"Hoot!"
The suddenly awakened Rowlet was startled and hopped backward several steps, its leaf-shaped feathers fluttering everywhere as it flapped its wings.
Its head rotated ninety degrees as the little owl racked its brain.
After a moment, Rowlet realized something important—
It didn't recognize a single one of the Pokémon in front of it.
It had just woken up… and somehow ended up surrounded by strangers!
I've been kidnapped!
Panicking, Rowlet darted around before lightly floating into the air and diving into a backpack placed beside Mudsdale.
With great effort, it squeezed its round head inside, leaving only its little green backside sticking out.
Hayato Sora: "..."
Another not-so-bright one.
Hayato Sora opened the backpack and took out the snacks he had packed for Cinccino and the others.
With enough space cleared out, Rowlet squeezed its entire body inside, filling the backpack completely.
"Hoot… hoot…"
Back in what it considered a safe place, Rowlet even waved its wings at Hayato Sora to express thanks.
Hayato Sora rubbed its round little head. The fluffy texture felt incredibly nice.
Rowlet really was cutest at this stage. Once it evolved, its appearance took a huge hit.
And right now it was small enough to carry around easily.
"Cin?"
Cinccino tiptoed over curiously to take a look.
"It doesn't dislike you," Hayato Sora explained. "Rowlet just isn't fond of daytime. You can introduce yourself tonight."
Rowlet was based on an owl—a Pokémon that slept during the day and was active at night. It was even sleepier than Noibat.
"Cin~!"
Hearing that it hadn't been disliked, Cinccino instantly brightened and ran back to tell the other Pokémon.
With the lively Popplio around, the atmosphere had clearly become much more cheerful.
Hayato Sora lay back down on his beach chair, enjoying the summer sun.
He reached to the side for his drink.
The cup was empty.
"Guess I'll go refill a couple glasses."
Sitting up again, Hayato Sora waved to Cyclizar.
"Come with me to get some fruit juice."
"Graa(Cyclizar cry)!"
Cyclizar rubbed against him, urging him to hop on quickly.
It had gone a whole day without being ridden and was feeling very neglected.
Hayato Sora asked the other Pokémon if they wanted anything to drink.
After receiving only negative responses, he mounted Cyclizar and headed toward the outer area of the beach.
A row of buildings stood there, selling all kinds of beach supplies—food, drinks, fishing tools, and more.
But as soon as they arrived, Hayato Sora had to stop.
A large crowd had gathered on the path ahead, packed three layers deep.
"What's going on? Some kind of event?"
"If there is, I should bring Cinccino over."
Curious, Hayato Sora stopped a guy standing on Machamp's shoulder and asked what had happened.
Apparently, a Pokémon with flames burning all over its body had suddenly rushed into the area, knocking over a bunch of people's food.
A crowd of people and Pokémon had chased it here and surrounded it, demanding an explanation.
A Pokémon covered in flames… appearing in Alola?
Oricorio (Baile Style)? It could ignite flames when flapping its wings.
Alolan Marowak? Its flaming bone club also fit the description.
Torkoal? Being surrounded by smoke might look similar.
Then suddenly—
Wait.
A Litten that set itself on fire?!
The crowd instantly scattered.
Hayato Sora stepped aside as well, making way for the incoming fireball.
He moved.
But Cyclizar didn't.
Cyclizar looked at him in confusion, wondering why Hayato Sora had suddenly stopped.
By the time it realized what was happening, a blazing fireball was already hurtling straight toward its handsome face.
"Graa!"
(Sneak attack!)
Cyclizar reacted purely on instinct.
With a 360-degree spinning sweep, it whipped its tail like a dragon.
The dragon tail struck solidly, sending the flaming Litten flying.
Coincidentally, it landed directly in a fisherman's bucket of fish nearby.
Sizzle—
White steam rose from Litten's head as it rested its chin on the edge of the bucket and fished out a small fish with its paw.
