Warm, vibrant colours. The powerful collision of the salty breeze against my face. And the warm embrace of the most amazing girl in the entire world around my waist... yeah. These are the same, familiar sensations I experience day in and day out. But do I ever get bored of them? No. Never. Because these are the flavoursome sensations that make the world turn.

I take a deep breath of the rushing air as my hair flows behind me in the wind, and turn my head to Lillie as Charizard powers effortlessly through the mellow morning sky.
"Enjoying the ride back there? Not going too fast, am I?" I check. Lillie beams back with an adorable smile, her teeth gleaming and her happy eyes closed as she shows off the smile that warms my soul.
"Not at all! Isn't a stunning morning?" She exclaims with remarkable excitement. I nod with a grin.
"Gotta agree with that. Alola is always beautiful, but today..." I gaze down at the sea about sixty metres below us, which is a vibrant shade of dawn-orange due to the perfect reflection of the morning sun off the water. Coincidentally, I catch a glimpse of a few Luvdisc leaping out of the water, and subsequently turn back to Lillie.
"Today is particularly magical, wouldn't you say?" I smile, gazing into her wonderful eyes. She smiles and sighs a happy sigh, before tightening her grip around my waist and thrusting her warm body against mine in a love-filled cuddle.

We approach the south-face of Melemele Island, and Charizard consequently spreads his wings out and glides down towards the surface to land. As always, he lands with precision in the same spot outside the house. With that, the roaring of the wind ceases and near-silence returns to the world, the only sounds being that of the cute tweeting of the local Pikipek and the crashing waves of the ocean behind us.
I hop off of Charizard's back after Lillie, and pet the mighty Pokemon's neck with my hand before proceeding to rest my forehead gently against it.
"What a creature of habit you are, huh?" I chuckle, rubbing Ember, (the nickname I assigned to my Charizard), along his neck. The huge but emotionally-soft beast grunts in return, and nuzzles his large head against me, closing his eyes. I smile and take my backpack off, retrieving a Poké Bean as a reward for Ember.
"Thanks again for the hard work big guy," I say gratefully while tossing the Poké Bean up into Ember's mouth.
"Yeah! Thank you, Ember!" Lillie says too. "Sun, do you think Charizard is ready for the event later?" She continues. I tilt my head in question.
"Event?"
Lillie sighs and shakes her head. "You know, the little competitive event you promised him? The race, silly!" She giggles, wrapping her arms around me.
"O-oh, yeah, right... aheh," I stutter, almost forgetting about the race I had planned with Dad for later today. "Yeah, I'm sure Ember's hyped for it, right buddy?" I ask, turning my attention back to the Charizard who, as always, exhibits the same excited behaviour upon hearing the key word 'race'.
"I guess so, then," Lillie laughs. She gently pushes herself off of my body, and stands on her feet. "Should we go in, then?" She asks. I nod and return Ember to his Poké Ball, before stepping up into the house to see Mom and Dad.

"Hi Mom, hey Dad," I call, cleaning my shoes on the doormat and proceeding to kick them off to one side.
"Good morning, you two!" Mom says, rushing up to us at the door and delivering the typical welcome-home hug.
"Morning, Sun! Hi Lillie! Did you two have a... satisfactory night together?" Dad chuckles with an intentionally smug grin. Lillie, as usual, giggles and blushes a bit, while I just avoid the question with a sheepish laugh.
"What about Saber, Dad? I hope he's well-rested for the race today," I mention.
"You can count on it. Don't know why you're so enthusiastic about this race, I think we both know who the fastest Charizard currently alive is,"
"Remind me again how long you've known Ember?"
"Long enough to know he's no match for this guy," dad fires back with a laugh, tossing Sabertooth's Poké Ball up into the air and catching it again in his hand.
"There's only one way to find out," Mom adds, cutting into the conversation. "When are you planning to get this race started, anyway?"
Dad and I look to eachother.
"Now?" We both suggest in perfect unison, to which we both burst out laughing.
"Aheh, right! Then let's get going!" Dad announces with an adventurous smile.
We head outside, and I release Charizard from his Poké Ball just as my father unleashes Sabertooth. Lillie hops over to me excitedly, adjusting the cute backpack that she wears on her back.
"I'll ride with Sun, then!" She chirps. With that, Lillie and I climb onto Ember, whilst Mom and Dad saddle up on Sabertooth. As Dad secures the reins of the fabled shiny dragon, he sticks his hand up in the air jokingly to indicate that he has a question.
"Uh, Sun, question,"
I laugh a little. "Yes, Dad?"
"Where exactly is this famous 'Poni Canyon' that you speak of?"
"The canyon occupies a big part of Poni Island, you'll know it when you see it. Just follow my lead and try to keep up," I laugh quietly.
"Keep up? Sun, I could fly to another region on this guy by the time you get to this island," he laughs.
"We'll find out soon enough," I reply with a smirk. "Come on, just stay behind me. It's not far."
With that, I take Ember up into the sky first, followed by Saber, Dad and Mom a moment later.

