Airports were boring.
I kicked my feet as we sat on the seats waiting for our plane to accept boarding. We’d gone through a ton of stuff. Pokeball scanners that inspected our pokemon, full body scanners to ensure no additional pokeballs were hiding anywhere, and we’d had to do some paperwork before all of this to explain some of the rules about capturing pokemon in Alola, that would basically hold us liable if we went against it.
The rule was simple enough.
"Don’t." I muttered the word as I held Jangmo-o’s ball. As we’d been ready to set off, a familiar person had stopped us.
Brushfire was as annoying as always, but at least he put out his cigarette before getting too close, not that it made him smell less like an ashtray.
"Your pokemon. Jangmo-o, and Mimikyu too, are Alolan pokemon. We have the evidence they weren’t captured there, but... It could cause issues if you bring them along."
"I have to... Well I could leave Mimikyu, but that’s not fair to him. There’s something I have to do at Alola, and Jangmo-o is involved." I explained and the man sighed.
"Alright here." He’d actually handed me a pack of papers. "Keep that on you while you’re there. If there’s any issue with Jangmo-o, that explains Kanto’s perspective on Jangmo-o being a Kanto Pokemon, and we won’t allow any theft... But it might be best to keep him hidden."
"One of the things I need to do is talk to the Kahuna’s." I added and Brushfire just held in a groan.
"Alright well... I’ll let the diplomatic corps know. Don’t blame us if something happens, we only have so much power on Alola."
"Thank you Mr. Brushfire, but... I think Vicky has this in hand." Papa said, pulling me into a side hug, and the other man just nodded.
"Alright then... I wouldn’t mind hearing about the face they make when they realize one of their prize pokemon are out in the world. Alola’s always been... Difficult about pokemon transfers. Good luck, and enjoy your vacation." He’d bowed to all of us, and Mama and Papa did the same before I slowly joined them.
That was this morning outside the airport, and now after everything we were just waiting for the plane.
"Boarding! For Flight A243!"
"Finally!" I called out as I stood up grabbing my bag and following Mama and Papa. They had the tickets after all.
We walked among the small crowd, the plane wasn’t exactly the massive 747’s that I remember from earth, but much smaller jet planes.
The double row seats meant I had my own seat in front of Mama and Papa, and I was thankfully alone. Taking the window seat I settled in and looked outside, seeing the preparations.
A Pidgeot rested on the wings, in weird little grooves set into the wings, and right now a trainer was out there, checking on his pokemon, feeding them and stuff.
Then he headed inside, leaving his Pidgeot out there, I waved and the Pidgeot saw me obviously. I bet with their eyes they could see how many hairs I had out of place. It nodded to me which was enough to bring a smile to my face.
Then I settled in, and just... Waited.
Soon the stewardess went around and gave us the safety rules. The only concerning one was what to do in case of a Pokemon attack.
The answer was basically don’t release your pokemon to try and battle because you will damage the airplane.
Then the plane taxied out, and the Pidgeot settled in deeper into it’s groove basically forming with the wing and as we started moving, it just stayed there, it’s feathers waving as the wind struck it, but it didn’t get thrown off, it stayed with us all the way up, and the once we seemed to settle into flight it poked its head out and just...
It reminded me of Arcanine sticking their head out the window of a car. Just enjoying the wind even though it was just hanging out.
So I guess that explains how they keep the plane safe.
There was another Pidgeot on the other wing.
Huh. That was probably a nice job, but it seemed super boring. Just flying around constantly as your Pidgeot protected the plane.
I shrugged and instead dug into my bag since I wasn’t doing anything else up waiting and pulled out my Pokedex. Time to review some Alolan Pokemon.
—---
A long flight later, we stepped out of the plan into the airport, and into a party. The entire building was very open, with people flowing through and it was just...
I breathed in the warm Alolan air, and let it out. We’d left in the morning and it was like twelve hours later we landed right in the middle of the morning. I was a little tired, but the excitement of being here had it evaporate away.
Yeah this was nice.
"Alola!" Greeted the woman that was waiting on exit. "Please head to baggage claim over there, or to the exit terminal! Have a wonderful stay!"
"Alola! Thank you!" I cried out in return and waved and she sent me a big smile as all three of us headed towards baggage. I might have my super bag, but those were pricey, so Mama and papa just had normal luggage.