"Meow… saved!"
It had nearly burned itself into a hairless cat.
Litten was extremely grateful to the Pokémon that had launched it so precisely into the bucket.
The white fur on its body contained an unusually high oil content—twice that of a normal Litten.
Today it had forgotten to groom itself before heading out.
After being exposed to the sun, its fur spontaneously combusted, leading to the chaos just now.
Just as Litten was relaxing comfortably in the bucket, Hayato Sora and Cyclizar approached.
"Litten, are you alright?"
Hayato Sora stopped about three or four meters away.
As a feline Pokémon, Litten was even harder to approach than Alolan Meowth.
Getting too close would only backfire. Maintaining a safe distance made communication easier.
Now that the flames had subsided, Litten glanced at Cyclizar and let out a short growl in thanks before ignoring them.
Climbing out of the bucket—while still holding a fish in its mouth—it shook off the water from its fur and trotted over to rest beneath a nearby Exeggutor tree.
Hayato Sora walked over and looked into the bucket.
Empty.
Another unfortunate fisherman.
Litten really was aloof.
Hayato Sora certainly didn't want to risk getting his face scratched up.
After thinking for a moment, he asked Cyclizar to accompany him to a drink shop to buy a cat-food can favored by feline Pokémon.
He opened it, used a twig to slide it over, and pushed it toward the soot-black Litten despite the suspicious look in its eyes.
"This is compensation for Cyclizar hitting you earlier," Hayato Sora said. "I'm apologizing on its behalf."
"Meow."
The fur on Litten's back slowly bristled as it turned its head away.
"Graa?"
Cyclizar immediately stood up, ready to argue.
Hayato Sora is talking to you and you're ignoring him?
Do you think I can't unleash the Lightning Five-Hit Tail in one second?
"Alright, alright. Don't fuss over it."
Hayato Sora calmed Cyclizar down.
"Let's just buy our food and head back."
He waved at Litten before the two of them walked into the nearby cold drink shop.
The charcoal-colored Litten watched them leave.
It sniffed the air and glanced toward the canned food.
When Hayato Sora returned after finishing his purchases, Litten had already disappeared.
The empty can sat neatly in the trash bin.
Nearby, a fisherman looked as if the sky had collapsed.
All the fish he had spent the entire day catching were gone.
Did he really have to go buy fish from the market now?
The fisherman was extremely unwilling to accept it.
Hayato Sora walked over and patted his shoulder, pointing him in a better direction.
"Brother, I saw a lot of fish near the reef area when I was diving earlier. You could try there."
Hearing that, the fisherman grabbed Hayato Sora's hand in gratitude.
He packed up his fishing gear and called over his Octillery to move to a new spot.
Octillery wrapped its eight tentacles around eight fishing rods.
Even with that setup he still caught nothing?
Sure enough—
People may catch fish in many similar ways, but every fisherman has their own unique style of catching nothing.
As Hayato Sora and Cyclizar left, the hidden Litten quietly followed behind them.
Its bright feline eyes gleamed as if it had thought of something.
After shaking its body, Litten ran off toward another direction.
The first day of vacation had been incredibly relaxing.
Yet during his idle moments, Hayato Sora couldn't help worrying about Diancie.
But with Pyroar watching over it, and the Carbink tribe patrolling day and night, nothing should go wrong.
Beautiful moments always passed quickly.
The first day of vacation ended quietly beneath the sunset glow over the sea.
Hayato Sora fed each Pokémon one by one. After they finished eating, he returned them to their Poké Balls.
They would have to sleep inside the balls tonight.
By the time Hayato Sora returned to the hotel with his Pokémon, two extra passengers had appeared.
Rowlet perched on his shoulder like a decorative ornament.
Popplio lay on top of his head, yawning.
Neither of the little ones was willing to leave.
"Hayato… are you seriously some kind of Pokémon charmer?"
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Chakraflow789