Yubin has heard stories about how Alola is the most beautiful region in the world - chock-full of pretty nature and thriving with never-before-seen Pokémon. She’s seen videos online of Alola, even dreaming of climbing to the top of Mount Hokulani and challenging the Champion for a fancy title - although that would imply that Yubin would be required to take on the Island Challenge. Hard work has gotten her and her team to where they are now, but she doesn’t think a new journey from the beginning is really in the cards for her anymore. Yubin’s heard about how beautiful Alola is, but nothing beats seeing it with her own eyes.

 

The descent to Melemele Island in the plane had felt nothing short of unreal, with Yubin’s owlish eyes glued to the passenger window to catch every discernable speck of greenery with her eyes. (Minji definitely made fun of her for it, but could you really blame Yubin? Their home region looked nothing like this, and she’d practically grown up in a completely different environment. As far as Yubin was concerned, Minji poking fun at her was the least of her worries.) On the outside it may not have appeared as such, but Yubin spent every waking moment of their time on the ground brainstorming and imagining all the fun things they could do on vacation. Everything under the sun from Mantine surfing to trying her hand at a Battle Royal or two, Yubin wanted to do all of it.

 

But, what would Minji want to do? Maybe she wanted to hit the Malasada shops on every island, or would she rather relax for the rest of the day? Perhaps she wanted to spend their time differently?

 

"Yubin!"

 

She's brought back to reality by the slightest sting of Minji's pointer finger flicking against her forehead. With a slight scowl, she bats away the woman's hand, though there isn't any real anger behind the action. "What the hell was that for?"

 

"You're spacing out again," Minji replies. Yubin doesn't need to look at her companion to know that Minji is pouting, but she does anyway, and feels go dry. It's unfair how beautiful she is. "Are you not excited for our trip? It's… it's okay if you'd rather go home," she finishes, timbre gentler than usual - but also tinted with a rare sort of sorrow and guilt that Yubin doesn't typically associate Minji with. At least for a moment, she can ignore the fluttering palpitations inside of her ribcage and instead focus on the peculiar undertones in the taller woman's words.

 

"I'm not going to go home. Why would you think that?" Yubin asks instead, inwardly cursing her inability to just ask Minji what's wrong. Yubin isn't one to usually mince her words, but it's just different with Minji. The woman is not weak - far from it, in fact - but there's an unshakeable feeling that compels Yubin to hide her true feelings behind a sugar-coated vocabulary. "I… I'm not going to go home," she repeats lamely.

 

Yubin occasionally waxes poetic, and she considers her to be of the eloquent sort when it comes to expressing her thoughts. (She's a writer. A poet, a novelist, an engineer of prose and lyrics alike when she isn't battling it out with every trainer that manages to crawl by the skin of their teeth from the depths of Victory Road. What good is an author, if not scholarly and learned in their mastery of diction?) However, her fatal flaw lies in none other than how absolutely gay she is. One look at a pretty woman has her brain short-circuiting and she's reduced to a dumbfounded mess of emo fashion and embarrassingly limited breadth of vocabulary. As her partner, a trusty Greninja she first received as a Froakie egg, has learned over the years of journeying the region with Minji by her side - Yubin is borderline useless in the Champion's mere presence. Now is certainly no exception.

 

(Even if her Greninja slumbers within the confinement of a Poké Ball, she can imagine the judging look that Junji gives her every time she loses to Minji. It's not her fault Minji is so breathtakingly beautiful, not that the frog Pokémon seems to understand. He wants to win and so does Yubin, as they tend to do most of the time - unless they're facing Minji, of course. Her team knows it's fighting an uphill battle at that point.)

 

"Well, it's just… you spend so much time in that head of yours, you know?" Yubin's words seem to have at least temporarily placated Minji - as far as Yubin's concerned, that's good enough to be considered a victory. "I get that you're a homebody, but… I don't know. I wish I knew what kind of things you think about." 

 

No, you definitely do not want to know what kind of thoughts I have. The thought immediately enters her head, and it takes a herculean effort not to slip up and say it aloud. Yubin takes a moment to compose herself, before shaking her head almost imperceptibly with a crooked half-smile. "Are you sure about that, Minji?"

 

“On second thought, maybe not. Your brain is probably just filled with obscure book references I wouldn’t get,” Minji replies, wrinkling her nose in slight distaste. “It wouldn’t hurt to get your nose out of those novels every once in a while, you know? There’s much more to the world than words on a page!”

 

Yubin’s mouth opens to argue, but nothing comes out from in rebuttal. Deep down, Yubin knows that Minji is right, the newest installment of Haruki Murakami’s legendary work is no excuse to avoid socializing with others, much less her c- her friend. Friend. Still, she can’t help but be cheeky with her phrasing. “If that’s true, then why don’t you show me?”

 

The remark comes off as awfully flirtatious, but as usual, Minji takes little to no notice. A burst of laughter falls from the Champion’s lips, and as Minji grabs her by the wrist and pulls her down the bustling streets of Hau’oli, Yubin finds herself falling a little more in love with her.

 

---

 

“Woo! Minji, Yubin, over here!”

 

The deep-set timbre of the island’s Professor snaps Yubin out of her second stupor of the day. Kukui, although she doesn’t have the most vivid memories of him, is difficult to miss. The tall man waves enthusiastically to the both of them, his lab coat flutters open with the slight breeze, making both women poignantly aware of his obvious lack of a shirt underneath it. Thank Arceus Siyeon doesn’t dress like him. If Minji makes the same observations, she doesn’t verbally acknowledge them. The Champion rushes over to him with a mirrored sort of enthusiasm that has Yubin awkwardly trailing behind her like a lost puppy. “Hi, Professor! Wait, I should say… Alola, right?”

