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“I can’t believe you’re really single.” With Moon and Hau off to Aether Paradise, Kukui off to Ula’ula to lay the groundwork for more of the League’s frantic prep-work ahead of the Exhibition, and Kahili lurking somewhere still on the east end of the island, Sina (and Dexio, of course) have opted to take the safe route for slacking off: hanging out with Olivia in Konikoni.
Which is to say, around Olivia, who is of course a busy Kahuna with plenty to do. Currently, she’s fixing the massive divot some intrepid pokemon trainer made so close to the Ruins of Life, her Lycanroc hefting a massive rock they’ve procured from some of the Diglett Tunnels cast-offs while she works in the soil, shoveling dirt to shore it up from erosion and the elements (not to mention the odd Pokemon trainer who decides throwing a boulder is a good idea).
“Don’t you two have something better to do? Over on Ula’ula Island, perhaps...” Olivia smirks and stabs the shovel into the ground. She’s not asking very seriously, to be honest, even if the single jibe makes her mentally grumble. She doesn’t mind the company. The last few days of so many people arriving, the sheer thrill of two back to back Grand Challenges...It’s been interesting.
Exhilarating, honestly. Even if she’s still desperately young and still finding her feet and her way forward, Moon’s challenge was a thrill to participate in, not to mention Hau’s before it. There’s really nothing else to say about it. She’s in a good mood, one she hopes lasts.
“Nope. Besides, we’re researchers, and this Lycanroc is the only one we can look at right now.” Dexio’s sprawled out next to the hole on his side, watching the Lycanroc work. “So, the Midnight forme is slower, but tougher to compensate?”
“Something like that. Don’t exactly have anything to compare it to...” Sina is doing much closer observation, watching the way its fur shifts as it moves, the fur-mohawk seemingly perpetually in place even when it’s bending and stooping, packing earth into the rock to make it look natural.
“You could always raise one yourself, you know.” Olivia walks up to her Lycanroc, running a hand through it’s fur and trading the dirt on her hands for fur smell. “Rockruff are tough for younger trainers, but they should be no issue for ones as talented as you.”
Dexio meets eyes with Sina, and the both frown. “We have Psychic-type biases…” They say in unison.
Olivia sighs.
These two have been following her like lost Rockruff all morning, ever since everyone else left. If it’s not about her status as woefully single, it’s about her Lycanroc, or Kukui’s Lycanroc, or hey, Olivia, it’s crazy that you’re single, have you thought about dating at all?
Honestly...Who wants to date the Kahuna? That’s so much pressure.
At least, she imagines it must be, or else why wouldn’t they?
Olivia is many things, and patient as stone is one she hears often, but the two Kalosian researchers are certainly going a long way towards fracturing it.
“So, Olivia.” Dexio has gotten up now, crossing to Sina’s side and sitting down on the rock Lycanroc is still getting seated properly. “Any other challengers you gotta prepare for?”
“No. Most of the current trial-goers are still training, or away visiting family.”
“Andddddd there’s nothing pressing to take care of, right?” Sina leans forward, grinning.
“No. What are you two getting at?” Olivia folds her arms across her chest more than a little defensively. Oh, if only Defense Curl worked for social interaction, sometimes.
“Well, you worked pretty hard for Hau and Moon’s trials, right? Coming up with unique challenges to bring out the best in them and whatnot. You should destress! Do something fun! Watching you put this rock in the ground is like pulling teeth, you look so bored.”
Does she? It’s makework, to be sure, to keep the area around the Ruins of Life intact. It’s her duty as Kahuna to be the intermediary between the Tapu and the citizens of Alola, and ensure the Ruins they inhabit remain protected, but. She could have put it off for a few days, given the low traffic this far past Memorial Hill. And it’s not like a big hole could hurt anyone that badly, even the Tapu.
What other, strictly metaphorical, holes is she leaving unfilled by prioritizing this one? She could be doing something fun. Duty doesn’t have to call all the time, surely.
“Mm. I could do with a day or two off, I suppose.”
“Nice!” Sina holds up a hand, and Dexio slaps her five, the both of them shaking their hands from the force of impact. Now, where did they pick that up from?
“But first…” Olivia gives a look and a silent command to Lycanroc, who stands from his work and picks up the two looky-loos while they’re distracted. “I’ll be putting you two on the first ferry to Ula’ula.”
