"You got that right," Brenda concurred.  "Especially about time to really *live*.  We had a longish meeting in the cabin a couple of days ago; it started out like this one, me asking what I missed while I was out, but it got into some quality-of-life issues too.  You know, that was the first time most of the Na'vi had ever really had a chance to talk about it, or maybe even to think about it?  So it got interesting.  I probably don't need to tell you this, but these guys are refugees, with all that means, and it means a lot to me.  Been there/Done that, you know?  So maybe we understood each other on that level.  Ni'ka was actually pretty surprised that that could happen to a Sky Person too, and for the same sorts of reasons.

"So we talked about it from that angle, and about kiddo excursions that were as much about the grown-ups, and about the threat to Hometree and why they can't go back for keeps...  Rick, the kiddos know a lot more about that than they've let on, and they're handling it - yes, even Enya.  We talked about the dangers here, and why as much as we all miss Alice, that bad things could happen if she ever found out our physical location...or knew that I was here at all."

Now her voice filled with compassion; she still hurt for everyone in this mess and their individual struggles.  "But it wasn't just the situation.  We talked about anger management and staff-fighting; I do believe Enya has it in her to really hurt someone once she knows how and can keep her balance.  But we also talked about tender things, and how not to let our anger or the Red take them from us.  And that's the night Enya decided she was gonna 'put being mad away' and go make up with Ash.  And she felt so much better once she did!  Another loop, a different-colored yarn, but I really think that meeting might have been when we started to knit together as a community.

"Ash has missed out on most of that, not because she's a terrible person but because she just hasn't been home.  We're sad about that - even me; even Tangek; but especially Ni'ka, 'Iheyu and Enya.  Ash has friends here, Rick.  She needs to hear that.  Nobody hates her; the big debate is whether we should be close by or out of the way while she heals."

"Pandora Polytechnic, huh?" Rick grinned. "Consider me subscribed into the majors, the phys-ed program and I wouldn't mind joining the cross-country team. I'll think about the electives later." The grin turned into a light laugh. "Think about it - coming lightyears from Earth to finally get some finer education. Even if it means to collect more manure to keep from being bombed and more firewood to keep us warm."

He looked out of the window again. Tali had gone by now, but Kenten was still tending to the fire and Silronsem now made it out of the cabin where she had spent the night. The healer stretched, yawned and then ambled over to the fire to grab an arepa, calling something that only halfway made it through the walls of the shack, but probably was a "thank you" to the baker.
Kenten held out a leather pouch to her and she reached in to take something out that she sprinkled over the arepa, then rolled it up and started eating.

"Well, for a change Silronsem had the chance to eat something someone else made for breakfast", he commented with a smile. "But I get you... she's been all duty in the last... uh... don't ask me how many weeks. Kenten too, and he's also missing his friends from his - uh - pongu? Everyone needs some time off to regenerate. We've been so busy with surviving that we didn't get much time to actually live. Doesn't mean that the overall situation ain't still shitty, but the Blessing might have given us a breather. A more than necessary breather."

"Don't knock firewood and manure," Brenda quipped.  "Leaves and twigs either.  First we keep from getting bombed, then we stay warm and fed, and then we can inaugurate Pandora Polytechnic Institute.  Of those three, we're doing a decent job with 'warm and fed'; we're working on 'Don't get bombed'; and we're taking applications for Pandora Polytechnic.  Popular majors so far: crafting and survival skills, with electives in cryptography and both fine and performing arts.  We're even putting together a phys-ed program and a cross-country team..."  She smiled.  "You know, one of your old Presidents said something once - hmm, how did it go? - Oh!  He said 'We study war and politics so that our kids can study math and philosophy; they study math and philosophy so that their kids can study painting, poetry and music'...or something like that.

"You know, we've actually done a hell of a lot here, all things considered.  Time to start making that pay off in more kick-around time for everybody.  I'm sure 'Iheyu and the others could use some mental health days too.  I mean, what does Silronsem like to do when she's not fixing either people or breakfast?  Does anybody even know?  And who wouldn't like to go on a day-long horsie ride with someone else, or watch Enya's hammock come together in the cabin, or sit outside with Tsanten once it's warm enough?  We need to make it so any two people can take a day off, separately or together, and just be."

