Lillie plodded ahead of the two behind her, leaving Nova and Altair to themselves as they walked beside one another. As the two of them began to put some distance between themselves and the Trainer's School, Altair looked over at Nova with a serious expression that immediately earned her attention. 

"So... Have you decided?" Altair jammed his hands in his jacket pockets as he shot her a sideways glance.

Nova stopped and blinked as she turned to look at Altair, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "Decided what?"

An uneven smirk came across Altair's lips as he realized their conversation from earlier had completely slipped her mind. "Don't you remember our agreement?"

Nova's eyes slowly widened as she suddenly recalled Altair's words from earlier.

"Stick with me for the rest of today, and let me help you through clearing the Trainer School challenge. If you still think by the end of today that I'm just an annoyance who shouldn't bother helping you, I'll back off."

Nova swallowed long and hard as she realized he was probably awaiting her answer now. "Oh... That agreement."

Altair grinned mischievously as he leaned closer to his face with his hands remaining in his pockets, backing Nova up against the Trainer School's fence. "So? What'll it be?"

Nova's back hit the fence as she kept her distance from the taunting, charming idiot. Her eyes were as wide as a Deerling's staring down headlights. "I..."

Altair cocked his head to the side as he eagerly leaned in even closer to hear her barely audible words. "Yes...?"

Nova turned her head to the side with a frown so his face wouldn't be so close to hers, and she bitterly bit down on her lower lip as she furrowed her eyebrows. "...I guess you could stick around for a little longer."

Altair's whole face lit up with the excitement of a little boy on Christmas morning, and he instantly retreated back to his own personal space bubble as he straightened up his posture. "Alright! You won't regret this, Nova. I have so much to teach you still!"

Nova rolled her eyes and held up her hand to keep some distance between them as Altair went in for a hug, firmly rejecting the guy. "Don't get too carried away there, Casanova. Baby steps."

Altair swiftly took a step back from her and awkwardly ran a hand through his hair, wearing a sheepish grin all the while. "Right... Sorry!" He turned to look at the blonde ahead of him, laughing as he called out to her. "Hey, Lillie, slow down a little. You're leaving us in the dust!"

Lillie came to a startling halt at the sound of Altair's voice way behind her, and she flashed him a guilty smile as she tightened her grip on her barrel bag. "Oops, sorry...!" She jogged back a little to rejoin the two souls as polar opposite as the sun and moon.

A familiar, boyish voice rang out from behind the trio, causing all of their heads to turn. "Hey, guys!"

"Hau...?" Nova quirked an eyebrow at the sight of her younger rival running up to them with a stupidly happy smile plastered across his face.

Hau stopped in front of the three and let out a heavy exhale, catching his breath as he grinned at them. "So where are you three off to now?"

Lillie beamed at Hau's question. "I was thinking I should show Nova around Hau'oli City a bit."

"Nice idea!" Hau grinned boyishly, gently patting Lille on the arm. "You're always on top of things, Lillie!" He flashed her the most stunning smile ever as he paid her the genuine compliment, causing Lillie to squirm a little as she wore an awkward smile. "Can I tag along too? I wanna go get something to eat!"

Altair chuckled at Hau's enthusiasm. "Alright. Let's all go together."

Hau chuckled and shrugged his shoulders as he eagerly charged ahead. "Then what're we waiting for? This way, come on!"

Nova awkwardly watched Hau run ahead and begin to leave them in the dust, and she nervously twirled a strand of her shock-white hair around her finger. "We should probably go catch up with him before he gets too far."

"Agreed." Altair and Lillie chimed together in unison.

Lillie jogged ahead to try and catch up to Hau before he left her sight, and she frantically waved and called out to him ahead. "Wait, Hau! Please wait!!" She paused and turned around to look at Nova over her shoulder. "Uh, Nova, I think I should probably stay with him. I'll catch up with you later, okay?"

Nova nodded her head in agreement, giving Lillie a small wave good-bye. "Sure, Lillie. Bye!"

Altair watched Lillie chase after Hau into the large beachfront city, staring straight ahead as their silhouettes disappeared into the distance. "Alright, Nova. Let's start your tour." He turned on his heel and began to walk backwards towards the city as he remained right in front of Nova. "First off, Hau'oli City is the biggest city in all of Alola."

