Plane Number 373 has landed in Alola and Ari Sato grabs her luggage from the compartment above her seat. She makes her way through the aisle and to the door in order to exit the plane. Ari makes her way down the steps, almost tripping during the process, and when she gets to the bottom she yells, “I’m finally here!” The other passengers look at her like she’s some kind of weirdo. Ari ignores their stares and quickly enters the airport. She walks down the walkway and to the exit doors, excited to start her new adventure.

Ari heads outside, the bright Alolan sun is blinding. She shields her eyes with her hand and smiles widely. “Woah, the sun is much stronger here compared to Hoenn.” She laughs. “I’m definitely going to get a tan while I’m here.”

With a hop, skip and a jump, Ari leaves the airport and heads into Hau’oli; The town she’ll be staying in during her visit.

—

While walking down the stony path heading into the city, Ari takes out a Pokeball. “Come on out, Eve!” And with a big bright light, Ari’s partner Eevee emerges from its pokeball. Eve shakes her head back and forth and then stretches on the ground and lets out a big yawn. 

“Sorry you had to stay in there the whole flight, girl, it was just way too crowded for Pokemon to be out.” Ari gives Eve an awkward smile. “But now, you can stretch your legs and walk around freely!”

“Eevee!” Eve is pretty much saying. “No problem.” Eve jumps into Ari’s arms and makes her way onto Ari’s shoulder. “Eevee!” She nuzzles Ari’s face.

“Aw, you’re so sweet!” Ari nuzzles back. “Alright Eve, ready to discover all new Pokemon and a brand new region?” 

“Eevee!” Eve’s tail wags back and forth showing her excitement. 

“Me too!” Ari cheers and the duo make their way into the city.

—

Walking into the streets of Hau’oli, Ari and Eve are surrounded by people, Pokemon, and bright lights everywhere. “Woah Eve, looks like we stumbled into a festival.” Ari looks around, seeing concessions and games around every corner. “This looks so fun!” Ari is about to head to a game stand when she almost trips over her luggage. “Oh right… we should probably find somewhere to stay first.” Ari sighs. 

Eve jumps off of Ari’s shoulder and runs in a random direction. “Eve, wait, you’re going to get lost if you run off like that!” Ari chases after Eve, doing her best to keep up.

After a few moments of chasing down Eve, Ari finds herself looking at a Pokemon Center. “Woah Eve, how’d you know this was here?” 

“Eevee!” Eve runs around in circles, not giving any mind to Ari’s question. 

“Never mind.” Ari laughs. “But this is perfect! Let's get checked in! After we drop our stuff off we can check out the festival!”

Ari and Eve head inside the Pokemon Center and are met with Nurse Joy standing at the counter.

“Good evening, how may I help you?” She gives them a warm, welcoming smile. 

“I was wondering if we can get a room? We’ll be here for a while and we need somewhere to call home during our stay.”

“Of course! Let me go get you a room key.” Nurse Joy walks to the back and comes back out in a flash. “Here you are.” She hands Ari the key. “It’s the third room on the left down the hall.”

“Thanks so much!” Ari bows, showing her gratitude. She then gives Nurse Joy a grateful smile and makes her way down the hallway to her room. She finds Door number 3, uses the key, and unlocks the door. 

Walking into her room, Ari is met with a bunk bed, a desk with a chair, and a large sliding door window with a balcony. 

“Woah, this place is nice!” Ari sets her luggage down and falls onto the bottom bunk. “So comfy…” She’s tempted to take a nap.

“Eevee!” Eve jumps onto Ari’s stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

“Eve, what's the big deal!?” Ari rubs her stomach, trying to make the pain go away.

“Eevee, eevee!” Eve looks determined. 

Ari thinks for a moment and then remembers. “Oh right, the festival. You must really wanna go!”

“Eevee!” Eve jumps back onto Ari’s stomach. 

“Oooo, ouch, Eve I get it, I’ll get up, I’ll get up!” 

Eve finally jumps off of Ari and gives her a snicker. 

“You can be a little dark type, ya know.” Ari glares at Eve. 

Ari gets up off the bed and Eve jumps back onto her shoulder. “Let's get going! Time to have some fun!” 

Ari walks to the door and opens it. She goes to walk out into the hallway when she almost runs into a man walking down the hallway. “Oh, I’m sorry!” Ari is shocked by the sudden person in front of her.

“No problem.” The man responds, as he continues to walk down the hallway.

Ari, paying attention to his features, notices the man looks extremely pale. “I hope he’s okay.” She says, concerned. 

“Eevee…” Eve sounds a bit worried too. 

Changing her attention to the festival, Ari walks back into the main lobby and walks through the Pokemon Center doors. 

Stepping outside, Ari is surrounded by lights and music. “Woah! This is so cool!” Ari is surrounded by people instantly. “What should we do first? Food or games?” Ari thinks and thinks and suddenly Eve jumps off Ari’s shoulder and runs to a game stand. Ari runs after her. 

“Oh, a water shooting game? Sure, let’s try it!”

“Eevee!” Eve jumps onto the game stand, next to the water gun.

“One play please!” Ari asks the game master.

“Sure thing, that’ll be $3.”

Ari hands the game master the cash and she gets ready to focus on her target. The game lights up and music plays. Ari closes one eye to aim and then… she shoots! … and misses the target completely…

“Aww man…” Ari cries.

“Better luck next time.” The game master says with a sly smile on his face. 

Ari notices his smugness and says, she pouts, “Another round!” She slams $3 on the table and goes to take aim again. 

“Of course.” The game master starts up the game, snickering to himself in the process.

Ari readys herself; and loses again. “Dang it!”

So she tries again, and again, and again… each time losing. Ari pulls at her hair. “This game is impossible.” She shouts. 

“It’s not impossible, you’re just doing it wrong.” Ari jumps at the sudden voice coming from behind her. She turns around and her eyes are met with the pale man that she almost ran into earlier. “There’s a sort of science behind it, let me show you.” The pale man puts $3 on the table and then he takes aim.

Ari notices he’s holding the water gun up too high. “You’re not going to hit the target if you hold it up that high!”

“Just watch.” The pale man responds. And then he shoots.

Ari watches as the stream of water rises and then falls right onto the target. “Woah! You hit it!” Ari claps.

The game man is standing still, his jaw hitting the floor.

The pale man looks at him and simply says. “My prize?”

“Y-yes, of course.” The game man grabs a big Pikachu plush and hands it to the pale man.

The pale man takes the plush and looks at it for a moment. “Here.” He hands the plush to Ari.

“O-oh, but sir, you’re the one who won this.”

“Don’t need it.” He responds. “Keep it.”

“T-thank you.” Ari looks down at the plush and smiles.

“See ya.” The pale man starts to walk away. 

“W-wait!” Ari feels the need to know who this man is. “Please, at least tell me your name!” She yells.

The pale man looks at Ari and simply says; “I’m Dulse.” And turns to walk away.

Ari stands there for a moment trying to make sure she remembers his name, then she decides he should at least know her name as well, so she yells, “I’m Ari!” 

Wondering if he heard her, Ari stares at Dulse’s back.

She then gets her confirmation when Dulse holds up his hand, waving at her as he walks away.

Ari smiles.