"Tali's a treasure!", Rick agreed. "It's what I told Tangek right away - he said something about us needing Tali and Enya for 'entertainment value' and I told him straight to his face that he's underselling them. Tali's a bright kiddo, already a better scout than many I've seen in the army several times his age, and Enya... well, the whole thing with Ni'tingal's egg would have turned out different without her. They're both so much more than just 'entertaining kiddos'." To be honest - if Rick's life had turned out differently - maybe if he had married Cathy, they'd someday left the army to build a civilian life... well, if they had ever made it so far as to have kids he would have considered himself lucky if they had turned out like either Tali or Enya. The way things were he was just proud and happy to have those two in what he started to think of as his extended family.

He peeked out of the window where Tali was checking the fire. "Seriously, 'Iheyu and Tangek can be proud of them. And you're right, some father-son or daughter time will be great for all of them. Tangek's right in a lot of ways - one of them being that we're all sitting too close to each other, even without Enya or Tali those flights will do good. Ya know - some air to breathe, literally. Spending some quality time." He paused, eyeing Brenda. "That Tsanten doesn't need so much care anymore means a little more breathing room for the healers, true that. We should see that there's gonna be more of that in other areas too. For example, like pulling our own weight here with gathering food and all those other little things that need to be done. Gathering firewood and manure ain't enough in the long run."  He pointed at his still bare feet. "I need to take lessons in leather working anyway - already grew out of my boots, probably gonna grow out of the rest of my clothes either. I also wouldn't mind learning something about hunting, Pandora style. Heck, the list goes from here to Earth, if I think about it." Slight mischief showed up in his eyes. "Yepp, that means I'll try to enlist you for teaching either - and not just about how to read those link pod monitors."

Here's a really good video review of Pokémon Sun and Moon, with lots of game footage; the guy thought the story was merely "okay", but the worldbuilding, the accessibility for new players and the improved mechanics won him over. 

https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/pokemon-sun-and-moon-review/1900-6416574/

 -:-

More Poké-fun:  You remember Lillie, the frail girl with a Cosmog in her gym bag?  Guess Enya's not the only Trainer who's had to rescue him when he strayed.  There's a whole meme now: "Get in the bag, Nebby!"  Personally, Enya thinks Lillie is a smother-mother and really ought to let the little thing romp and play and explore anytime it's safe; heck, after the Akala Trial, he even tried to wriggle into *Enya's* bag.  But the SunMoon community has had some fun with Lillie's frustrations...  (as always, click for full-sized; you will be rewarded!)

[Get In the Bag, Nebby]  [Lunala Still Nebbin']

There was a fan theory that Nebby eventually evolves into one of the Alola Legendaries.  That's the Moon version, Lunala, still having to take it from Lillie.  ;-p

I think of Lillie as being like those helpess-unless-you-help-'em NPCs.  She's the only one like that I've run into in the game, though; the only other person to ask specifically for Enya's help with a task was a rancher who needed someone to tame his new Tauros, and figure a battle would be just the thing for him to work out his ornery streak.  Enya is only too glad to help with stuff like that; it makes her feel useful, not just going on some self-indulgent adventure; her particular skills were needed.  Any civilian could have rounded up Lillie's little buddy; you don't have to be a Pokémon trainer--a decent dogcatcher would do.

Okay, now the part with the dragon in it.  :-)

Enya wasn't in the best mood after the Grass Trial, 'k?  So she didn't exactly take to it kindly when Professor Kukui showed up and dragged her back to Heahea City, that town on Akala where she couldn't get a room in Lillie's hotel.  Well, now that she'd passed her Trials, she had access to more of the city than just the hotel and the Pokémon Center.  But Kukui escorted her to the Dimensional Research Institute where his wife, Professor Burnett, and her team were studying the appearances of strange Pokémon(? ...No one was sure if they were Pokémon or something else entirely) from, apparently, another dimension, and that somehow Lillie and her little Cosmog seemed to have attracted their attention, and would Enya please familiarise herself with the situation and let them know if she saw anything?

