No Z-Moves Allowed

After taking a few moments to think, you hesitantly reply, "I think... were we not being the first to compete, I would be okay with it. But since we are the first, I feel it would be better to establish a baseline of comparable fundamentals before letting those after us demonstrate more advanced strategies via specialized regional techniques."

Hau looks at you with wide, surprised eyes and you wonder if you might have just committed a faux pas. He was probably just offering as a gesture and you were supposed to say it was okay and now--

"Wow," he says, "You sounded a lot like Professor Kukui there."

"That's... a good thing, right?"

Hau breaks into a toothy grin. "Absolutely! And hey, I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't willing to go along with you saying 'no'. So don't worry! You're cool!"

You smile sheepishly, surprised at how easily this guy seems to be able to read you. He probably makes friends really easily, something which has always been tricky for you, and you can admire that skill. It makes the trip to the hotel a pleasant one as you chat about some of the local history, what places might be good to find food at later, and even getting some footage of an incredibly TALL Alolan Exeggutor ambling along the shoreline.

You sigh as you lower your camera and start to move on. "I wish I could stay longer when this is over. There's so much to see here."

"That just means you need to make the most of the time you got!" Hau exclaims cheerfully, "Guess that means it's up to me to at least make sure our battle is as exciting as possible!"

Pokemon Battling is not your favorite activity in the world, but Hau's infectious energy is such that you find yourself actually looking forward to this one despite knowing what you know.

When you reach the hotel, you have just enough time to get your few days worth of clothes put away in your room and catch a quick shower before it is time to head for the arena with your new friend/soon to be opponent.

As you make your way along the streets of Hau'oli City, you keep your eyes open to your surroundings and notice something curious as you go along. There are a LOT more female Pokemon Trainers openly moving about than back home. It is not as if there are no male Trainers, and many of those male Trainers are giving the female ones the kind of looks you have seen them give in Kanto, yet they limit themselves to just looking. There are no cat calls or bawdy threats, no attempts to lead female Trainers off alone to areas where battle was allowed, and all female Trainers moved at unhurried paces instead of that quick-but-trying-to-look-casual walk you had needed to follow Amber at more than once when her Pokemon had been weakened or mostly knocked out.

"Everyone here is so brave," you note to your companion, "Alola must be a very safe place."

"I'd say most of it is," Hau replies, "Though we have our spots of trouble. All I'll say for now is that you should probably stay away from anyone wearing more than one item of clothing with a skull on it. They don't play nice with others."

He stops suddenly, his smile unexpectedly turning a little more somber as he looks towards a park where a pair of small children are having a "battle" with small Pokemon Dolls. "And I guess even if it seems relatively peaceful here, we do gotta be brave sometimes," he says, "Especially considering what can happen to us."

Hau trails off with a sigh as he continues to wistfully watch. As you observe him in turn, you are taken in a little by his profile and a voice in the back of your mind that sounds a little like Amber's but may not be totally hers whispers, Damn, he's cute.]

Shaking that thought out of your head, you realize you need Hau to show you the rest of the way to the arena sooner rather than later. So you speak up again. "The worst here doesn't sound anywhere near as bad as the worst that can happen in Sinnoh."

That snaps him out of it and he starts walking again as he snorts, "Got that right. Hell, it's been a LONG time since I've seen Grandpa get angry around me but when he heard Dad invited a Sinnoh rep as part of this he went VOLCANIC. But I guess if you're opening your doors, you gotta open 'em to everyone, right?"

As you round a corner you see the very recently constructed, first of its kind, Aloan Pokemon Arena in the distance. "Oh, speaking of Grandpa," Hau says, "He's one of the Island Kahunas, so he's gonna be the official observer for our match. But he'd whoop my hinder good if I ever asked him to play favorites, so don't feel intimidated by him, okay?"

"You're doing this in front of your Grandfather?!" you exclaim, "ALL of it?! Even--"

"Yup," Hau says before turning back to you, thumping his chest lightly with his fist and giving you a great big smile, "Even if that happens. Like I said, sometimes we do gotta be brave."

Seriously cute, the Amber in your head comments as you make your way to your destination.