“Aww!” They chorus as Lycanroc hefts them both over its shoulders, following Olivia back up the path to town.
“Well, at least we get a good view on the way back.” Dexio whispers to Sina.
“God, I know. She’s built like a statue.”
Olivia can’t help but smirk the whole way back. Okay, they’re annoying, sure, but they’re cute. Sort of.
As long as you ignore all the mischief.
And the Mega Stones.
“C’mon, let us down!” Dexio whines as they approach the ferry terminal, struggling ineffectively against the firm grip of Olivia’s Lycanroc. “You walked us the whole way, we’ll be good!”
“Yeah, what he said!” Sina pipes in, pulling the poutiest face Olivia’s seen on someone who’s supposed to be an adult.
“Fine, fine.” Lycanroc hefts them both off of it’s shoulders with ease, but keeps a paw on their shoulders as they straighten up. “No games, no messing around. If I find out you’ve been wandering around giving Mega Stones to preteens, though…”
“That was just the once! Jeez, you do something nice and everyone wants to drag you for it.” Dexio sticks his hands in the pockets of his hawaiian-print shorts, grumbling. One stern look from Olivia is enough to get him to stop sulking, though. “Alright, alright! Man, Kahuna are tough.”
“We have to be, or else troublemakers would be running amok.” Olivia nods towards the terminal, and Lycanroc lets the researchers go, watching them duck inside. With the distractions gone, Olivia pats Lycanroc and sighs with no small amount of relief. Maybe now she can get some relaxation in…
The door chimes behind her, and Olivia sighs. “You two had better get back inside there, or—” She turns, a hand flying up to her mouth when she sees not the researchers trying to sneak out behind her, but a tall (nearly as tall as Olivia herself, even) Kantonian woman in a flower-patterned sundress, carrying a cream Meowth in her arms like a baby. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I thought you were someone else.”
“It’s quite alright.” She smiles, shifting the Meowth in her arms. “Darling is a bit too out of it from the ferry ride to care.”
“Is it your first time to Akala, then?” Olivia turns fully to the new visitor, falling immediately into old habits. The Kahuna doesn’t greet everyone who comes by the island, obviously, but it’s always nice to make an impression on those she has the opportunity to.
“Yes, I just moved to Melemele not too long ago.” She shrugs. “A sightseeing trip seemed like as good an idea as any, with my daughter out of the house.”
Oh. Daughter, who is a trial-goer from Melemele, and something oh so familiar about her. An energy, a feeling, intuition or something like that.
“Is your daughter Moon?” Olivia feels a pang of regret when she sees the woman’s face harden, a stern mask she must have developed over the weeks since Moon’s first grand trial and the circus around it. “I’m sorry, let me introduce myself. I’m Olivia, the Kahuna of Akala Island.”
“Oh. Oh!” Olivia feels more than just worry pass from her shoulders when Moon’s mother relaxes, a pang of something unfamiliar she can’t quantify. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to judge, I just...Well, you understand.” Olivia nods, and she brightens further. “I’m Jewellery. You already know Moon, of course. And this is Darling.” The dazed Meowth’s paws wave into the air when his name is called, but he still looks very out of it, staring into the air with eyes barely open. “He gets seasick easily, unfortunately.”
“There’s a Pokemon center not far from here, we could take him there?” Olivia turns, pointing down the main thoroughfare.
“I’d like that, thank you.” That feeling Olivia can’t put a name too only grows larger in her chest when Jewellery smiles to her again.
“It’s no problem.” Olivia turns, leading the way and finding Jewellery right by her side only a moment later, her Lycanroc close behind. “So, sightseeing? You just missed your daughter. She’s just completed her Grand Trial, actually. Should be on a boat to Aether Paradise by now.”
Jewellery stays silent for a moment, but when Olivia looks at her she’s beaming. When she finally speaks, her voice is quiet. “I’m happy for her. I knew that what happened wouldn’t hold her back, but…”
“It’s a mother’s right to worry for their child.” Olivia smiles to Jewellery, resisting the urge to pat her on the shoulder. “Your daughter is something else, Jewellery.”
“Please, call me Jewel.” Oh, there’s that feeling again. “If you don’t mind, could you tell me how her trials have gone? I haven’t wanted to intrude on her experiences.”
“Of course. I have all day for you, Jewel. Tell me, have you ever been on a Ride Pokemon?”