She wanted nothing to do with being cooped up in a lab; she was tired and cranky and it was way past her bedtime, and you know how she gets on not enough rest!!  And now the Alola Region knows it too.  She only stayed long enough, read enough, and talked to enough people to meet the bare minimum for being allowed to leave the lab, whereupon she ducked into a Diglett tunnel, beat three Trainers and those Team Skull grunts again, and popped out in Konikoni Town, which was much more welcoming.  There were shops and street vendors and !!!restaurants!!! (including Captain Mallow's; Enya got a serious 'friend discount') and a dock, plus the obligatory Pokémon Center and malasada shop.  She bought stuff, sold stuff, learned stuff.  And the reason she knew she had to be there was because that was the part of the island where she was to battle the Island Kahuna.

An interesting thing about the Kahuna battles: they're just...battles.  No Totem Pokémon, no Island Guardians - just a good ol' knock-down-drag-out Pokémon battle.  Okay, you're fighting the Trainer who raised the Totems, and all her regular 'mon are max-level final evos, no big deal...just a battle.  Uh huh.  And the Atlantic Ocean is just a body of water.  Ayyup.

As it happened, Kahuna Olivia specialises in Rock Pokémon.  Ohh, Enya had her number already!  'Cause her little Tiblet is a Rock-type, and she loves him to bits, so of course she knows what he can beat and what can beat him.  If a move of a certain type would be bad for Tibbie, it'd be bad for Olivia's team too.  So she brought Tayu (Grass), Pity-Kitty (Dark), Fletcher (Water), Tae Quon Lee (Fighting), Tron (Steel)...and good ol' Kilvana (Ground).  You can see how this went, right?  The biggest moments were when Olivia released a Midnight Lycanroc (the werewolf); when Tayu, taking a leaf from Totem Lurantis' book, learned the move Synthesize, after which nothing could keep him down either; and when Kilvana ended the nice, long, good fight by doing her li'l earthquake thing.

[Enya's Team - Rock Trial]

As part of her reward, Enya was granted the ability to summon a Charizard with her Pokémon Ride Pager.  But before she flew off to parts known (he can only take her places she's already been), she bought a fire stone, fetched Pepper the Growlithe, and gave him his well-earned evolution into an Arcanine.  I left her on the Lighthouse Point observation deck playing with her big puppy while a lady showed off her troupe of dancing Pikachus.  :-)

[Kahuna Olivia; Midday and Midnight Lycanrocs; grown-up Pepper]

[Kahuna Olivia]  [Midday and Midnight Lycanrocs; grown-up Pepper]

  -:-

Those Pokémon Professors: Personally, I think they're *all* a little loosely-connected between the head and shoulders...  I mean, they've supposedly dedicated their lives to studying Pokémon.  So how come they need sixth-graders to do all their field research?  And if the profs are having people search for new species, that means they don't know those species exist, right?  Yet when a kid finds a new Pokémon, his Pokédex pulls the data right up and tells him what it is!  A real head-scratcher there.  So, yeah, Kukui's a nice guy (did you know he sidelines as a masked wrestler? --Enya ran into him at the Royal Battle Dome!!  She didn't recognise him, but her buddy Hau did), but he obviously doesn't know *jack* about the new Pokémon species called "a Enya", or he would've offered her dinner and a place to crash for the night lest he fall victim to all four of her attacks (Pouncewag, Astonish, Grapple, and Teh Cyoot).  *fg*

And what's with those kids' parents, anyway??  For one, I've never seen a Trainer with a dad living at home.  They all have single moms.  And those moms, faced with the full responsibility for safeguarding the young'uns, are perfectly okay with their kids leaving school in fifth or sixth grade to go on a solo wildlife safari?

...Yeah, the Pokémon world has its peculiarities.  It's just one of those things you accept in-universe and carry on.  ;-)

Enya has been to some really pretty places.  You might figure that a region based on the Hawaiian Islands would have its share of beauty spots, and you'd be right.  You've seen Verdant Cavern, above.  Here are more locales important to the story so far; the places Enya's seen and been seen.  (On all of these, click for full-sized.)

