She let out a huge roar that echoed through the stage before her body began radiating a shining light. This strange light covered her full body, with only her shape being recognizable. Selene didn’t know what was going on. Was it another attack from Tapu Lele? But the Guardian was standing still. She didn’t understand, but everybody from the stands did.

“No way!”, exclaimed everybody in unison.

Selene looked at her friends and then at Jagi again, still in shock. Her partner’s shape began changing. It first turned bigger, her tail and arms extending. She even stood up in two feet. The girl finally recognized that shape before the light vanished, revealing Jagi… or more like a bigger version of the Pokémon, with a big scale on her head and thick arms covered in scales. With shiny eyes, Selene murmured:

“Jagi’s now… a Hakamo-o…”.

Of course it was such a surprise for Selene, for it was the first time she had seen a Pokémon evolve. She saw other Hakamo-o before, but she never witnessed the evolution process. And there she was: her little friend was around the same height as her now and with a more imposing aura. All her injuries seemed to be healed, so the Pokémon was ready for a new round. Or so Selene thought when she said:

“That’s awesome, Jagi! Now let’s… Wait… Jagi, are you okay?”.

Suddenly, all the confidence Jagi showed a few seconds before vanished instantly. Instead, the moment the Pokémon looked at her own paws, her muzzle trembled, her eyes horrified at something. Nobody understood what was going on. Everybody was worried… except for Tapu Lele. Seeing its rival healed from her wounds, it decided to attack again, this time accumulating all the energy it could into a huge light sphere.

“Jagi, what’s going on? Jagi!”.

No matter how many times Selene called out Jagi, the Pokémon didn’t answer at all, only focused at her own claws. The girl looked at them as well. Was there something on her claws? Thinking about that, she finally understood why Jagi was reacting like that. She then saw at Tapu Lele, almost ready to throw its attack. She wasn’t going to allow that. Instinctively, she ran to the center of the stage, to the surprise of all her friends.

“Selene, it’s dangerous!”, screamed Lillie.

Selene was aware of that. But if everybody was doing their best to help her, the least she could do was helping everybody she held dear when they needed it. After the huge sacrifice Jagi did, Selene wasn’t going to leave her friend stranded, so she stood between Tapu Lele and Jagi, extended her arms and screamed:

“STOOOOOOOOP!”.

For a moment, she didn’t know if the Guardian would actually listen to her or not. However, her eyes met Tapu Lele’s. It noticed her presence, but it was too late to make the sphere disappear. Instead, it lent back and pointed towards the sky before the light sphere blasted off until it was no longer seen. Tapu Lele looked back at Selene. It didn’t do anything, signaling it was willing to wait. The girl nodded and turned back to Jagi. It was obviously freaking out and only she knew why.

“Hey, hey… Jagi, look at me”, said Selene with gentle voice while holding Jagi’s muzzle, making the Pokémon pay attention to her. “I get it. It’s uncomfortable. We didn’t expect this, right? But don’t worry, I got it with me”.

Then, Selene looked inside her bag and took out her trusty Pokémon nail clipper. Even though her body was different, the girl had an approximate idea of what to do, so she began cutting her claws and scales right there. From the distance, the professor smiled at the scene, but all the other kids were confused.

“What are they doing? Manicure?”, asked Sophocles.

“Seems so, but… why?”, asked Lana, making Kukui laugh.

“Don’t you remember? Jagi’s uncomfortable when her claws and scales are bigger. Selene usually helps her keep ‘em short, but when she evolved into Hakamo-o, those went back to their original size. That was enough for Jagi to freak out. Selene noticed that and ran to her help”, explained Kukui.

All the kids let out a “Woooooah” at the same time. They had gotten used to the idea of Jagi being a trans Pokémon and how happy she was everyday that they forgot about the things she needed to be that way. They felt pity for the Pokémon and the bad moment it went through, but at the same time, they were very happy at seeing Selene caring so much for her that she quickly understood what was going on.

“Okay, we’re done!”.

Manicure time was over, with Selene satisfied at her own work. The Pokémon’s claws and scales looked smaller, but sharp and polished. The horror in Jagi’s eyes disappeared, the Pokémon sighing and growling while hugging her trainer, who began laughing.

