Since it was almost noon, the girls met the boys again and they all began their walk towards Mallow’s restaurant, which was in the outskirts of the city, closer to the natural areas. From the outside, the restaurant looked quite cozy, but it was busier inside it. Although the restaurant was small, it was already full of customers. Because of how crowded it was, Kiawe, Sophocles, Lillie and Lana remained outside while Selene went inside with Mallow to pick the food.

“Hi dad!”, greeted Mallow to a tall green-haired man as the group stepped inside the kitchen.

“Hi Mallow! And you must be her new friend, Selene. Welcome!”, greeted Mallow’s dad to Selene, who bowed a bit. Then, the man looked at his daughter and said: “Your things are over there!”

“Thanks, dad! Mind if I use the kitchen to make something quick?”, asked Mallow.

“Sure, go ahead!”, exclaimed Mallow’s dad as he took out some dishes to the dining area.

“What are you making?”, asked Selene in confusion to Mallow.

“I was thinking on the way here that we might be a bit short on food. I’m gonna make some extra sandwiches just in case. It will be fast!”, answered Mallow.

Mallow put on an apron and quickly began taking out different ingredients for the sandwiches. Selene already knew her friend helped at the restaurant, but she couldn’t believe she was that good of a chef. Her moves were precise and fast, just like a professional chef that would appear in a TV show. Selene stood still next to Mallow, wanting to offer her help but knowing she couldn’t do as much. Noticing that, her friend asked her to give her the ingredients. It was simple, but they spent a nice time together.

At one point, Selene noticed a frame on a shelve with a picture inside it. The picture showed Mallow’s dad, a very tiny version of Mallow herself and a tall woman next to her, with a green long mane. Her face was graceful, but her eyes shone the same way as Mallow’s.

“Hey, Mallow. This picture here?”, asked Selene.

“Oh!”, exclaimed Mallow when her friend asked her. Looking at the picture, she smiled and said: “That’s an old picture with dad and mom.”

Just as Selene thought from their resemblance, that woman was Mallow’s mom. The girl thought she was beautiful, but could perceive her kind aura around her. Selene then realized that she hadn’t seen her mom in the restaurant.

“Your mom’s not here, right? She has another another job or something?”, asked Selene casually.

Selene felt it: the sudden stop of motion. Her friend’s hands stopped moving at all, only the noise from the dining area could be heard. Slowly, her heart beating fast, Selene turned her gaze to Mallow, who was looking down at the sandwiches with a sad smile. Deep inside, the girl knew she messed it up.

“Ummm… Aaaah… I’m sorry!”, apologized Selene nervously. “I didn’t mean to! I don’t know…”

“Hey, it’s okay”, said Mallow while smiling. “Truth is… My mom died when I was a kid.”

Selene felt bad for her friend. She didn’t mean to bring up those painful memories, but at the same time, she could see how much Mallow loved her mom just from her expression. The girl looked at the picture again and contemplated the figure of that tall woman.

“She looks like a nice mom”, commented Selene.

“She was”, answered Mallow. “She caught Bounsweet for me. She took care of me. But I got mad at her before she died. She spent a lot of time at the hospital. She promised me we would play together, but she was always sick. I got mad and said horrible things. She died before I could apologize. Sometimes I believe… she died thinking I hated her.”

Mallow’s voice cracked a bit. She tried her best not to cry by taking deep breaths and looking up to the ceiling. Still, a couple of tears fell down her cheeks. Selene looked at her friend. It was not exactly the same, but in her heart, she had that pain as well. The feeling that she would not see her parents ever again, whoever they were. The loneliness she felt when seeing other children with parents that took care of them. The comfort and gratitude of having Professor Kukui taking care of her, just like Mallow still had her dad. And still, longing to see the other person. Her thoughts were interrupted when Mallow said:

“Now’s not the time for this! Today is a fun day! I’ll be over with this and we can leave!”

That’s what Mallow said, but Selene knew it was a big effort to do that at that time just for her. The girl approached Mallow and put a hand on her right shoulder, surprising the green-haired girl.

“I think you’re wrong”, asserted Selene. “I’m sure your mom knows you regret what you did. She knows you love her so much.”

She couldn’t be sure of that. And still, something in her heart told her that was the truth. Mallow wished to believe those words, and they could be true, but still, she appreciated Selene’s efforts. She sobbed a bit and said:

“Thanks. I’m sure… your parents are worried about you… wherever they are.”

Once both girls calmed down, they gathered all the sandwiches along with the already-prepared food and left the restaurant. Everybody else was waiting outside, and when they all reunited, they began walking back to the coast, with a small stop by Kukui’s house so everybody could get changed before going to a chill beach a few minutes away.