Melemele Island: Iki Town; Hau'oli City; Mahalo Trail; Melemele Meadow; the savannah inside Ten Carat Hill

[pics]

Akala Island:  Brooklet Hill; Paniola Town; Wela Volcano Park; Lush Jungle; Hano Grand Resort

[pics]

[WIP - Will add piccies later!]

And now for the saga of...

::: [ The Dragon-Rider of Akala! ] :::

Yester-gameday was HUGE.

The evening before was pretty interesting too.

When you last saw her, Pokémon Trainer Enya was on her way to Brooklet Hill to meet Trial Captain Lana and undergo her Water-type Trial.  She went in not even knowing how to fish.  She left having learned to ride a Lapras and having defeated...this.

[Wishiwashi, solo form]  [Wishiwashi, school form]

No no, the second one.  Clothed in a demigodly aura, no less.  From astride her Lapras, it looked kinda like this... [Totem Wishiwashi]

See, Wishiwashi in its normal form is one of the smallest and weakest Pokémon there is.  But it does one thing, and does it extremely well: Summons every other Wishiwashi in the area to assemble into its School form.  Totem Wishiwashi showed up looking like a pixellated whale that could have swallowed Enya and her mount whole!  And the Totem even made it rain to amp up its Water moves.  But trusty Tayu, Tron the Magnemite and the other members of her team took that thing down, yes they did, and its little wet helpers too.  But she knew better than to get cocky; after all, she had two Trials left to go...  Herself having come a long way and the battle having ended after dark, she spent the night on the hill, which has the most awesome set of interconnected rock pools that Na'vi Tayu could ever have wished.  She wanted to wake up there and see what it looked like in the daylight...as did I.  :-)

Her team for the Water Trial:

[Enya's Team - Water Trial]

The next morning she caught a Wishiwashi of her own, which turned out to be really important in the Fire Trial.  Senator Sam evolved into a Gumshoos that morning; still deciding how I feel about that, 'cause his mannerisms made him a capital-C Cutie as a Yungoos even with the toothy grin, and now I find myself petting a Trumpy-'mon.  (Must...overcome...association...  It's still Sam under there, dangit!)  And Maynard the Lillipup is now a Herdier.

Some pleasant rambling and a Pokémon Center visit later, Enya had reshuffled her team for the Fire Trial.  Finding her way up the volcano to Captain Kiawe's domain was a bit of a challenge, but she managed it.  And then she learned that not all Island Trials are battles.  (Yes they are.  Don't even believe that line!!)  But before they got down to business, Kiawe had her watch a trio of Alolan Marowaks do a fire-dance with their bone clubs, then repeat it, and she was supposed to spot the difference between the three performances.  *Then* this nasty poison-fire-lizard thing called Salazzle appeared, with its little Salandit buddies to make things unpleasant for Fletcher the Wingull, Shimmeree the Wishiwashi, and, oh yeah, Kilvana, Tibbie, Pity-Kitty and Senator Sam.  Most of the members of her team got burned, poisoned or some flavorful combination of the two.  But Fletcher evolved into a Pelipper (pelican) mid-battle, and little Shimmeree discovered her School form!  It was Kilvana (Mudbray; Ground-type)'s Mad Earthquaking Skilz that put Totem Salazzle down for the count, though.  Not bad for a donkey foal, not bad!  Spaz, a former muledriver, would be proud of her; I know Enya was.

Her team for the Fire Trial:

[Enya's Team - Fire Trial]

The Grass Trial was...interesting, and not in a good way.  What Captain Mallow, who is regionally famous for her cooking, wanted was for Enya to go foraging in the Lush Jungle.  She was supposed to find four ingredients.  I will save Enya the embarrassment of describing her search in detail except to note that she got totally lost.  Yeah.  Enya...got lost...while gathering...in the forest.  She had no idea what any of the desired herbs, seeds, roots and berries looked like, and she did a lot of bumbling around, and her desire to be done with the Trial before dark was hopelessly crushed.  And then--and THEN!--Captain Mallow expected her to cook the damn stuff!  The porridge whose delicious scent and rare ingredients would summon the Totem and bring on Enya's doom...