“It’s okay. We girls gotta help each other, remember, Jagi?”, said Selene while hugging her Pokémon back. Then, she asked: “Or maybe… I should call you ‘Haki’ from now on?”.

Haki barked happily at her new nickname. After the initial shock, Selene was happy for seeing her Pokémon back to her usual cheerful self. However, no matter how much they wanted to celebrate the situation, they remembered they were still in the middle of a battle. Trainer and Pokémon looked at each other and nodded, ready to give their all.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Tapu Lele. We’re- WOAAAAH!”.

Right when Selene turned around to face the Guardian, she was surprised once again by Tapu Lele, who had approached the girl silently and was just a few centimeters away from her face. Selene and Haki stepped back, prepared for anything that the Pokémon had in store for them. However, all the fighting spirit it showed before was completely gone. Tapu Lele stood still, but then:

“Forget about us”.

Just like with Tapu Koko, Selene could hear a voice in her head. And she was sure that voice came from Tapu Lele, because it sounded different than time. The girl was confused about what the Pokémon said, but right when she was about to ask:

“It… it talked!”.

Selene, Haki and Tapu Lele looked towards the stands, where all the kids and Kukui were waiting. The shock in their face was so evident: it was their first time they heard a Pokémon talk, or more like, communicating in human language. Selene was surprised as well: for a while, she believed only she could hear the Guardians talk and she feared her friends didn’t believe her. But at that moment, they were witnessing the impossible.

“But how… how can that be?”, asked Kiawe.

“Maybe… it’s using its powers to communicate with us telepathically”, explained Kukui who, although he found his own explanation reasonable, was still deeply surprised.

Even though the debate about that mysterious power could drag on perpetually, Selene had something more important to talk about.

“What do you mean with that?”, asked Selene to the Guardian.

“Stop looking for us. You’re free now”, answered Tapu Lele.

“‘Free’? Free from what?”, kept asking Selene, more confused than before.

“Just… forget it!”, insisted Tapu Lele while negating with its head. “You have a new chance here. Enjoy your new life”.

That conversation didn’t make sense anymore. Being free, a new chance… The more things Tapu Lele said, the more confused Selene was. She wanted to insist, she needed to now, but she wasn’t given the chance to do so. Tapu Lele made the one-sided decision of finishing that conversation by flying into the air as fast as it could until it was no more than a small dot in the sky before vanishing. Selene was left behind on the ground with more questions than answers. Nobody said anything, but the conclusion was very clear: they wouldn’t get anything else from their trip. It was time to leave: they had to head back to Kiawe’s house before it turned dark.

After a plenty meal and a warm bath, they all agreed it was time for a special meeting. They had to organize their thoughts about what had just happened. Even though they trusted Selene, they all finally witnessed that there was some connection between the girl and the Guardians of Alola. Although Tapu Koko was sharper in its speech, the way Tapu Lele talked to her looked like it already knew Selene from before. But what could it mean with ‘new chance’? Was that related to Selene’s past? However, what intrigued them more was that first request. “Forget about us”. The professor reached a conclusion that nobody else could disagree: the Guardians were aware Selene and her friends were looking for them. It was the only explanation behind why Tapu Lele didn’t run away, instead deciding to fight the girl in person. However, what could that mean for later was a real problem. Would the other two Guardians hide from them or face them on? At that moment, Selene was still doubting if she was strong enough to face them. However, Haki was there to remind her they were fighting together. And Lillie, Mallow, Lana, Kiawe and Sophocles agreed that they would support her in whatever way they could. Having them by their side, the girl felt more confident about the future ahead. After such a long day and that meeting, everybody was too tired, so they went to sleep. They could enjoy a bit more of Akala the next day before heading back to Melemele.

It was already late into the night and Lillie was deeply asleep. However, a light breeze in her face woke her up from her sleep. She turned around and look at the other bed in her room, where Selene was meant to be sleeping, but there was no one there. The blonde girl sat down on her bed and looked around the room they both shared until she noticed the door that lead to the porch was open. A bit worried, Lillie stood up and walked outside. The moon shone onto the prairie, making the grass shine with a gentle light while the breeze swayed it elegantly. Once outside, she noticed Selene was resting on the fence, looking at the stars. Lillie walked by her side, making her friend notice her.

