Are you inside the Poké Ball?!

...

Ugh... what happened? That Poké Ball hit you, activated, and then... and then...

...What the hell is this feeling? Kinda weird... kinda... fuzzy? Like TV static. But a little softer. And you're curled up, in a ball. It's so comfortable, soothing... dark?

Wait. Is this... are you inside the Poké Ball?! No, but... that's not possible, is it? But what else could this be?! As the realization sinks in, panic begins to overtake your body. You begin frantically thrashing, kicking at the sides of the sphere.

Bomp. You feel the ball shift slightly, as a blue pulse washes over you. What was that? Is your thrashing working?

Bomp. The balls shifts a second time, and another blue pulse illuminates the inside of the sphere. Keep going, gotta keep going!

Bomp. Wait. Don't balls wiggle three times before finalizing a capture? If that's what these are... this isn't working! You don't have much longer! Desperately, you begin struggling even harder.

Your efforts are cut short by a resounding "chik!", as a final, much brighter wave of blue light engulfs you. You're almost overwhelmed by the sudden feeling of static fuzziness which you'd noticed previously. It almost feels like an electric current is running through you... but it doesn't hurt. As the light fades, you realize your kicks no longer seem to be making contact with the walls of the capsule. Something's changed. And.. you feel oh-so sleepy... so...

...

Ching! Chzeerrrw!

Your vision is completely enveloped in a white glow as you feel your surrounding change once more. The sun's rays, the soft sand, the lapping waves... you're back on the beach.

"Selene!!" That's Luke. You numbly look up at him. "Are you okay?! I-it opened up- the ball- it opened up and captured you! Why did it capture you... why, why... I-I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, this is my fault, this is... this is..." He falters, before turning beet red and looking away. "Th-this is.. you're, uhhh... y-you're not wearing any... any clothes."

Well, that snaps you back to reality. You look down at your body to see that indeed, you are fully unclothed, your pale, Kantonian skin on full display. The only article of clothing which you've retained is your hat, which sits atop your head, almost comical in its isolation. With a cry of embarrassment, you squat down into a ball, wrapping your arms around yourself and pressing your legs together. "D-don't look, don't look!"

"I-I'm not! I won't. I swear." Something catching his eye, he jogs away slightly, before returning, his head still turned away from you. "Here. Your clothes, they were by where you got caught, in the tall grass. S-sorry, I should've grabbed them before. I was panicked. Wasn't thinking."

Tentatively taking them, you glance back at his face one more time. "J-just don't look. I'll say when you can."

As you finish pulling on your clothes, you collapse back into your curled up squat, trembling, the gravity of the situation having finally caught back up with you. "What the hell are gonna do Luke?" you whisper. "H-how is this even possible in the first place?"

Luke sits. "I-I don't know. I don't know. There must have been something wrong with those Poké Balls... that's why they were in the trash. I'm so sorry- this is all my fault. If I hadn't been so... so... fuck, man. But I don't know what to do. We- we need to talk to someone, tell someone, right?"

"Tell someone?!" you ask incredulously. "Who the hell are we gonna tell? We can't tell our parents, that's for sure. And- I don't think we can go to the police, right? Who would even know anything about this?"

Luke is silent for a moment, before jumping to his feet. "I know! Let's go talk to Professor Kukui! If anyone would now something about this, it'd be him! His place is just down this way, come on! Let's get up and go!"

You sigh. "I-I don't know Luke, what if-" suddenly, you're on your feet. ...Your body stood up, of its own accord. Why? Even more freaked out then you were before, you swallow. Luke, apparently not noticing your expression, is already powerwalking towards Kukui's house. You decide not to tell Luke what just happened, and begin following him.

Knock, knock, knock.

As you and Luke impatiently wait outside the door, you take in your surroundings. The Professor's lab-house combo is as... interesting, as always. With the various shoddy patches in the roof and walls, and the pock-marked earth surrounding it, it's not hard to guess that the Professor is VERY passionate about his research on Pokémon moves. How that man can willingly take such punishment is beyond you.

Luckily for the two of you, it doesn't take long for the man himself to appear. "Yo! Burnett, that you?" he says, swinging the door open. "Did you forget your key ag- oh. Hey Selene, Luke. 'Sup?"

You take a deep breath. "Can we come inside? We've got a bit of a... situation."

As you and Luke take turns explaining what happened, Kukui's ever present smile changes subtly, becoming more serious. You're not quite sure you've ever seen him wear this face, not even when that hurricane a couple years back got real bad. It's a little intimidating. "...and so we decided to come here to see you. And that brings us to where we are now," Luke finishes.

Kukui exhales heavily, before standing up and walking to the window. "...Well, you were right to come to me first. This is a real pickle you've gotten yourselves into. Yeesh." He clears his throat, turning to face you. "Listen, this is the absolute most important thing right now; you can't go the cops. The idea of humans being captured is very scary to the government. It could cause anarchy. In order to prevent the info from goin' public, they'll swoop in and whisk you away, never to be seen again."

He continues. "You also can't go to the Poké Ball manufacturers. Do you know the lengths Silph would be willing to go to to prevent the press from getting ahold of this info? It would be a PR nightmare. It's lucky that Alola is as rural as it is, or there'd be no way to prevent this from getting out... And you can't use the PC to release her. It won't recognize her as a valid species, and will refuse to interface with the ball."

Your jaw drops, shocked. "So you're saying there's no way to fix this?! We just gotta hide this for the rest of our lives?!! I don't even think that's poss-"

"Hold on." Kukui says gravely, cutting you off. "There is one way. One thing... no, one group, that possesses the great power needed to release you from that capsule's effects. Alola's protectors, the Island Guardians. The Tapu."

"The Tapu?" Luke interjects, doubtfully. "I know that they're strong, but they're still just Pokémon. Could they really do that?"

Kukui shakes his head. "The Tapu are no joke. There's a reason they were worshipped as gods. They could do it, no doubt about it. But if they'd do it, that's another issue. The Tapus are hard to impress. Pretty much the only humans they acknowledge are the Kahunas. You'll need to earn their respect before they do anything like that for you."

"Earn their respect? How're s'posed to do that? We're just kids!" You protest. "Er, well, young adults. But still!"

Kukui scratches his chin. "...I imagine the best way would be to defeat their chosen champions, the island Kahunas, in honorable combat. That is to say, to complete the Island Challenge."

His words knock the wind from you. "...What? Th-that's a joke, right? There's no way! Completion is nearly impossible, you can't expect us to... to..." You catch Luke's eye. He looks both solemn, and as though he's about to vomit.

He gazes at you. "I-if that's the only way... I'll do it. We'll do it. We have to. I'll fix this, Selene. I swear."

You slump down in your seat. Despair. That's all you feel, despair. You've always dreamed of going through the challenge, but not like this. And the cost of failure is way too high. But Luke's right... do you even have a choice?

Kukui walks to the door. "I'm heading to Iki Town. Gotta talk to Hala, explain the situation. Grab what you need from your houses, plan to be gone for a bit, and meet me there. Don't take too long." With that, he's gone.