Over the afternoon, once Darling has recovered enough with the help of the Pokemon Center’s Nurse, Olivia gives Jewel an abbreviated tour of Akala, or at the very least Heahea City and its outlying villages.
Jewel was more than a little excited to ride a Tauros on her own, but somewhere along the way, she simply climbed onto the back of Olivia’s personal Ride Pokemon without commenting, her Meowth riding behind her. The better to hear Olivia over their trip. She doesn’t want to miss a second of Moon’s adventure, even thirdhand.
Olivia wasn’t about to look a gift Mudsdale in the mouth.
They go as far north as Paniola Ranch, passing by the Battle Royale Dome (Jewellery had, of course, seen Moon’s match against the Masked Royal, and cheered so loudly during his speech that the neighbors down the road came by to be sure she was okay), before looping back into the city and through Diglett Tunnel, headed for Konikoni.
The irony of visiting the jewelers shop with a woman named Jewellery is not lost on either of them.
“Oh! I didn’t realize Kahuna had day jobs.” Jewel comments as she climbs off the back of Olivia’s Tauros.
“The Tapu doesn’t exactly pay me for my work, you know.” Olivia smirks, dismissing her Ride Pokemon and turning to the shop. “I run it mostly as a service to trial-goers, honestly. We sell evolution stones at rock-bottom prices.”
Jewellery snorts behind her, and Olivia looks.
“‘Rock-bottom’? You’re as bad as I am, Olivia.”
“What? ...Oh.” Jewellery laughs, louder, and Olivia blushes more than she can remember ever doing before. “It, well, I’ll take it. It wasn’t a joke, but I see what you mean.”
“That’s the best part! You said it so seriously…” Jewellery wipes her eye, grinning. “So, bringing me to a jewelry store, though?”
“Well, it’s really the last stop for the day. I’d take you further out, but I imagine you’re not interested in sleeping in the rough.”
“Mm, maybe some other time. A morning on a ferry and an afternoon on a Tauros does a number on someone my age, you know.”
“‘Your age’? You can’t be any older than me.” Olivia opens the door, holding it open for Jewel.
“I’ll never tell. Darling is nearing 11, though.” Olivia looks down to the Meowth in the doorway at that comment, raising an eyebrow.
“That old, and he hasn’t evolved?” Darling turns to her when Olivia speaks, meowing softly and tilting his head with a jingle. The afternoon sun stains his creamy fur a soft orange. “Oh, I see.” She reaches out, scratching under the Meowth’s chin and jingling his collar, the bell clinking against the Everstone set into the leather.
“My mother kept a Persian when I was a girl. Terrible beast of a Pokemon, she let him get away with anything. I’ve been waiting for Moon to start her journey before I worry about evolving him.” Jewel squats next to Olivia, scratching behind Darling’s ears. “Even if he’s as even tempered as he is now, I didn’t want to take the chance.”
“Hmm.” Olivia watches Jewellery’s expression, thinking to herself for a moment before standing, offering a hand to Jewel. “You’re very caring, Jewel.”
“Oh, please.” She takes Olivia’s hand and is pulled to her feet with shocking ease. Even with how fit Olivia looks, she never expected to be pulled up so quickly and stumbles, catching herself on the Kahuna’s shoulders. “Sorry!” She squeaks, jumping back and averting her eyes.
“It’s fine.” Olivia doesn’t try to meet her eyes, blushing all the more fiercely. “We should go inside. There’s something I want to show you.”
Inside, Olivia waves to the attendants, walking through the showroom floor and greeting the few customers who call her name or recognize her. The mantle of public attention falls so easily over her, Jewellery notices. During her time in the Pokemon League, she never did well with the eyes of the public. Training Pokemon is often a solitary activity, and the social climate of Kanto leads to a polite distance even between rivals and friends, more often than not.
Jewellery really does like it here much more. She’s glad that Moon had such a caring woman to guide her through her Trials here on Akala. Following Olivia, she takes in the displays with renewed interest, bangles and barrettes and wedding bands and so much more, a selection eclectic and often clashing next to one another and uniquely Alolan all the same, showcasing the cultures all over the island chain. She blinks in surprise when Olivia lifts the glass of one display case, pulling out a bracelet with a small, white diamond-shaped crystal dangling from it.
“Is that a Z-Crystal?”