We gathered our things and walked out the large glass doors into an exotic locale.
Palm trees and the smell of warm beaches and I took a moment to soak in the sunshine. Kanto had been getting super cold recently, so this was really...
"How nice." Papa whispered and Mama hummed as she pressed against him the two of them cuddling for a moment.
"I want to see the beach! Oh, a ride Pokemon stall! I want to explore the oceans. I have my rebreather!" I gasped pointing at all the stuff we could already see just from the front of the airport.
There weren’t even car rentals or anything, it was all pokemon! Although some of the pokemon were pulling carts and things to make it easier for the elderly, it was all really... Warm.
"Let’s get to our hotel first before you run wild Vicky."
"Aww." I whined but followed Papa.
—--
We hit the hotel, got our rooms and we split up. I headed into the bathroom to get changed since I wanted to jump in the ocean. I considered my wet suit, but the water should be great, so instead I just slipped into a one piece swimsuit, and threw an Alolan shirt over the top along with some shorts and flip flops.
All gear bought in preparation for the vacation. A comfy vacation look!
I put on my normal straw hat as well just to complete the look!
"Beach vacationer Vicky is here to battle!" I said to the girl in the mirror.
"What’s that?" Mama called out from the room.
"Nothing!" I giggled as I hurried out.
Once we finished putting our luggage away, it was also time to release everyone.
Papa waited until we were outside, and released Lucario, watching the dog Pokemon startle a bit at how warm it was and look around in awe was actually pretty sweet. She closed her eyes and sniffed the air and I could see a smile stretch across her face.
No doubt her Aura sense was also telling her how warm Alola was.
Seriously, this place was really special.
I released Riolu just after and she seemed just as interested as Lucario as she looked around excitedly. The warmth made her fur stand up a bit almost like a flush.
"Alright well, let’s split up. Vicky no trouble today okay? Take it slow." Papa ordered and I nodded.
"Yep!"
"You have some money. So why don’t you go explore? I know you want to. We’ll meet up... Right there." Papa pointed out a restaurant across from the Hotel. "In a few hours for dinner... Well breakfast or lunch I guess." He mumbled and I laughed, as I turned down the street heading for the beach. I wanted to go jump in the water!
"Alola! Two orders coming right up!" He called, making them right there, and soon Riolu and I both had a big sort of donut of fried bread and cinnamon, and yummy!
Riolu and I both bit into it at the same time, and soon we were both devouring the sweet treat.
We both finished at about the same time, and we both had to wipe our face of all the sugary mess that it had left.
"That was really good." I muttered, no wonder they were so popular.
"Rio Rio."
"Alright I’m going to get some more for everyone. I bet Gible would love one of these." I said and Riolu actually nodded without making a fuss, she might be a brat, but she’d still made friends with the others. I headed back inside, and ordered five more.
Then I set the stack of pastries on an empty table, and started releasing my friends.
"Tini!" I was quickly wrapped up and Dratini looked around with shining eyes at the sights and sounds, as did everyone else.
Mimikyu was soon slipping under my hat, which tickled, and I reached down to pick up Jangmo-o, so he could get on the table to eat.
"Okay I got one for everyone. So don’t fight okay?" Once they were settled I helped Gible, and she quickly started chewing. It took her a few seconds as she chewed aggressively before she slowed, and then she swallowed with a big gulp.
"Gib." She said and that was probably the most positive response she’d ever given to the state of something before. I mean, she was always very food orientated, but it was one thing to eat everything, and another to like it.
"Liked that did you?" I asked her, rubbing her belly.
"Gib."
I picked her up, so she couldn’t wander around and looked over my friends.
Brave was crying out happily as she took bits of her meal, her body bouncing up and down in excitement. Dratini was taking little chomps as he coiled around his protectively. Mimikyu had snuck his straight into my hat and I was pretty sure I’d have to wipe crumbs out of my hair later, but he was just happy to be close to me so that was fine.
Jangmo-o was tippy tapping as he stuffed his entire face into his meal, and I laughed as his little tail was wagging so fast!
Riolu I could tell was really wishing she could have seconds, but I shook my head. "We’ll get some real food soon, it’s almost time to meet back up with the parents." She pouted at me, but I was unmoved. The last thing I needed was to get my pokemon stuffed with sweets. That’d be terrible for their diet.
