It had been just yesterday that you woke up in your own bed in Kalos, but now here you are, stepping off of a plane into the central Alolan airport. With your bags in one arm (and over your back, and on a cart) and your phone and a cheesy pamphlet in your other, you take off towards the exit with a flow of people.
The pamphlet had said that after landing you'd need to take a ferry to get to Melemele island, where you'd meet up with the people who would allow you to stay with them for the time of your stay in Alola.
Almost coincidentally, these people had just moved to Alola themselves, and were also trying to get accustomed to the easygoing lifestyle of the Region.
About halfway to the exit, your phone buzzes with a chime of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up". Your mom is calling, which isn't entirely surprising to tell the truth.
You make your way over to a large metal bench near a St-Arboks and sit down with a loud huff. You swipe to the right, picking up the phone and hold it up to your ear.
"Hiya Momma!" you say, lacing your voice with honey, "What'cha callin' for?"
You faintly hear water running from the other end and the murmur of other voices as your mom pauses before answering. "Just making sure you got there safely," she replies, "Sasha and Paul are already missing you- and so am I!"
A loud "Chu!" from the phone confirms your mom's claims, and you giggle. A sudden pang of anxiety and homesick hits you, but you shove it off. You can deal with feelings later.
"K, well I gotta go catch the ferry, it was nice to hear you though!" You say, smiling to yourself, "I'll voice chat you and James later from a pokecenter. I love you!"
"I love you too sweetie, stay safe!"
She hangs up, and you sigh, recollecting your things in your arms to continue towards the exit of the airport. A nice older man holds the door open for you as you hobble forwards, and you mutter a brief thank you before loading the ferry via ramp.
The inside of the ferry is spacious and comfortably cool. Booth seats are lined up along the windows facing the ocean, and a small concession stand full of coffee and chips sits in the middle of the floor. There's a bathroom behind the concession, and next to that, a closed off stairway to the next floor of the ferry. A steady hum of voices floods your ears, and as you walk around to find a booth to place your stuff in, you find yourself getting more and more relaxed.
Finally, you find a seat near the center of the boat by a window. And just in time! The loud whistle of the boat alerting anyone left on the docks blows in your ear, making you jump, and soon the boat floods with people. You slump in your seat, huffing quietly, glad that you wouldn't have to share a seat with anybody.
Ok, no, that's wrong. Apparently some kid around your age thinks its ok to sit by you even though he has no earthly idea who you are. For the love of god why can't people just find seats for themselves?
You glare at him in a grumpy stupor, upset that your perfect boat seat had to be ruined by some stranger, but he simply smiles widely at you. He sticks a hand out and jams it your way.
"Alola!" He says (still smiling, mind you) "My name's Hau, do you mind if I sit here?"
You roll your eyes, but force a semi-nervous smile to be polite and answer happily. "No, no you're fine! My name's Katie." You reach for his outstretched hand and shake it.
"Cool!" He pulls back his and and rummages in his own backpack for a second before pulling out a lunchbag and opening it abruptly on the small table in the middle of the booth. "You don't if I eat lunch now, do you?"
You laugh warmly, maybe this guy wasn't too terribly annoying, "Er, yeah go ahead! Just share a bit with me, will ya?"
He nods at you, already cramming what could only be described as a sandwich with the weirdest ingredients ever into his mouth. As he chews (silently, thank god for that), he fishes around in his lunchpack and pulls out a couple of oreos and hands them to you.
You gasp. Holy shit. You look at Hau and gape, "You are a blessing to man kind. Are-are you sure I can have the oreos?"
Nodding briefly, Hau returns to his bag and pulls out an entire package of them, "Yeah I've got plenty, haha!"
You pull out your top retainer from your mouth and set it on the table, then you promptly jam the oreo in your mouth. Oh yes. Oh sweet lord yes. You fucking love oreos. This guy is literally Jesus. Oreo Jesus.
Cramming the other oreo into your mouth, you then notice Hau is staring. You giggle, and snort into your hand.
"Er, sorry!" You laugh now that the oreo is gone, "It's been a long time since I've had name brand oreos!"
He shrugs and laughs, putting a wide smile on his face, "Nah, no worries! Have fun, it's Alola!"
You and Hau sit and talk like that for a good 15 minutes, before you stop to look out the window. It's sort of clouded over due to the coolness of the inside of the ferry and the humidity of outside, but the crashing waves are still rather stunning. You close your eyes and smile. Something just seemed to tell you that this vacation to take on the Island Challenge was going to be amazingly fun.