Nova's eyebrows shot up into her hairline as they stepped through the city's entrance, and she began to take a look around her at the place. "Is it really?"

Hau'oli City certainly was huge. A seemingly endless paved road stretched on forever, lined by several shops and buildings on one side, and a huge beach on the other. Nova looked to her left and stared out at the glittering ocean as the sun hit high noon, and she found herself absentmindedly smiling at the sight of children and Pokemon playing together at the beach. Wingull dashed through the skies above them, flocking around the beach in particular. Stretches of tall grass encased by fenced areas dotted the city, and Nova caught a glance of the marina down at the far west side of the city filled with boats and ship captains barking orders at their crewmen.

"Oh yeah, it's definitely the biggest, although there are a couple other cities in Alola that try to give it a run for its money." Altair nodded his head in response to her question, and he held out his hand as he began to point everything out to her. "You've got a huge beachfront stretching across the west side of town, not to mention the marina and the mall."

Nova quirked an eyebrow at Altair in response to that last part. "There's a mall here?"

"Sure is." Altair grinned at her with a devious look in his eyes. "Why? Did you want to go check it out?"

"W-what!?" Nova immediately got on the defensive and scoffed, turning her chin up and away from him as she held eye contact with the snarky asshat. "Go shopping...? With you!?"

"What's so wrong with that?" Altair laughed incredulously at her, taken aback by her flat out refusal. She sure was oddly opinionated about the strangest things. "It's not like it's foreign to me. I do have a little sister, after all."

Nova kicked at the paved road as she bit down on her lip. "Well, I don't know..."

Altair let out a heavy sigh as he jammed his hands into his jacket pockets and looked at her with a sad, distant expression on his face. "...Nova, what have you done since you got to Alola?"

Nova reached up to brush her bangs out of her eyes as she looked off to the side of the road. "Um... Well, I moved in, got Popplio, battled Hau a couple times..." She paused and turned to look at Altair with those brilliantly captivating, sunset-orange eyes. "And you know the rest."

Altair let out a little "hm" sound to himself as he processed what she said. "So you really haven't done anything fun yet, have you?"

Nova flashed him the most confused look ever as she struggled to figure out where he was going with this. "I...guess not. Why?"

Altair's eyes had a glint of eagerness shining in them as he swooped his arm around Nova and began leading her over to the east side of town. "Alright, come on. Let's go."

Nova dug her heels into the ground as he continued dragging her along. "W-wait! Altair!! Where are we going!?"

______________________________________________

Altair gave Nova a little shove into the mall's designer clothing boutique, encouraging her to step inside along with him. "Alright, Nova. Since you're not from here, let me show you how to properly greet someone in Alola."

Nova rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh goody, I get to learn the special handshake... Because I will totally use that often."

Altair's lips formed a sly smirk as he quirked an eyebrow at her. "Not quite. All you do is say, 'Alola!' and move your hands like this." He held up his hands in front of his face and brought them down to his sides in a rainbow-like hand motion. 

Nova copied the hand circle Altair did with an unconfident, confused expression written all over her face. "Like this?"

Altair nodded his head with a small grin. "That's exactly right." He stepped behind her and placed one hand on her shoulder as he pointed to one of the girl employees in the boutique across the floor from them. "Why don't you go ahead and try it on that saleswoman over there?"

Nova whined a little as she pathetically looked back at Altair behind her with a sideways glance, absolutely defeated. "...do I have to?"

"Yes, you have to." Altair chuckled and gave her a little shove, sending her flying towards the sales associate.

Nova whimpered under her breath as she quickly regained her footing, nervously walking up to the saleswoman who noticed her immediately. Nova hesitantly copied the hand motion from before as she made awkward eye contact with the stranger. "U-uhm... Alola?"

The saleswoman's eyes lit up immediately as she greeted Nova back with a smile. "Oh! My, aren't you just adorable?" She leaned in a little closer to get a better look at Nova, studying her unique features. It wasn't often you saw someone with brilliantly orange eyes and naturally white hair. "You're not from here, are you?"

Nova let out an almost inaudible, anxious laugh as she eagerly shook her head no. "Oh, no, I---"

The saleswoman didn't even give her a chance to finish that sentence as she looked behind her at the other associate working the register. "Cherise! Come quickly! We have a new model to take for a test drive today!"