The Totem was a creature called Lurantis.  Nobody's sure whether it's a mantis mimicking a flower or a flower mimicking a mantis, but what I think all Trial-goers would agree on is that battling the thing is a PAIN IN THE ASS (and very dangerous).  Since it was after dark, the creature couldn't photosynthesise the normal way...so it called on a little weather Pokémon called Castform to lend it a ray of sunshine, after which it got two attacks every turn and nothing could hit it, and if something *did* hit it, it immediately recovered all its HP in that portable sunshine.  Enya ended up with just two tattered Pokémon remaining after Totem Lurantis and its allies got done slashing, cutting and otherwise pruning her team to bits.  But one of those Pokémon was Fletcher, who, being a Water-type, really ought to have stayed as far away from a Grass battle as he could.  But he also had Flying attacks, which tear the hell out of Grass Pokémon for some reason.  And once he cut loose with those, it was almost over...

Enya's team for the Grass Trial:

[Enya's Team - Grass Trial]

Enya never wants to see that jungle again, but she's gonna have to if she's gonna catch me a Passimian (the football lemur).  She hates me now...  ;-b

[Trial Captain Lana]  [Trial Captain Kiawe]  [Trial Captain Mallow]

(Above: Captain Lana; Captain Kiawe; Captain Mallow)
(Below: Totems, their allies, and grown-up Fletcher)

[Akala Totems and Allies]

Brenda gave a half-smile.  "Got good news for you there, Sport," she began.  "I talked to him before I set out today.  Apparently Tali nudged 'Iheyu in his direction after they set up Ni'tingal's egg yesterday.  Apparently this happened right after I turned in!  Said she should really check with Tangek as to whether she was allowed to lift anything..."  Now her smile expanded into a grin.  "I think they were both ready to declare a cease-fire and were just looking for a graceful way to do it that wouldn't involve any grovelling.  Tali gave them the perfect excuse...  Ain't he a wonder?"

She downed the rest of her coffee and finally took a bite out of her second arepa.  "Anyway, they've been talking for a couple of days about hauling the kiddos out to Hometree every now and then, or sometimes Enya's 'biiiig floaty mountain', or maybe Atreyu's settlement.  Enya says he can't be grouchy if he gets to fly off almost every day, now, can he?  And then they'd get to see other Na'vi doing different things, maybe even meet the Tsahik like Enya wants to when the lady comes back, say Hey to old friends and make new ones..."  The grin faded, but not the optimism in her voice.  "He's not any happier about being here than he ever was.  But he's willing to see if a new routine'll help.  The main problems are manpower and time, and now that Tsanten doesn't need so much minding, the other healers can give him that.  Yes, that means 'Iheyu's gonna be a working single mom again those days.  But it should also make for some memorable father-son and -daughter moments."

"Well... it kinda came up while we were talking about masking the shacks. I went to enlist his help and somehow ended up with something deeper." Rick grimaced. "I kinda asked him for ideas about how to make this place here - well, not loveable, but at least a little bit less disgusting and we ended up discussing the overall situation." He quickly summed up his talk to Na'vi healer.
"Jeez, Brenda, I knew he was unhappy, but it goes so much deeper than just not liking how the place looks and smells. There's so much else that's missing, all the people, the songs, the stories, the interactions - like, everything he and his family need to breathe and feel alive. And no, we can never replace that, few as we are; and of course we're such a mixed bag of people, too much skypeople influence in the whole setup. I told him about Atreyu and the new settlement, but in some way I think it makes him feel even more as if his Clan is falling apart - ya know, makes everything more real. And I have no damn solution for that whole mess, neither has he."

He hid his sigh behind another sip of coffee. "He feels trapped by the situation, there are tensions and brawls in the family, seems he and 'Iheyu had some heated discussion about the situation, how to move on from here and ain't talking to each other right now and it breaks my heart to hear that. I told him to get at least that out of the way as fast as possible by talking to his beloved - those two don't deserve another wound to fester."