#nullexperiment

It had been such a shock! Gramps was under the weather, and was unable to go to an emergency meet up with the other kahuna’s, which meant... “We’re Kahunas for a day!” He yelped, bouncing around his small, yet cosy bedroom as he talked to the Pokéballs he had spread out on the bed. Sadly his room was now too small to house all the Pokémon outside of their Pokéballs at once, so instead he’d tell them like this! It’d be unfair to only let one or two out and not the rest, after all!

“Gramps has the flu and said-- well, I won’t go into the awkward details but he said I needed to go to the Aether Foundation with the other Kahunas in his place! How cool is that?” 

He bounced around enthusiastically some more, grabbing his bag and shoving in as many sweets and Full Restores as he could fit in. Last but not least, he collected his beloved team and carefully stashed the balls away too, making sure not to forget a single one. “Here we go.” He muttered, while gently papping himself on the cheeks a couple of times to reassure himself that he was Kahuna worthy. ‘Come on, you can’t Torchic out now!’ Gramps, no, the entire ISLAND depended on him right now! 

With a last greeting to Hala and his mom Hau stormed out the door, boarded his ride Pokémon and shot off into the air.  The Aether foundation wasn’t too far away by Charizard ride, so twenty minutes later he landed near the entrance, noticing the familiar figures of the other Kahunas. Seemed like Olivia was trying to convince Hapu to try out some new jewelry, which she politely declined. Nanu on the other hand... Well, he was being Nanu, and sitting idly a few feet away from the other two. ...Was that a jewel embedded hairclip in his hair? Before Hau could decide if he wanted to pull a sneak attack on Nanu to catch him with the lovely new hairstyle addition, they were greeted by a familiar voice.

Hau’s head immediately turned to take in the person calling for them, and when he met Gladion’s eyes he gave him a bright smile and he started waving excitedly. 

“Gl-a-di-on~!!” 

Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear that, friend.  I don’t know what’s going on in your life, but I’m sorry you have to deal with that right now.  You definitely need to step away and take a breather for right now.  We’ll put Gladion on hiatus until July 12th for you, okay?  I hope this will be enough time for you to deal with whatever is going on.  Take care of yourself, all right?  We’ll see you then.

6. Did they feel rejection or affection as a child?

It leaned more toward affection; though having been raised in a foster home, Iris had a fairly positive relationship with her foster parents. Though she never really saw them much like actual parents of hers, there was no shortage of feeling loved and accepted.

10. Is your character street-smart, book-smart, intelligent, intellectual, slow-witted?

Iris is fairly street-smart. Always has been - some of the early days of her youth would’ve been spent out wandering on her own, and she had a knack for keeping herself out of real trouble and defending herself. She’s also pretty savvy on camping out in forests, having spent many days and nights in the woods surrounding the Village.

19. What were your character’s deepest disillusions? In life? What are they now?

@nullexperiment

AZ squatted at the front of the boat, balancing himself by holding onto the railings beside him as he watched closely for sight of the island.  He’d know it when he saw it, according to the helpful fishermen he employed to take him there.  It was said to be massive and unnatural in appearance.  Certainly, they were right, for AZ soon saw a sizable white mass in the distance as they hurried further and further from Ula’ula Island.  It was almost like an iceberg, but it was too perfect, too symmetric to be anything natural.  It looked so out of place, but it owned that fact.  That would be it: Aether Paradise.

He knew he should have been more careful with her.  Floette had always loved to roam, and no matter how many years went by, nothing ever changed this.  When they had finally reached Alola,  AZ had allowed her to run free as they came upon the Ula’ula Meadow area.  It was so densely packed with flowers and Pokemon that Floette had simply adored it.  How could he keep her from exploring such a place?  It was perfect for her.  Besides, Floette could defend herself.  People always underestimated her, but she was far more powerful than most would expect.

AZ got his fair share of wandering in throughout the meadow and surrounding area relatively quickly once he noticed the path to the lake to the northeast.  He could feel a strong, but old power emanating from it and he had to investigate. He was sure she’d be fine for now.  She chirped in confirmation when he told her he was leaving to investigate the lake, and he left without any more thoughts.

The lake was so beautiful and so pristine.  On top of it was a crumbling building which was dubbed the Altar of the Sunne by a sign.  Strangely, there were far less people here than back in the meadow.  It was a bit quiet, almost to the point of being unsettling, but nothing like that ever got under AZ’s skin.  When he finally reached the platform past the crumbled ruins of a temple, he stood in the center and basked in the feeling.  Yes, there had been something powerful here long ago...  what it was, however, he didn’t know.

When AZ finally made it back to the meadow, he looked over the whole sea of red flowers in search of Floette but couldn’t see her.  Just as he figured.  She blended in pretty damn well with her flower.  He called out to her.

“Floette!  Come.  We can come back later, but we should keep moving.”

There was no response except for the chirps of local bird Pokemon.  AZ frowned.  She was so stubborn sometimes.  He walked back through the meadow, over the creaking boards that lifted tourists up above the flowers.  He called and called and called, but she wouldn’t respond.

AZ looked everywhere.  He did, he really did.  But Floette was nowhere to be found.  Maybe she just wandered further than he realized, but... it just didn’t feel right.  None of this.  He asked any person who wasn’t terrified of him if they had seen her, but to no avail.  It was only when he finally left the confines of the meadow out to Route 16 that he got anywhere.

People in odd, stark white uniforms clambered out of their rectangular little home in confusion.  He told them about Floette despite their obvious intimidation.  Recognition suddenly flashed in the young woman’s eyes.

“W-We didn’t know she belonged to anyone!” she insisted.  “We checked, and she wasn’t register to any kind of Pokeball, so we thought she was wild.  Oh no... we already sent her off to the Paradise!  You’ll have to go there to find her.”

Though they were so clearly sorry, AZ left without saying a word.  He needed to get her before they did anything to her.  But how...

The people of Alola, at least, were kind people.  The fishermen he met didn’t have to come to his aid, yet they did.  For that, he was grateful.  As they finally came upon the island, he couldn’t wait to see Floette again.  Thank goodness no one had caught her in a Pokeball.  He had never claimed her, so she was still wild by modern standards.  That was finally coming back to bite him.

The boat pulled in to the harbor underneath the island.  Several Aether boats were parked there.  The fishing boat looked out of place by comparison, so rickety and old.  AZ thanked his friends for what they had done.

“You don’t need to wait.  I will find my own way off the island.”

The fishermen left with that offer, and AZ was on his way to finding Floette.  He walked past employees who were like frozen statues.  He was so used to that by now, but it didn’t exactly work in his favor when he needed to find someone who could tell him what had happened to Floette.  He headed up the elevator with the help of another speechless employee to the first floor of the building.  Ahead, there was what AZ assumed was a help desk of some kind.  He approached it.

“Please.  My Floette was accidentally taken here and I need to find her,” he said to the first employee behind the desk.  AZ almost entirely swallowed the woman in his shadow.  “She has a black and red flower instead of the normal color.  She’s very distinct.  You should be able to-- hm?”

The employee raised her hand, pointing to something behind AZ.  “The president...”

AZ turned to see a young man in an outfit that contrasted with any Aether employee there.  He was dressed head to toe in black and red.  Was this “the president” she was referring to?