As the slower eaters were finishing up, I heard it.
A shout.
"Hey!"
I looked up at a surfer boy. His tanned skin and blue hair spiked up into a slicked back mess really gave him that surf bro vibe.
"Yes?"
"Where did you get that? You can’t capture pokemon here!" He shouted, and I blinked before realizing that he was talking about Jangmo-o.
"You mean Jangmo-o?"
"Of course I do! Are you a poacher? Or something? Don’t think just because we let you foreigners visit that we’ll allow this!"
"It’d be pretty stupid to show off a pokemon right in the middle of the city if I was?" I asked, and he only glared, as I shrugged. "I found Jangmo-o in a distant land while exploring. There was a pack of Kommo-o there."
"That’s! Impossible! Kommo-o represent Alola!" He shouted loudly, and seriously this guy was like ten octaves too loud.
"Well they aren’t only here." I explained, and Jangmo-o, finishing his meal, barked at me, as he noticed what was happening. He jumped off the table and scrambled in front of me, glaring.
Aww. My little buddy was being protective!
"You! You shouldn’t act like that with an outsider!" He argued at Jangmo-o who didn’t seem to care, only scuffing his feet in challenge.
"Is there something going on here?" A new voice intruded, and I smiled as the uniformed Officer Jenny approached.
Whoa, Alola Officer Jenny had a cool armored looking vest, very tactical.
"Officer Jenny! This outsider has a Jangmo-o with them!" The surfer bro called out and Officer Jenny looked at everything for a moment.
"Alright nobody move. Until I figure out what’s going on. Please return all of your pokemon." She pointed at me.
"Rio! Riolu!" Riolu of course jumped in before I could say anything fist raised as... Oh she just didn’t want to be returned so she could try and get more snacks.
Brat.
"Riolu, relax, I’ll have you back out in a minute." I assured her, and she turned to me glaring before scoffing and crossing her arms.
I returned her first, because she was seriously a pain, but it was sweet she’d jumped in to defend our friends.
Gible was next which let me start returning my friends.
Tini pouted at me, and Brave puffed up at the Officer and Surfer bro. She was definitely half prepared for a Draco Meteor. Brave really was the type to protect her people.
Then I pulled out my hat. "You too Mimikyu." I told him, and he continued worming his fingers into my hair.
"KuKkUkkku!" He tried to argue.
"Whoa! A Mimikyu!" The surfer bro backed up a step and Officer Jenny looked on guard, but I reached up and petted him a little before returning him, and plopping my hat back on my head.
"There, good enough? I figure Jangmo-o should stay out since he’s involved in all this." I offered and Officer Jenny slowly nodded, while Surf Bro looked red even below his tan.
"A Mimikyu too! You are a Poacher!"
"Rude. I’m totally not." I mumbled, as I reached down and picked up Jangmo-o holding him in my arms so he couldn’t get any more aggressive with this random guy.
"Let’s all calm down. Although I would like an explanation." Officer Jenny cut in, getting between me and Surfer Bro.
"These are my friends, and I brought them to Alola from Kanto. I have the paperwork." I informed Officer Jenny, waiting for her to figure out what she wanted to do.
"Paperwork?" She asked herself before nodding and holding out a hand. A moment later the stack of papers was pulled out of my bag and plopped into her hand.
She looked them over.
"I see. This all checks out?" She whispered, still looking pretty upset.
"What!? She has a Jangmo-o! That doesn’t check out!" Surf Bro yelled out and even Jenny looked pretty disturbed.
I suppose if someone walked into Kanto with an Arcanine, or Johto with a Dragonite they’d be pretty concerned too.
"I’ll need to verify this paperwork. We’ve had poachers using kids before, and we’ve had poachers using government protection as well." She finally decided stating it firmly. "Please come with me. I’ll be taking you down to the station."
"Aww. I wanted to hit the beach again." I whined but followed Officer Jenny to her little cop car. And settled into the back.
Beach bro looked pleased with himself, but in the end... I shrugged. I’d be fine one way or the other, and I still had a job to do here. The Kommonium Z still blazed in my pocket. I was planning on tracking down a Kahuna in the next few days, but I guess it was happening today.
Ugh Mama and Papa were going to worry when I didn’t show up. I’d have to get Officer Jenny to give them a call.