“Okay, it’s been a long day, but the main event starts now: beach party!” exclaimed Mallow.

Of course, it couldn’t be a party without everybody enjoying it, so Kiawe, Sophocles, Mallow and Lana let their Pokémon out to let them play with everybody else. Once inside, the water felt fresh, but not really cold. They all made sure to play on the area closer to the land since some Pokémon were too small, but still, they all began swimming around and playing throwing water at each other. In that aspect, Lana and Popplio were the best shooters, but Kiawe’s Turtonator could make big waves just by walking on the water. Even Lillie, who couldn’t touch Pokémon at all, was taking part of the game. All the kids were having fun, but among them, Selene was having the time of her life.

After some play time, it was lunch time. Lillie didn’t lie when she said Mallow’s food was delicious. The young girl had prepared a huge variety of dishes, even some were specifically made for Pokémon! Their games made them all so hungry that they found the food even more delicious than usual. During their meal, they kept talking about their activities at school or about other isles from the region. Time passed by quickly between eating and playing and, without noticing, the sky turned orange. All the kids sat down on the sand while contemplating the sun setting over the edge of the ocean. Even though she felt sad because their fun day was ending, Selene felt satisfied about all the things she did with her friends. And at that moment, she felt happy just by sharing that beautiful scene with them all.

“Hey, you all… I just wanted to say… Thank you”, said Selene. “This day… it was just perfect. I had a great time with all of you.”

Hearing that, all the kids smiled at Selene, satisfied at seeing their surprise plan being a success.

“We are glad you’re happy. Still, we can’t say it’s perfect until we do one last thing”, added Lillie.

“Kiawe, you better still have it on you”, scorned Mallow.

“What do you take me for?”, complained Kiawe as he took out a small plastic sachet from his bag and handed it over to Selene.

“This is a present from all of us!”, exclaimed Lana.

Selene looked at the sachet in awe and confusion. She still couldn’t process the idea that she was getting a present from them all.

“Wait, a present?”, finally asked Selene. “Why? You didn’t have to. You already did enough for me!”

“It’s just a small detail for you”, said Lillie with kindness.

“Come on, open it!”, exclaimed Sophocles. “Now I’m curious about how it actually looks!”

With trembling hands, Selene opened the sachet and grabbed something from inside it. She felt a familiar sensation, something polished and pointy. When she took out the item, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing: it was the Corsola star pendant that she liked from the store. Her lips trembled a bit.

“This… this is… but… how? Why?”, it was all Selene could mutter due to her shock.

“Well, you really seemed to like it, it was a shame you couldn’t get it. So while both of us were at the restaurant, Kiawe flew on his Charizard all the way back to the store and bought it. We all put some spare money we had on us”, explained Mallow with a smile.

Selene couldn’t believe it. Her friends had prepared such an awesome day just to welcome her, and still, they went out of their way to get her such a present. The girl looked around her. She could see all those kids actually cared about her and her happiness. Without saying any word, feeling a warm sensation inside her, all Selene did was holding the pendant close to her chest and sob. The rest of the group was surprised at that reaction.

“Selene! Come on, you don’t need to cry”, said Lillie with her usual gentle voice.

“It’s just… Just… You’re all so… great! I never thought… I would have such good friends!”, said Selene while sobbing. “You… you may think it’s weird but… you know… Even though I don’t remember my past, I got this feeling that… this is the first time people do something like this… for me. Just… thank you. I promise… I will always have this on me.”

Selene hold onto the pendant with all her strength. Her words were sincere: at that moment, that pendant was her most important possession, because it was a present from her dearest friends. All the kids saw how important that was for the girl, but Lillie could see how lonely her friend felt before meeting them. The blonde girl passed her left arm behind Selene’s back and hugged her while resting her head on her friend’s shoulder.

“It’s okay. Of course we care, we are friends now. And I’m sure you have other people that care about you”, murmured Lillie to comfort Selene.

As the sun set, the group of kids contemplated the orange tones of the sky turning darker by the second. It was a special view that they were sharing all together. It felt even more special at that time, with Selene as part of the group. When it was a bit dark, the kids picked up all their belongings and went back to Kukui’s house, where Selene bid farewell to the rest of the group.

“See you tomorrow at school!”, exclaimed Mallow while waving her hand as the kids kept walking up the path from the beach.

Selene waved her hand at them all until they were no longer seen at the road. She remained at the front door for a while in silence, reminiscing the wonderful day she had spent with them all. Then, she grabbed the star that was then hanging at her neck and looked at it with a big smile. In the solitude of that porch, under the dusk, she murmured:

“Thank you… my friends.”