“It is. They’re not in short supply, and without a Z-Ring they’re merely crystals. May I?” Olivia holds out a hand. Jewel hesitates before holding out her wrist, Olivia unclasping the bracelet and carefully clipping it around her wrist. “A Z-Crystal symbolizes your connection with the land, the Tapus and your fellow trainers of Alola. They’re often given as gifts to new residents who are too old for the island challenge, to symbolize your oneness with Alola. If anyone on the island deserves to have one, it’s you.” Olivia pulls a second, larger version from the case, stooping down to Darling and unclipping his Everstone collar, placing the Z-Crystal bangle around his neck. “And one for her very special companion, of course.” She stands, meeting Jewel’s eyes and taking her hand. “I’ve never been a mother, but I remember how hard mine worked when I was a child to nurture me, help me find my place in the world. To grow. With Moon out in the world growing on her own, perhaps it’s only fair that you are allowed the same chance.”
Jewel sniffs, wiping her eyes with the heel of her hand and smiling even as more tears come. “I don’t know what to say. I feel like someone slipped a good luck charm in my pocket this morning.”
Oh, she can think of so many other things to say, but not here, not now.
Olivia smiles, squeezing her hand. “It’s getting late. Would you like to get dinner, perhaps?”
Jewel nods, returning the gesture. “I’d love that.”
A good dinner at the restaurant next door becomes a drink at the table, and more at the bar, the bartender himself giving them ample space. He’s never seen Olivia with someone, let alone drinking, and her untaken status is legendary enough that he’s not going to be the one to ruin the moment.
“So, you really were a Pokemon League finalist?” Olivia runs a finger around the rim of her lime-green martini, smirking.
Jewel covers her eyes with a hand, the Z-Crystal bracelet clinking against itself. “It’s really not a big deal! I got knocked out in the first round.”
“Kanto had one of the first leagues, back in the old days. Hala always talks about how he wanted to go when he was younger, but I suppose the Tapu had other plans.”
“He would have wiped the floor with me.” Jewel giggles, swirling a cocktail straw in her mojito. “I was a Meowth trainer, back then, and even if I were ready for a Fighting-type matchup I’ve seen how he duels.”
“Is Darling one of yours from the League days, then?”
“Oh, no. They’re all with trainers who can handle them, I settled down a few years after my League appearance, and then, well...Moon.” Jewel shrugs. “Darling was a gift from my ex-husband, shortly after I returned from the hospital, a newly hatched baby to match Moon. We wanted her to be used to Pokemon from an early age.” Sighing, she rests her chin in her hand.
Olivia takes a long sip of her drink to mask her own surprise at the ‘ex-husband’ in the equation. She’s not stupid, of course there was a man in some fashion, but…
Well, those thoughts should be saved for later, when she can properly process it.
“So, you never had any dreams of travel, like Hala?” Jewel smiles when Olivia shakes her head. “Why?”
“I’m a homebody, to be honest. Being near home feels right, and serving the people I’ve known for as long as I can remember feels even more so.”
“You’re very chivalrous.” Jewel finishes her drink, clinking ice in the glass with her straw. “I’ve been corresponding with Professor Burnet since before I was considering moving here, along with Kukui. Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.” Olivia already knows what the question is, hiding her annoyance with another drink.
“Why does everyone care that you’re single? I mean, whose business is it, honestly?” Jewel grimaces. “It makes me sick, honestly. Especially after all this...gossip, about Moon. I’ve been fending off reporters with a stick since the Grand Trial.”
Olivia releases a breath, shockingly relieved. “Alola... is a very tight-knit community, for better or worse. That unity is wonderful for certain things, and I treasure it. But it comes at a price, in some ways.” She nods to Jewel. “And as Kahuna, that scrutiny is all the more intrusive. I’m a public figure, and I serve at the pleasure of the Tapu and the people, both.”
“That must be so hard. To tell the truth, I couldn’t bear it. The League was the only taste of public attention I got, and that was enough for a lifetime. I’d prefer to stay the housewife, honestly.”
“Wouldn’t you need a partner for that, then? Someone who could support you both.”
“I suppose.” Jewel rattles her drink, fishing a bit of crushed ice out of it and popping it into her mouth, talking around the obstruction. “Alola is a place for new opportunities, after all. And it’s about time I moved on and started growing again. Maybe go back to training, see what the regional Meowth is cracked up to be.”
“Darling may get jealous.” Olivia observes with a smile. Her heartbeat quickens when Jewellery meets her eyes, a look she can’t describe passing between them.