Nova's eyes immediately snapped open in horror as she processed what the woman just said. "W-wait, what!?" She turned around to look at Altair in a panic as she squeaked out his name. "Altair!!"

"Come with us, sweetie!" The saleswoman began to pull Nova towards the dressing room with a full rack of clothes draped over her arm, not taking no for an answer.

Altair was calmly leaning up against a wall with his arms crossed, and he waved a hand at the saleswoman, ushering her to take Nova away. "Give her the whole nine yards, Trish."

The saleswoman with a grip on Nova, Trish, nodded her head in understanding with a smile. "On it, Altair!"

Nova's eyebrows knitted together as she accusingly looked back and forth between Altair and the saleswoman, Trish, who apparently knew each other. "Wait, did you plan this??"

Altair wore a smug look as he remained casually leaning up against the wall. "I honestly have no idea what you're talking about."

"Altair!!" Nova angrily shouted his name as she was shoved into a dressing room with an armful of clothes to try on.

"Zzzzzt, Nova, you justzzzz got played!"

"Rotom, not now!"

______________________________________________

Several shopping bags filled with tops, skirts, shorts, dresses, and shoes later...

Altair leaned his forearm up against the door of the dressing room, resting his forehead on it as he sighed deeply. "Come on, Nova! You have to come out of there at some point, you know... I'm sure you look great!"

A sarcastic scoff belonging to none other than Nova came from the other side of the door. "Oh, I'm sorry, I do not recall asking for your opinion."

Altair rolled his eyes as he began to gather the shopping bags of all of the things Nova was for sure getting. "Harsh as ever."

Trish, the sales associate, looked over at Altair as a nervous bead of sweat rolled down her forehead, awkwardly smiling as she listened to their hostile banter. "Is this...normal for you two?"

"Don't worry about it, Trish." Altair waved her off and dismissed her concern, turning to knock on the door once more. "Hey, Nova! How long do you plan on holing yourself up in---there..." He immediately stopped as the door to the dressing room suddenly opened, and Nova stepped outside. "Whoa."

The last thing she had to try on was a beautiful champagne evening gown that hit the floor in a cascading shower of glittery chiffon. It was a halter top that hugged her around the waist, and several intricate swirls of beading covered the bodice of the dress, all the way from the waist up to the two strings tied around her neck. The champagne color really brought out her orange eyes and made her white hair shine bright, and Altair was awe-struck at the sight of her.

"Is it that bad...?" Nova self-consciously grabbed fistfuls of the sparkling fabric at her hips, nervously biting at her lip as she stared down at the dress she was wearing.

Altair struggled to breathe at the sight of her, let alone form words. He was truly stunned by his own reaction to the sight of her, never really having been affected so much by another person before. "I...do not know what I was expecting, but that certainly wasn't it."

Nova frowned at his indifferent comment, immediately turning back to dash into the dressing room. "Okay, that settles it, I'm going to change!"

Altair lunged forward and grabbed a hold of her wrist, stopping her from running away from him. "No no no, wait! Nova! I didn't mean that in a negative way!"

Nova hesitantly turned back to look at Altair with a wavering gaze, feeling her cheeks heat up just at the sight of him looking at her so awe-struck. "...fine. I guess I'll get this too, then."

Altair went ahead and picked up all of the bags from the purchases they had made today while Nova changed back into her normal clothes in the dressing room, and when she came back out with the dress in hand, Altair eagerly began rushing her towards the door.

"Come on! We've got plenty of things left on our agenda today." Altair ushered her towards the door, excited to keep showing her around the city before the sun set later on.

Nova skidded to a halt as she slid the dress into one of the bags. "Wait, don't I need to pay for these first?"

Altair dismissed her concern with an aloof shrug, brushing her off. "Nah, my mother owns the boutique, so it's free for me."

Nova dropped her jaw as she stared at his back walking away from her, effortlessly carrying the several bags of designer clothing. "Wait, what!?"

"Come on, let's get going!" Altair chuckled as he walked ahead, fully knowing that she had some sort of amazingly confused expression written all over her silly face right about now.

Nova jogged to catch up to him as they exited the mall. "Wait, Altair...! Where are we going now?"

Altair turned to look at her over his shoulder with a smirk stretched across his lips. "To the beach."

