and he rested his hands on his waist as he beamed at his cousin. "Nova, I want you and Popplio to go out there and give it a shot!"

Nova looked hesitant at first, but she quickly found herself slowly starting to smile as her cousin's infectious positivity was starting to rub off on her. "I... Alright. I'll do it!"

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about!" Professor Kukui clapped her on the back even harder this time, sending Nova crashing face-first into the floor. Altair lost it and laughed incredibly hard as he helped her up from the floor, and the professor didn't even seem to notice that any of this happened as he turned off to the side and continued on with his speech. "As someone who's dedicated my life to studying Pokemon moves, I really want to see you out there meeting all kinds of Pokemon on your Island Challenge!"

"Okay, Kukui. I'll do my best." Nova frowned as she dusted the dirt off of herself, shooting Altair a glare as he tried to smother his laughter.

Professor Kukui appeared to suddenly have a lightbulb go off over his head as he reached into his pocket and handed something to Nova. "That reminds me, here!"

"Hm? What is this?" Nova accepted the strange-looking charm from her cousin, looking over the colorful amulet carefully.

"Everybody on the Island Challenge gets one of these Island Challenge amulets." Professor Kukui pointed to the amulet he just handed Nova as he explained, answering Nova's inquiry.

"I got one from my gramps, too." Hau chimed in, turning to show Nova the amulet clipped to his backpack.

"Alright then, Nova, Altair! You too, Hau!" Professor Kukui grabbed the kids by their shoulders and began shoving them out the door. "Get a move on!"

"Huh? Where?" Nova suddenly looked back at her hyper cousin in a panic.

"To the Trainer's School!" Professor Kukui cracked up laughing at the instantaneous look of dread on Nova's face, and he quickly began to elaborate. "You've gotta learn the basics of being a Pokemon Trainer through Pokemon battling. It's a long road to becoming the Island Challenge Champion, and the Trainers' School is the first step!"

"What!?" Nova cried out in displeasure at the word 'school,' and she looked over at Altair accusingly. "But I thought you were going to teach me all of this, Altair?"

Altair quirked an eyebrow at the look on Nova's face, and he teasingly leaned in to smirk at her. "Oh don't worry, I still am. After all, I am one of the teachers there, Nova." He laughed when her whole face fell into a glare, and he playfully poked her in the center of her forehead. "There's no need to look so disappointed."

"Disappointed...?" Nova looked offended as she glared at Altair, immediately turning away from him in a huff as she crossed her arms and tilted her chin up at the air. "As if!"

"Haha!" Altair held his stomach as he laughed at Nova's usual huffiness, finding it utterly hilarious.

"What about you, Hau?" Professor Kukui looked over at the younger boy, wondering what his plans were.

"I'm good! I just want to play with my Pokemon---" Hau innocently let his plans to goof off slip, instantly looking horrified as he quickly tried to cover for himself. "I mean train with them, hah!"

As everyone rolled their eyes at that, Lillie stared down at the floor with a thoughtful look on her face. "The Island Challenge... So this is how the people of Alola connect with the world around them."

Professor Kukui walked over and gave Lillie a gentle side-hug. "Lillie, you take care of Nova, yeah!" He flashed his assistant a grin and a thumbs up. "Until she gets used to Rotom and Altair, help out whenever you can!"

Lillie widened her eyes in surprise from the unexpected request. "O-oh, okay! I'll do my best!"

Nova threw her hands up in the air exasperatedly, completely fed up at this point. "Okay, just how many babysitters do you think I need!?"

"I think he's giving you a couple just in case you turn one or more of us into stone with that icy glare of yours."

"SHUT UP, ALTAIR!"

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

Woooooooooow, okay this chapter was a long one. *briefly glances at word count and immediately does a spit take* WHAT!? 11,500 words!? IT TOOK ME 11,500 WORDS TO WRITE NOVA WAKING UP IN THE MORNING AND THEN GOING OVER TO PROFESSOR KUKUI'S LAB!?!? I know VanillaWind was giving me crap for this word count last night when it was still at 6000 words but DANG I DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD BE THIS LONG!

Ohhhh boy, this book is going to be a long one...

(Actually, it is. I outlined it and it's going to be a 50 chapter book XDDDD)

Okie-dokie, few things:

1) how hilarious and relatable is it that Nova can't seem to catch a break, and Altair just seems to catch her at all of her bad moments? XDDDDD
2) Nova's dream, whoaaaaa... Little bit of insight into her whole relationship with her dad there. Or, well, a lack thereof...
3) I have way too much fun reading all of your comments. You guys are hilarious how you react to every little thing, and I love it XDDD seeing what makes you laugh or just feel something helps me improve my writing, so keep it up with the comments!
4) I've decided to make fan-art features in each chapter for each artist who submits fan art, no matter how many pieces. So, from now on, each author's note will have one artists' artwork(s) no matter how many pieces that is, so you guys each get your own chapter to be featured on~! I had to do this because I literally received so much fan art that I don't have enough chapters in the book to continue putting one piece of art on them at a time XDDDD

And on that note, this chapter's fan art feature is---NaivEevee! Such an adorably talented cinnamon roll who made me quite a few cute pieces! I love them all so much, but I have to say #3 is definitely my favorite! It took me a moment to realize that Nova was wearing a Popplio Kigurumi and Altair's was a Rowlet one XDDD it's so cute!!

Read, comment, vote, and enjoy the story~!