“Moon’s out of the house, now, so he can sleep in her room for all I care.”
Oh.
Oh dear.
Olivia finishes the rest of her drink in a flash. “We should probably turn in for the night. Let me walk you to your hotel.”
Standing outside the hotel in Konikoni with Jewellery, Olivia struggles to let the night end.
They walked through the empty streets chatting about nothing at all, playing word games of Jewellery’s invention that she only vaguely understood the rules of, smiling all the while. Whether the connection that Olivia’s started to feel towards her (and vice versa) or the alcohol affecting them both is what led to them holding hands the whole way back, neither of them can rightly say. But it happens. Olivia is deeply aware of the dirt under her fingernails that never seems to go away despite much effort, the smell of fresh earth from this morning’s work alongside Lycanroc that always manages to rub off on her, all of her little imperfections that mar the jewel she is so often described as by others. What good is an unpolished gem, after all?
Jewellery feels much the same way. Skipped makeup this morning to catch the ferry, the strain of babying Darling through his seasickness, the quickness with which her dress became disheveled during their sightseeing ride through the city, the way she can’t seem to get her hair back into place after giving up and tying it back during the ride. She must look such a mess next to this flawless specimen of womanhood, the one chosen by a guardian deity of an entire island. She feels like a foreign-made bauble, cheaply made and shipped elsewhere for someone else’s amusement.
She dreams of more moments with Olivia, the whole way to the hotel. Ones where she feels more confident to say the things she wants to.
“Well…” Jewellery starts, hand in hand with Olivia as they stop at the sliding doors. “This is me.”
“So it is.” Olivia can’t stop smiling in spite the pit in her stomach. “Were you planning on staying on Akala for long?”
“A few days.” Jewel runs a thumb across Olivia’s hand, skin as soft as satin.
“Would you like to go further north? I can show you the trial sites Moon passed through. Or the Ruins of Life nearby, where her trial was held.”
“I’d like that.”
“So would I.” Olivia doesn’t let go of her hand, afraid of holding Jewel too tightly, to make obvious her feelings.
“I had a fantastic time today, Olivia. Thank you.” Jewel smiles, and she can see where Moon learned that easy confidence she showed after the Trial. “You’ve put me at ease in so many ways, I can’t begin to thank you enough.”
Olivia laughs, taking Jewel’s other hand. “I feel the same. It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed myself as much as I have today.”
“Well.” Jewel wiggles her fingers, and Olivia releases her hands, suddenly sheepish. Of course, she has to go to bed. She can’t stay here forever, as much as Olivia might want it.
And Olivia can’t say what she feels, not yet, when she has barely begun to put a name to it. Infatuation? Attraction? Longing? Lovesickness?
Something more?
She snaps out of her own head when Jewel’s hands cup her face, the woman standing on the tips of her toes to reach her.
To kiss her.
It’s unlike anything else Olivia’s ever done. Unlike so many things in Olivia’s life, Jewellery is soft, her lips so gentle on Olivia’s own that she almost forgets she’s being kissed until the hands on her face remind her with their warmth. She returns the kiss as best as she can, a hand finding Jewel’s hip as she gropes blindly for purchase, something to steady her as the world feels like it’s spinning out of control.
And just like that, it’s gone. Jewel’s hands are clasped to her chest, terror in her eyes. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I just w—”
Olivia shushes her, pulling her closer as gently as she can. “I felt like I was going crazy all day, feeling the way I do. It wasn’t just me, though, was it?”
Jewel smiles hesitantly, clearly still nervous. “No. It’s not just me, either, then.”
“I’m glad.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Glad, I’m Jewellery.” Olivia narrows her eyes, and Jewel snorts. “I’m sorry, it’s the alcohol.”
“I’ll forgive you, for now. I’ll see you in the morning.” Olivia leans down, meeting Jewel’s lips for a quick parting kiss that becomes much longer when Jewel takes a fistful of her top to hold her in place. When they part, both are blushing furiously, the dim light of the moon their only protection from discovery by the other.
“Goodnight.” Olivia finally manages, fixing her shirt and smiling nonetheless. Resisting the urge to do literally anything else, to follow her up to her room, to take her home, anything at all, she waves and sets off back down the street. She can’t help but keep looking back, seeing Jewellery watch her go down the street the whole way until she finally passes out of sight and into the night.