Nova slumped her shoulders in shock as she stared at the man in front of her incredulously. "Wait, the beach? But I don't even have a swimsuit!"

"Yes you do." Altair calmly stated as he held up one of the bags in particular, and Nova quickly snatched it from him.

Nova pulled out a sunflower-yellow two-piece swimsuit, having the most confused look stretched across her face as she looked it over. "...you bought me a swimsuit? Are you kidding me? How did you even know my size!?"

Altair nonchalantly looked her up and down before just shrugging his shoulders. "Eh, I just kind of guessed."

Nova awkwardly wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly feeling very self-conscious under his gaze. "You're too observant for your own good."

Altair turned to look back at her, not having heard that nearly inaudible, snarky comment. "Hmm? You say something?"

Nova arrogantly turned her chin up to the sky as she stomped ahead of him. "Nah, I just muttered curses under my breath about how you're an ass."

Altair nodded his head as he followed behind her, completely unfazed by that cold-hearted response. "Ah. So the usual, then. Let's go grab lunch first, because I'm starving."

Nova turned back to smile at him at the sound of his suggestion. "Sounds good to me."

______________________________________________

At a small restaurant by the marina...

Altair wore an amazed, incredulous smile on his face as he quirked an eyebrow at the sight of Nova stuffing sushi roll after sushi roll into her face. "Do you normally eat this much?"

With her mouth half-full of her fourth, eight-piece sushi roll, Nova flashed him an annoyed look as she spoke. "What's it to you? I have a big appetite, alright?"

Altair chuckled at her defensive response. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to sound rude." He shook his head slowly in amazement as she kept devouring bite after bite. "I'm just...not used to seeing a girl eat this much. And eat this much openly in front of me."

Nova swallowed the last piece of sushi as she quirked an eyebrow at him. "You must hang around weird people."

Altair let out a small scoff, staring down at his own chopsticks and empty plate. "Hah... Yeah, I guess I do."

Altair slipped their server enough cash to cover both the bill and the tip before Nova could even process what he was doing, and they quickly left for the beach with all their shopping bags from before, as well as a picnic basket packed with some sandwiches and a blanket. The two changed into their swimsuits at the restaurant before they left, and as they began to walk along the sand together, Nova turned to Altair with an unsure look on her face.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Nova stared at him accusingly, as if she were expecting him to have some other hidden reason for hanging around her. 

"What do you mean?" Altair stared at her puzzled as he walked alongside her and the ocean beside them.

Nova rose a single eyebrow as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You're teaching me how to be a Trainer, taking me on a shopping spree, treating me to lunch, and now we're spending the rest of our day at the beach. What's the catch?"

Altair stared at her for the longest time before he simply just shook his head. "There is no catch. I just want a chance for us to get to know one another better before we really start our quest around Melemele Island." He paused long enough to shoot her an irritatingly charming smirk. "Is that so strange?"

Nova frowned, feeling a little guilty of how suspicious she was being of Altair after all the nice things he did for her today. "I guess not... Sorry, I'm just not used to having friends."

Altair's eyes lit up like stars as he grinned mischievously at Nova. "Oh, so we're friends now?"

Nova bitterly smiled as she snapped at him. "Shut the fuck up."

Altair laughed, then suddenly came to a halt and reached out to grab Nova. "Oh, Nova, watch out for that Pyukumuku!"

Nova stared at him in confusion before her eyes suddenly darted down to the sand below her, and her eyes locked on a small black blob of a Pokemon that she was about to step on. "The what---? AH!" Altair grabbed her just in time and pulled her back towards him as Nova began to freak out. "Holy shit! What the fuck?? You guys just have these things laying around out here!?"

Altair was laughing so hard at Nova's startled reaction that tears were pricking at his eyes. He had to hold onto his stomach and wipe away at the tears forming in his eyes as he laughed at her. "They get washed up on the beach all the time here in Alola, Nova. You really should keep an eye out for them." He bent down and gently picked up the small Pokemon before walking over to the ocean and carefully releasing it back into it.

"Duly noted..." Nova stared at his back in awe, amazed at how different Alola was from every other place she had lived.

