![]() I guess it never seemed important? This is why you should never make legendary Pokémon responsible for human institutions they have different priorities, operate on radically different timescales, and will occasionally just screw you over without really meaning to. The island deity Tapu Fini, the Tapu of Hope, just… never appointed a replacement. The Island Challenge – an important rite of passage for Alolan Pokémon trainers – has been impossible to complete since the death of Hapu’s grandfather, who was the previous Kahuna. You’d think someone (I’m looking at you, Hala) might have mentioned, before sending me off on a quest to defeat four Kahunas, that there were only three of them. Apparently there is no Poni Island Kahuna. After exchanging pleasantries, Lillie gets down to business and asks for directions to the Kahuna… which is when Hapu drops the bombshell that the Seafolk chief was unwilling to. We soon arrive at Hapu’s home – an ancient adobe house on Poni Island’s southeast coast – and are greeted first by her Mudsdale, and then by Hapu herself. Cowardice got us both we are today don’t knock it.” Lillie listens, nods a couple of times, and falls silent. Hiding wasn’t the bravest or noblest way you could’ve played that, but it was the way that didn’t get you or Nebby killed. But that would have been stupid, because she would’ve literally fed you to a demon. The brave thing to do, the noble thing, would have been to go back to Aether Paradise, confront your mother, and demand she take you back and treat Nebby better. Take hiding from the Aether Foundation, for instance. Like, being a trainer means being powerful, and being powerful means you have to do what’s right… well, when it’s convenient, obviously… but it also means you’re responsible for your Pokémon, and when it’s someone else’s skin you’re risking, sometimes the bravest thing you can do is show a bit of basic natural cowardice. “Eh… sometimes you do have to cut and run. You just keep striving forward together…” It seems like a hard path to walk, and even so, you don’t let yourself be held back by the fear of seeing your Pokémon friends get hurt. But what happened to Nebby, the way she…” Lillie breaks off, and is silent for a few seconds. “I always wanted to be a scientist, like my mother… I never wanted to travel. “With a mother who runs a huge Pokémon conservation organisation? And a brother who… well, I mean, he’s a dick but he’s clearly got talent!” “So you’re really not a trainer at all? Seriously?” She shakes her head. “He’s not actually my Pokémon he’s just been travelling with me.” “I have no idea…” Lillie answers, a little despondently. ![]() “Yeah, but he’s… like… heavy, right? You could throw him at people.” She gives me a shocked look. “Uh… you know those only repel Pokémon of a lower level than your own, right?” “I’ll be fine! I’ve got Max Repels with me,” she says confidently. “I’ll do my best to keep up,” Lillie promises me as we step onto dry land. Well, that’s not even slightly suspicious. ![]() “…I’m sure she can help you,” the chief replies, apparently hesitant to confirm or deny. “She’s the Kahuna of Poni Island? She never mentioned that.” Lillie explains that we need to see the Kahuna, and the Seafolk chief suggests that we visit Hapu, who lives a little way along the coast to the southeast, in the only permanent dwelling left on the island. The Seafolk have a perfectly serviceable Pokémon Centre, though, and Lillie and I are even greeted on our arrival by their chief, who knows a little about the island. There are no permanent towns or cities – only Pokémon, and the ruins we’ve come here to see. This is the Seafolk Village – a community of seafaring nomads and traders who visit Poni Island seasonally to gather berries. Gladion’s ship drops us off next to a group of brightly painted houseboats with Pokémon-inspired facades, clustered around a long pier. Poni Island, which corresponds to the real Hawaiian island of Kauai, turns out to be basically uninhabited.
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