“Oh, hi. Did I wake you up?”, asked Selene with low voice.

“No, it’s fine”, answered back Lillie. “Are you okay? Can’t you sleep?”.

Selene didn’t say anything, instead negating with her head. Lillie could see her friend was worried, and she had a lot of reasons for being that way.

“It’s normal. A lot happened today. What Tapu Lele said was strange. It’s okay to be worried”, said Lillie to comfort her friend.

“Yeah, I know. But… it’s not just that”.

Lillie was confused. What else could worry Selene? From the look of it, it was obvious Selene was holding back more than she was saying. Lillie knew how kind her friend was, she didn’t want to worry anybody else. But Lillie wanted to know more about her. Without saying anything, she put her hand on Selene’s and looked at her. Selene knew her friend was asking without asking and she hesitated. However, there was something in her eyes… she couldn’t hide anything from her.

“It’s just… I want to remember. I want to know where I come from or how I got here, but… At the same time, I’m scared of remembering”, explained Selene.

“Scared? Why?”, asked Lillie.

Selene fidgeted. She knew it could sound stupid, but having that fear and not sharing it was tiring. If there was someone she could talk about it, that was Lillie.

“What if… if I was a bad person before?”, asked Selene.

“What?”, asked Lillie in shock, raising her voice. “What makes you think that?”.

“Because it could be! I don’t know anything about my past. Maybe I had a normal life, but… what if I didn’t? What if I’m just like those Team Skull jerks?”, said Selene with anxious voice. “And when Tapu Lele talked about ‘a new chance’, I… I feared it was more than a possibility”.

Hearing Selene talk about herself that way was painful for Lillie. The girl she knew would never be like that. She was sure of that. But she could understand that fear, something she felt before with her own missing memories. However, she wasn’t going to let those fears harm Selene, so she grabbed her by her shoulders.

“Selene, look at me”, said Lillie. Nervously, Selene looked at her to her eyes. “We may not know about your past. Your family, your friends, the places you visited… We don’t know. But I know you are not bad. You are the kindest person I’ve ever met! And that comes out from you naturally! There’s no way you could be bad”.

Selene listened to every single word from her friend, but that fear was stronger, holding onto her heart to such an extent that she began crying.

“It’s just… I’m so happy with you all… I don’t want to lose you… But if I was bad in my past, If I was mean to other people or Pokémon… maybe we would no longer be friends…”.

Selene couldn’t say anything else. All her strength was focused on holding her sobs back, a stream of tears falling down her cheeks. Lillie’s eyes turned wet as well. Her friend wasn’t actually that worried about her memories, but at the chance of stopping being everybody’s friend when she got them back. And for the poor girl, being evil like Team Skull was the biggest example of a cause that would destroy their friendship. But Lillie found that ridiculous. There was no way the girl in front of her could be that way and the best way she found to express that was by hugging Selene, letting her friend’s head rest on her own shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Selene. We are your friends, no matter what. And we’ll always be by your side”, said Lillie gently while caressing Selene’s head.

Maybe it was the silence of that night. Maybe it was her head being patted. Or it could be Lillie’s words. But somehow, Selene calmed down progressively. Opening up and being listened took a burden from the girl, but she knew that couldn’t have happened with anybody else, not even with the professor. It was Lillie who made her feel so calm and happy. Once she calmed down, Selene released Lillie. There were still some tears in her eyes and she couldn’t stop sobbing, but at least, she was smiling.

“Thanks, Lillie… You’re… the best friend I’ve ever had…”, confessed Selene.

Not expecting that answer, Lillie blushed in surprise. But then, she smiled and said:

“Well, I’m glad to be your best friend. You’re also very special for me”.

Under the moonlight, the two girls giggled together, feeling closer than ever before. Without nothing else to say, they both remained for a while on the porch, contemplating the stars in the night sky, before calling it a day and heading to bed, Selene leaving first and Lillie staying on the porch for a little longer. Under the warm bed sheets, Selene could still hear Lillie’s words in her mind, so comforting and kind. Maybe her past was still a mystery, but she was deeply thankful for having such a wonderful friend at her present. That’s all she needed to finally fall asleep and put an end to that long day.