Altair stretched out the blanket on their spot on the sand, plopping their shopping bags at the edge of it. Nova was quick to get comfortable laying in the sun, and she threw on both her shades and replacement white sun hat that she bought today as she relaxed under the Alolan sun. Altair went for a swim in the ocean nearby, making sure to keep an eye on Nova as she relaxed alone on the beach. Nova was so comfortable under the sun's warmth that she felt as if she could take a nap right then and there, but then a startling squawking noise suddenly drew her attention.

Nova sat up and pulled down her sunglasses as she looked in the direction that bird-like squawk came from, and her eyes landed on a tiny little Rufflet combing the beach for any bits of food the other beach goers and tourists had left behind.

Nova tried not to pay any attention to the hungry Pokemon as she glanced over at their picnic basket, and she went ahead and pulled a little cucumber sandwich from it. As she went to take a bite of the sandwich, she felt a pair of eyes on her, and she slowly turned to see that same Rufflet standing right next to her, intently staring at her sandwich.

"Ah!!" Nova jumped back with surprise, causing the Rufflet to also step back with alarm as he shook out his feathers. She stared at the small bird Pokemon's large, cutesy doe-eyes skeptically for a moment before looking back at her sandwich, and she sighed heavily as she gave in and held it out towards the Rufflet. "Here. Take it."

"Squawk!" The little Rufflet excitedly grabbed the sandwich from Nova with his beak and began munching away on the sandwich, extremely grateful for Nova's generosity. He was absolutely starving, but that sandwich had him feeling happy and full in no time.

Nova sighed and was about to lay back down and get comfortable sun bathing once more when she noticed the Rufflet was still there, and she stared at him strangely. The Rufflet took a couple of clumsy steps towards her, and Nova instantly held up her hands in defense. "Oh no, hold on. I was just giving you food, because you seemed hungry. Don't go imprinting on me now!" Her eyes flew over to her companion exiting the water and heading back over to her, and she called out to him in a panic. "Altair! Altair!!"

Altair chuckled at the sight of the little Rufflet snuggling up to Nova blissfully, and Nova looking very weirded out by all of the affection. "Haha! Looks like you made a new friend."

Nova scowled over at him as she got snappy real fast. "I didn't mean to! It was an accident!"

Altair stopped at the edge of the blanket and sighed as his hands found their way to his hips, and he looked down at the wild Rufflet that had imprinted himself on Nova. "Well... That Rufflet looks pretty attached to you, Nova. What do you plan to do with him?"

Nova looked genuinely lost as she stared up at Altair, and she awkwardly glanced down at the Rufflet who had snuggled himself right up to Nova's side. "Uh... Run fast and hope he doesn't find me?"

Altair scoffed and shook his head at her. "No, Nova. What I mean is...do you want to take him with you?"

Nova's eyebrows shot up into her hairline as she met Altair's eyes. "I can do that?"

Altair reached back and awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Well, I mean... It's not the most conventional way to catch a Pokemon, but he does really seem to like you. And..."

"And?" Nova impatiently leaned her head forwards, not really liking where this was going.

Altair chuckled as he looked at the Rufflet happily cuddling Nova once more. "And... Well, I don't think you could get rid of him even if you tried."

Nova looked down at the Rufflet who was now snuggled in her lap sound asleep. "Fucking hell..."

Altair let out a loud laugh at Nova's bitter attitude. "You sure do have quite the tendency to curse, don't you?"

Nova was quick to look up and glare at him as she flipped him off. "Mind your own fucking business!"

Altair held his stomach as he continued to laugh harder. She was just so cute whenever she was trying to be angry. "Haha, I'm just saying!"

"Goddamn it..." Nova cursed under her breath, sighing in defeat as she looked down at the adorable Rufflet in her lap. "Fine, I guess you can come with me." She pulled an empty Pokeball from her bag and gently tapped it on the sleeping Rufflet's head, and a white light quickly enveloped Rufflet and pulled him inside. Nova held the Pokeball in the palm of her hand as she watched it to see if Rufflet would be captured peacefully, and to her immediate surprise, Rufflet was successfully captured without Nova even needing to lift a finger.

"Congratulations, Nova." Altair excitedly clapped his hands together. "You just caught your first Pokemon!"

Nova looked half disgusted, half fed up as she flickered her eyes up at Altair in defeat. "Does it really count as me catching a Pokemon if the damn thing just sorta imprinted on me after I shared my sandwich with him?"