That something was Hau.
You had fallen asleep while looking out the window.
Oops.
The pamphlet had said that after landing you'd need to take a ferry to get to Melemele island, where you'd meet up with the people who would allow you to stay with them for the time of your stay in Alola.
Almost coincidentally, these people had just moved to Alola themselves, and were also trying to get accustomed to the easygoing lifestyle of the Region.
About halfway to the exit, your phone buzzes with a chime of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up". Your mom is calling, which isn't entirely surprising to tell the truth.
You make your way over to a large metal bench near a St-Arboks and sit down with a loud huff. You swipe to the right, picking up the phone and hold it up to your ear.
"Hiya Momma!" you say, lacing your voice with honey, "What'cha callin' for?"
You faintly hear water running from the other end and the murmur of other voices as your mom pauses before answering. "Just making sure you got there safely," she replies, "Sasha and Paul are already missing you- and so am I!"
A loud "Chu!" from the phone confirms your mom's claims, and you giggle. A sudden pang of anxiety and homesick hits you, but you shove it off. You can deal with feelings later.
"K, well I gotta go catch the ferry, it was nice to hear you though!" You say, smiling to yourself, "I'll voice chat you and James later from a pokecenter. I love you!"
"I love you too sweetie, stay safe!"
She hangs up, and you sigh, recollecting your things in your arms to continue towards the exit of the airport. A nice older man holds the door open for you as you hobble forwards, and you mutter a brief thank you before loading the ferry via ramp.
The inside of the ferry is spacious and comfortably cool. Booth seats are lined up along the windows facing the ocean, and a small concession stand full of coffee and chips sits in the middle of the floor. There's a bathroom behind the concession, and next to that, a closed off stairway to the next floor of the ferry. A steady hum of voices floods your ears, and as you walk around to find a booth to place your stuff in, you find yourself getting more and more relaxed.
Finally, you find a seat near the center of the boat by a window. And just in time! The loud whistle of the boat alerting anyone left on the docks blows in your ear, making you jump, and soon the boat floods with people. You slump in your seat, huffing quietly, glad that you wouldn't have to share a seat with anybody.
Ok, no, that's wrong. Apparently some kid around your age thinks its ok to sit by you even though he has no earthly idea who you are. For the love of god why can't people just find seats for themselves?
You glare at him in a grumpy stupor, upset that your perfect boat seat had to be ruined by some stranger, but he simply smiles widely at you. He sticks a hand out and jams it your way.
"Alola!" He says (still smiling, mind you) "My name's Hau, do you mind if I sit here?"
You roll your eyes, but force a semi-nervous smile to be polite and answer happily. "No, no you're fine! My name's Katie." You reach for his outstretched hand and shake it.
"Cool!" He pulls back his and and rummages in his own backpack for a second before pulling out a lunchbag and opening it abruptly on the small table in the middle of the booth. "You don't if I eat lunch now, do you?"
You laugh warmly, maybe this guy wasn't too terribly annoying, "Er, yeah go ahead! Just share a bit with me, will ya?"
He nods at you, already cramming what could only be described as a sandwich with the weirdest ingredients ever into his mouth. As he chews (silently, thank god for that), he fishes around in his lunchpack and pulls out a couple of oreos and hands them to you.
You gasp. Holy shit. You look at Hau and gape, "You are a blessing to man kind. Are-are you sure I can have the oreos?"
Nodding briefly, Hau returns to his bag and pulls out an entire package of them, "Yeah I've got plenty, haha!"
You pull out your top retainer from your mouth and set it on the table, then you promptly jam the oreo in your mouth. Oh yes. Oh sweet lord yes. You fucking love oreos. This guy is literally Jesus. Oreo Jesus.
Cramming the other oreo into your mouth, you then notice Hau is staring. You giggle, and snort into your hand.
"Er, sorry!" You laugh now that the oreo is gone, "It's been a long time since I've had name brand oreos!"
He shrugs and laughs, putting a wide smile on his face, "Nah, no worries! Have fun, it's Alola!"
You and Hau sit and talk like that for a good 15 minutes, before you stop to look out the window. It's sort of clouded over due to the coolness of the inside of the ferry and the humidity of outside, but the crashing waves are still rather stunning. You close your eyes and smile. Something just seemed to tell you that this vacation to take on the Island Challenge was going to be amazingly fun.
That something was Hau.
You had fallen asleep while looking out the window.
Oops.