Moon Version, Part 8: Chance Encounters

Hau stood exhausted from his trail in the Lush Jungle. Despite his victory, he couldn’t help but to feel like he’d lost. He took pause for a moment and looked back into the jungle. Had he really been gone a whole week? What could have happened to him? Hau kicked a rock as went back to walking out of the jungle. Judging by Mallow’s burns, part of Nuztai’s story at least added up. But why, then, would he go missing entirely?

Hau had hoped that by finally taking on Mallow’s trial, he could get some answers. But after beating the totem Pokémon she summoned, all Mallow would say is that she hadn’t seen him since. He was at a total loss. He’d searched for days, but the best he had was that Nuztai had limped back to Lush Jungle. The jungle was huge, and Nuztai could be anywhere. Hau kicked the rock hard to vent his frustration, blasting it into a distant set of bushes.

“OW!” cried out a pained voice in the direction of the kicked stone. Hau paused in shock for a moment, then ran in the direction of the noise. The thick brush proved but a minor obstacle for Hau’s small frame, as he worked his way through with ease. Hau burst through to the other side and stood in shock. There he was. Nuztai, sitting filthy on the ground rubbing his head.

“Nuztai! You’re alive!” cried Hau, holding back tears. “I’ve been worried sick! What were you doing in here all this time!”

“Looking for this…” answered Nuztai with the toss of pokeball. Out came a large white ape of a Pokémon. It sat humbly and nodded to Hau.

“A Pokémon. You’ve had me worried sick for a week cause you were hunting a Pokémon?” Hau said a quiet shock.

“In my defense, a really freaking rare Pokémon.” chuckled Nuztai, “It also turns out that SHE is a level 1 hatchling! I discovered that shortly after as it’s mama decided to start chasing me through the jungle. Long story short, I caught her, too. But I’ve been so lost that I haven’t been able to get out. I was hoping to at least find a Passimian while here, too, but I’m starting to think it’s impossible. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find a trainer willing to trade.”

Hau guided Nuztai back out of the Jungle and to the Pokémon Center. There, Nintai healed his Pokémon and posted his trade request on their digital message board. Nuztai knew he was asking for a rare Pokémon, but at least he offered one in return.

Nuztai and Hau walked the way to Professor Burnett’s Lab. Hau still seemed kind of upset with Nuztai, but it was overshadowed by his relief that Nuztai was ok. Nuztai was astonished that this little kid cared so much about him. He was definitely starting to like this kid.

“Dimensional Research Laboratory! Woah, that’s intense!” yelled Nuztai. He stared at the sign in front of the Lab, reading and re-reading it. “This must be some crazy research. Hope I’m not wasting this guy’s time.”

“Professor Burnet is a woman, Nuztai. She’s actually Professor Kukui’s wife!” explained Hau as they walked up the stairs to the lab. In that moment, something clicked. Nuztai opened the door to the lab and Nuztai and Burnet stared at each other from across the room. After a few moments, Hau pushed Nuztai through the doorway into the room. Nuztai stumbled forward and up to Burnet.

“You got married?” He asked.

“I did. When you left, I decided to take a vacation. I wound up moving from Unova.” She replied quietly.

“What about the Inter-Dream Zone research? We discovered so much. You even invented a new pokeball just for Pokémon from that world…”

“Oh, I finished that research.” She interrupted. “There really wasn’t much else to do with it. Now I study dimensional travel as a whole. With a little help…”

“HEY HON!” Interrupted Kukui as he came in the door. “Oh good! Hau and Nuztai are already here!” He held the door for Lillie as she and her strange Pokémon came in behind him. “Let’s cut to it then, hon. I was hoping you’d teach them a little something about other dimensions!”

“But, they’re kids. Well, except Nuztai. And he’s already become quite versed on the subject.” She responded puzzled.

“Has he now? Does he know about the Ultra Dimension?” asked Kukui.

Nuztai turned back to Burnet with a look of shock and excitement. “You discovered another dimension, Burney? What’s it like? Are there Pokémon there, too?”

“First of all, you don’t get to call me that anymore.” She said calmly. “Secondly, no. It wasn’t my discovery. There’s a dimensional rift that seems to naturally form over Alola for reasons we haven’t yet discovered. And yes, there are creatures there, but we aren’t sure that they’re Pokémon.”

“What else could they be?” Asked Hau.

“Therein lies part of the mystery.” explained Burnet “Legend has it that the rift once opened largely enough to let lots of creatures through that attacked Alola. The island guardians joined forces to push the creatures back. Now they protect the islands from these creatures should they ever come back.”

Nuztai and Hau exchanged awkward looks. “We’ve, uh, got a grand trial to get to.” Said Nuztai nervously. “It was great seeing you again, Professor Burnet. Thanks for the cool story.”

“Yeah, you too, Nuztai. Good luck with your island challenges, you two!” She said as they walked out the door. Kukui walked up and hugged his wife.

“Great kids, huh.” said Kukui, “I sense a lot of potential from them. The big one, Nuztai…”

“He’s twenty-nine years old.” Burnet interrupted. “You realize that, right? He’s not a kid. He’s a full-grown adult that still challenges Pokémon Leagues.”

“Ah, but now he NUZLOCKE challenges them!” responded Kukui smiling. “Much cooler!”

Burnet stopped in her tracks. Her eyes went wide as she turned to Kukui. “You let him register a Nuzlocke challenge? HERE!?”

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#Moon #Nuzlocke