Altair shrugged his shoulders with an awkward smile on his face. "I guess so."

"Well then." Nova bobbed her head as she stared down at Rufflet's Pokeball in her hand. "Alright. Gotta say, I was not expecting my day to go like this when I woke up this morning."

"Same here." Altair stared down at the peaceful look on Nova's face, finding himself wearing the most calm, blissful smile.

Nova looked up to see Altair staring at her so...so... Transfixed? She felt the heat rise up on her cheeks immediately, and she found herself wondering if that was just the sun getting to her, or if she was feeling flustered at the sight of Altair only in swim trunks with his rippling muscles and toned abs completely exposed. The two shared an awkward moment of silence as they just stared into one another's eyes with giddy smiles on their faces, but Altair quickly shook his head and snapped out of whatever trance he was in. Nova's smile quickly fell from her face as she felt awkward by him looking away from her so suddenly, and she harshly cleared her throat.

Nova ran her fingers through her hair as she tucked Rufflet's Pokeball safely into her bag alongside Popplio's, and she slowly stood up to face Altair as she looked off into the distance behind him and pointed at something. "Hey, Altair... What's that?"

"Huh?" Altair looked at her sort of puzzled for a moment before he turned to try and see what she was looking at. But by the time he noticed there was absolutely nothing there, it was too late. "What is it---WHOA!"

Nova tackled Altair with full force and took the six-foot-four guy down into the ocean, laughing all the way. "Ahahah! This is payback for everything you've done to me in the last twenty-four hours!" She chuckled as she wrestled with him in the water, and the two of them were getting completely drenched in salt water in the process.

Altair laughed good and hard as he quickly gained control over the wrestling match, pulling Nova into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her so tight that she was too trapped in his grip to try anything. "Oh, NOW you've done it!"

"Ahaha!" Nova started to genuinely...laugh. Laugh as if she were having fun. She chuckled hysterically as Altair kept thrashing around in the water with her, tickling her sides every chance he got. "No, stop...! That tickles!!"

Altair mischievously smirked at her as he grabbed her once more, picking her up out of the water and holding her in his arms like a princess as he stood tall in the shallow water. "You should've thought about that before you pushed me in the water!"

Nova's eyes quickly widened in horror as she realized what Altair was about to do, laughing incredulously. "Wait, no, Altair, don't---!"

Altair threw her up and into the air as hard as he could, laughing along with her as she hit the water with a huge splash. The two spent the next hour wrestling each other in the water and splashing one another, and they spent hour after hour together on that beach under the Alolan sun.

______________________________________________

Completely soaked and dripping wet in her yellow bikini, Nova sheepishly stood in the lobby of the Pokemon Center with a towel around her shoulders as she was catching up with Lillie and Hau. Altair stood by the front counter, equally soaked, trying to arrange with Nurse Joy two rooms to rent for both him and Nova for the night.

"So where are you guys staying?" Nova looked over at the eleven-year-old boy and sixteen-year-old girl, genuinely worried as to whether they had a place for the night or not.

Hau beamed at Nova's concern. "My Auntie lives by the marina, so Lillie and I are staying with her!" He suddenly paused and frowned a little as he looked over at Altair talking to Nurse Joy. "I would invite you and Altair too, but it's a small house, so..."

"Oh no, that's okay." Nova quickly interrupted him with a half-smile, eagerly waving her hand in front of her defensively. "We can afford to rent a room if needed. You two are still kids! Take advantage of the free place to stay while you can."

"Thank you for understanding, Nova." Lillie flashed her a guilty smile, wringing her hands around the strap of her bag.

"Ah, don't worry about it." Nova smiled at Lillie for the first time ever, really, shocking Lillie immensely as Nova turned to call out to her companion. "Hey, Altair, what's the hold up?"

Altair looked back at her with a slight frown on his face. "Well... There's only one room left, but it's a double queen. Do you mind sharing?"

Nova wore a grumpy expression and she rose an eyebrow at him. "Do I really have a choice?"

"Not really." Altair grinned at her sheepishly.

Nova bitterly frowned as she nodded her head once. "Sharing it is."

With Nova's approval, Altair turned back to face Nurse Joy with a smile as he handed her his credit card. "I'll take it. Thank you for your help."