 

Conversation isn’t Yubin’s forte, so she lets Minji handle all the talking, not that she’s able to speak much Alolan in the first place. Instead, she crouches low to the paved ground, and extends her hands to the Rockruff that halfway hides itself behind the Professor. She clicks her tongue, smiling at the Pokémon. Although hesitant at first, the puppy finally inches towards her. I don’t think I’d consider training one, but they’re cute for sure. She gently rubs her fingers through the fur on top of its head, feeling her heart melt a little at the Rockruff’s content expression.

 

Almost on cue, she feels her Poké Ball shake with jealousy, something that almost makes Yubin chuckle out loud. Rolling her eyes, she pulls away from the Professor’s Pokémon and stands back up, dusting off her knees.

 

“Kukui was just telling me, he got the living arrangements sorted out for our vacation,” Minji pipes up with a megawatt smile. Her instincts tell her to look away from the sheer brightness of the Champion’s expression, but she fights to maintain eye contact with the taller woman. It’s just a ing smile, for Arceus’ sake… can my heart please calm down? “We’ll have to travel a bit, but we’ll be staying at a villa in Malie City! Isn’t that exciting?”

 

“Ah...yeah,” Yubin responds dumbly, her vast vocabulary failing her once again. She scratches the base of her neck awkwardly, glancing between the Professor and Minji. “Um, how much will we be traveling?” Her eyes wander to the lone Rockruff that circles around her, occasionally yapping. Something tells me that Junji will not get along with you. “It’s just… I think Junji’s getting a little restless, so he probably wants some time to relax.”

 

“It’ll probably take about an hour by boat,” Kukui chimes in, finally switching to a language Yubin actually understands, much to her decently-masked surprise. “We have air conditioning, if that’s what you’re worried about! Ah, I mean… that probably isn’t very comfortable to wear in the sun, so…” Yubin flushes a light red of embarrassment, knowing he’s referring to her outfit. He’s right, long sleeves and skinny jeans are near unbearable in the island heat, but she doesn’t want to acknowledge her fashion oversight. I definitely should change into something more...appropriate, huh?

 

"Don't worry, Yubin! You can borrow some of my clothes if you need any," Minji pipes up, the brightness of her smile never dimming. "Although, they might be a little big on you… I told you it was going to be hot, but you still showed up looking like that!"

 

"Oh, uh… y-yeah. I forgot, sorry," Yubin mumbles, embarrassment worsening by the second. It's not that Yubin doesn't listen… but the hypnotic quality to Minji's voice tends to inhibit her ability to follow whatever the Champion is telling her on most occasions. It's still a laughably weak excuse, however, so she doesn't dare to voice it. "I'll just get something on the island when we get there." She glances over at the Professor, who sports a similarly cheery expression to Minji. "So… to Malie City, then?" She prompts, if a bit awkwardly.

 

"Yes, of course!" He grins, excitement much too infectious for Yubin's taste as he beckons with his open palm. "If you'll just follow me to the docks…"

 

---

 

Something Yubin notices, is that nowhere in Alola is quite the same. Malie City, although not the sprawling metropolis of Hau'oli, has its own enigmatic charm independent of the region's already unconventional island culture. The architecture of the buildings seem somewhat reminiscent of Ecruteak City, her hometown, with obvious changes here and there to match a more modern aesthetic. The sense of familiarity amongst a region she otherwise feels hopelessly lost in is certainly a welcome change of pace for the young trainer, although she isn't sure if the visual similarities help to ease her homesickness, or if they only serve to make it worse.

 

"Alola to Yubin? Anyone in there?" Minji teases, playfully rapping her knuckles against the smaller woman's head. 

 

Promptly brought out of her stupor from the contact, she ducks away with a slight scowl. "I am perfectly fine, thank you very much." She keeps catching me when I'm zoned out… this might be a new record for making a fool out of myself, she thinks dryly to herself.

 

"Woo! Welcome to Malie City, ladies!" Kukui declares, hands resting against his hips as he strikes an admittedly goofy pose. "I am sure you're very tired from your trip, so I'll try to keep things brief. Shall I show you to your accommodations?" He suggests, finally toning down his bombastic enthusiasm.

 

"That would be much appreciated! We'll have plenty of time to explore the city tomorrow. Right, Yubin?" Minji turns to her expectantly, to which the younger woman can only nod dumbly in affirmation. "I don't know about you, but I'm really looking forward to finally getting some decent rest."

 

"I couldn't agree more," Yubin responds simply, afraid that if she tries to extend the conversation any longer, she would lose her already dwindling grasp on her trustworthy vocabulary. Rather predictably, she tunes out the conversation between Kukui and Minji, attention instead focused on the passing shops and establishments. When I'm not so tired, I should come look for some more appropriate clothing for our vacation. For some reason, her heart flutters uncomfortably in her chest when she remembers that Minji and her will be spending the entire trip in close quarters. Well, maybe it won't be too bad. It'll be fine if we-

 

"Alright, we're here!" For the umpteenth time - Yubin's already lost count, after all - Kukui's exclamation draws Yubin out of her deeply entrenched thoughts. "Since it was just the two of you, I reserved one of the smaller villas… I hope that isn't a problem," he sheepishly admits. "I'm sure I can upgrade you to a bigger one if you need more space…"

 

"Oh, don't worry about it! One bed is plenty between the both of us," Minji, sweet, beautiful, infuriatingly oblivious Minji, answers before Yubin can even object. "We shouldn't have a problem with sharing it. Yubin's so small, I doubt she'll take up much room, if any…" !

 

Doing her best to not let her sudden panic show on her face, Yubin glances back in the direction of the docks.

 

…Would it be too late to swim back to Johto?