Lillie worriedly looked from Altair over to Nova with an awkward expression on her face. "Are you going to be okay with that, Nova...?"

Nova cocked her head to the side in confusion. "What, sharing a room with Altair?" She scoffed immediately at Lillie's concern, not feeling even remotely bothered by the situation. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm not worried about him trying anything."

Lillie's eyebrows shot up into her hairline. "Seriously? But I thought you two really...clicked."

"Not in that way." Nova quickly shot down any idea Lillie had in her head of herself and Altair. "And besides... Altair said it himself: he's not looking to date anyone right now."

That was the first Lillie had heard of that. "Really?" Her eyes widened in surprise.

Nova wore an equally surprised look as she stared at Lillie's reaction. "What, you didn't know that?"

"No, he's never talked to me about something like that before." Lillie shook her head no, then awkwardly slumped her posture as she frowned a little. "I mean, I've only known him for the three months I've been staying with the Professor, but..." She paused, then looked over at Altair's back facing her. "I guess that makes sense why I've never seen him with a girlfriend."

What, another person swearing by Altair's surprisingly single status?

Nova stared at Altair's back facing her as she shook her head back and forth in amazement. "I swear, this guy just keeps getting weirder and weirder..."

Hau took a hold of Lillie's arm, ushering her towards the door. "C'mon, Lillie. We should probably get going! Don't want to keep Auntie waiting."

Lillie smiled as she nodded her head. "Alright, Hau!" She turned and waved to Nova before walking out the door with Hau. "Bye, Nova. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow." Nova waved good-bye as she watched the two young ones leave the Pokemon Center, and as she was about to turn and join Altair at the front counter, her eyes landed on two tourists who were having an unusually loud conversation.

"I saw those Team Skull morons loitering around the marina again." The male tourist with sandy brown hair commented to the black-haired female tourist, thoroughly annoyed.

The woman looked surprised by this. "No, you're kidding!"

"I wish I was." The guy rolled his eyes. "I reported it to the Captain, of course."

The woman bit down on her lip as she furrowed her brow. "This is what happens when young people have nothing to do and too much time on their hands."

The guy sighed sharply and crossed his arms. "What a bunch of useless thugs! All they do is drag Trainers into battles they don't want and try to steal their Pokemon!"

The woman leaned closer to the man as she lowered her voice to him. "I heard they keep trying to sneak into the Trial Site to steal Pokemon to sell...and that they fail every single time!"

"Nova, you coming?"

"Oh, right... Sorry." Nova tore her gaze away from the two tourists when she felt his hand on her shoulder and turned to face Altair, taking some of their bags from him to help him carry the load.

The two walked up to the second floor and stopped at room 101, and Altair swung all of his bags on one arm as he pulled out the key from his pocket with his free hand. "Well, this is it."

Nova followed Altair into the room and stopped in the entrance, marveling over the sea foam green, exquisitely decorated beach-themed room with a stunning view of the ocean. "Wow. I didn't realize Pokemon Centers even had rooms as nice as this."

"Yeah, they usually use the second floor for traveling Trainers who need a room for the night." Altair threw the room key down on the desk as he plopped the bags down on the floor, taking his towel from around his shoulders and using it to dry off his jet-black hair. "And that would be us, in this case." He looked up and over at Nova, pausing his towel-drying for a moment. "Which bed do you want? Any preference?"

"I don't really care." Nova shook her head as she set down her half of the bags on the floor, pulling a change of clothes out of one of them and heading towards the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower and get some of this sand off of me."

"Alright. I'm just going to get changed out here." Altair calmly stated as he began to undress with barely any warning, and Nova quickly scuttled into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

Nova turned on the hot water and let out a relaxed sigh as she took her shower as scalding as she could take it, scrubbing all of the sand out of her curly white hair. As her mind trailed off, she found herself recalling what Altair, his students, and Lillie had said today about his strangely single status.

"Are you and Mr. Knight dating!? Because we've never seen him with a girl before."

"I've only known him for the three months I've been staying with the Professor, but... I guess that makes sense why I've never seen him with a girlfriend."

"I just have no desire to be in a relationship with someone."

Nova frowned as she thought these things over to herself. Just why was Altair single, anyways...? Or, rather, why did he prefer to stay single? With his infuriatingly charming smile and devilishly handsome features, he could get any girl he wanted. Not to mention that he was the Island Challenge Champion of Alola. So why didn't he...?

"And I thought I was supposed to be the anti-social hermit out of the two of us..." Nova muttered to herself under her breath as she turned off the water, but the sound of the bathroom door opening immediately made her shoulders go rigid. "Hello? Altair...?" No answer came, and just as Nova was about to poke her head out around the shower curtain, a large bucket suddenly appeared over the top of the shower rod, and Nova looked up just in time to see the ice-cold water come cascading down on her. "AHHH! OH MY GOD, WHAT THE HELL!? ALTAIR!!"

"AHAHAH! I WISH I COULD HAVE SEEN THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE JUST NOW!"

"I'M SERIOUSLY GOING TO KILL YOU, ALTAIR!"

_______________________________________________

Fully dressed in a fresh change of clothes, Nova exited the bathroom with her damp hair and immediately walked over to the front door. "I'm going out."

Altair, who was now fully dressed and laying on one of the beds reading a book, immediately sat up in alarm at the sight of her trying to leave. "What, is this about the water bucket thing?"

Nova turned back to glare at him harshly for a moment. "No, actually. I just overheard something earlier that rubbed me the wrong way, and I wanted to look into it." She paused for a moment as she wondered if Altair knew anything about the subject. After all, he was the Island Challenge Champion; if anyone knew about a group of thugs on the island, it would be him, right? "Do you know anything about Team Skull?" Nova shifted her weight from one leg to another as she looked over at him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Team Skull?" Altair's voice immediately dropped into a lower tone as he snapped his book closed and stood up from his bed. "Where did you hear about those misguided idiots from?"

'So he did know,' Nova thought to herself as she met his strong gaze. "I overheard a conversation between a couple of tourists in the lobby about them. Who are they?"

Altair looked strangely distant as he stared at her with a severe expression on his face. "Just a bunch of wannabe ruffians who run with a crowd that's a bad influence on them." He frowned as he jammed his hands in the pockets of the black hoodie he was wearing. "I know a couple of the Trainer School kids from the older classes dropped out to join their gang." He readjusted his posture as he glared off at nothing in particular. "I really don't like what ideas they're putting in the minds of our kids..."

Nova admired how much Altair cared for his students, even the ones he didn't even teach personally. "Hmm... Then it's definitely something worth looking into."

"What is?" Altair quirked an eyebrow at the white-haired beauty before him.

Nova nodded her head decisively as she swung her bag over her shoulder and turned to grab the doorknob. "I'm going to the marina for a bit. I'll be back soon."

"Now where do you think you're going without me?" Altair jogged over to her as he placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her from leaving just yet.

Nova widened her eyes in shock as she turned to look up into his eyes. "What, you're coming?" She froze as she realized she had turned directly into his chest, and there was absolutely no space between them at all. She swallowed hard in embarrassment as she held his intense gaze.

Altair leaned closer and grabbed the doorknob behind her with an eager grin on his face. "Of course I am. Did you really think I would let you walk around in a huge city this late at night by yourself?" He wore an irritatingly smug look on his face as he opened the door for her, and he ushered her to step out first. "Nova, if you're going somewhere, we go together."

Nova smiled a little to herself as she nodded her head. "Alright. Together it is."

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Wow, has it been a while. Sorry about that, guys. Life has been keeping me very busy lately, and I haven't had the time or motivation to write in months. I don't want to make any promises about when I'll update next, because I really don't know, but now that I'm done with conventions for the year, I would like to put more time aside for writing. I've found motivation for writing this book all over again, so I'd like to start working on it more.

Thanks everyone for being so patient and understanding with me. I've had a lot going on lately, but it's nothing to worry about. I want to try and get on wattpad more often again and be more active like I used to be, but we shall see how that goes with college and all XD

So, what did you guys think of the new chapter? I'm sure it has been very long awaited XD sorry about that. Anyways, comment below what you think!

Aaaaaand this chapter's fan art feature goes to: MooGirlWriting!! Can we just talk about how amazing this girl is with drawing? These were also her very first attempts at digital art, too. Not only is she sweet, but she's incredibly talented!

Seriously, she's so cute and amazingly talented! She's definitely worth checking out!

Anyways...

Read, comment, vote, and enjoy!