It only takes us a few minutes to get from Melemele to Poni, and the sea is a pleasant shade of blue now, as the day has progressed. I feel Lillie lean into me gently from behind, nuzzling her head against the back of mine as we fly.
"Remind me again why I have never been to this place before?" Dad exclaims, entranced by the view of Alola a few hundred metres above sea level.
"I know, right? Once you're here, you wonder why you haven't lived here your whole life," I shout over the noise of the wind. "That said, I guess it's fair that you have to defend such an important title..." I continue.
"Well so do you, right? I know it sucks, Sun. I wish... I wish I was here for you, like your mother is, every day. Sometimes I even consider the possibility of giving up the title..." Dad says, quietly and sadly. The sudden solemnity catches me off guard.
"N-no, that's... no, don't feel like that! We're both League Champions, right? Even if we do live on different sides of the world, the fact that we're both Champions of our respective regions, this responsibility that we both have, it kinda... unites us in its own way, right?" I explain slowly. Mom and Lillie glance at eachother in surprise, somewhat shocked by the power of that sentence.
"That's deep, Sun. Like the kind of thing I should be saying to you," Dad chuckles. "But... you're right. I..." he struggles for words. "I suppose I can at least come visit you from time to time when I can. That isn't so bad, right?"
"Of course! That would be great!" I smile. I realise the conversation is getting a little too sensitive, so I decide to take us down to Poni Canyon. "Here's the Canyon. Let's go down," I suggest, asking Charizard to begin his descent.

The feet of the two Charizard dig into the snow as we land, and the four of us hop off of our respective dragons. Dad looks around, and nods with a look of approval on his face.
"I can see why you want to fly here," he says.
"It's beautiful here, isn't it?" Says Lillie, folding her arms and taking a few cautious steps toward the edge of the rocky platform we landed at.
"It certainly is! Maybe I should go out on some adventures of my own more often," Mom considers.
"Ah, perhaps you would consider taking me along?" Dad shrugs with a smile.
"Why would I object to that?" Mom smiles warmly back.
Lillie and I scramble up the rock face to a higher platform adjacent to the one I'm stood at, and I use the elevated vantage point to assess a potential flight course for the race.
"Hey, Dad? Should we start the race from up here?" I call down to him.
"Sure thing, let me just sort something out here, give me one sec," he replies, rummaging through his bag in search of something or other. I notice Lillie shiver a little in the corner of my eye, and I turn to her quickly.
"Hey, you alright Lil? Are you cold?" I ask worriedly. She smiles innocently.
"Ah, n-no, I'm fine, thank you!" She insists. I look at her sympathetically. I know when she's trying to prevent me from worrying. I walk up to her and wrap my arms around her body, squeezing her tightly and resting my forehead against hers.

I lean against the wall with Lillie in my arms as Dad and Mom climb up to us.
"Right! You have a plan, Sun?" Dad asks, once again tossing and catching Saber's Poké Ball in a repeating fashion. I nod, and point at some structural details within the Canyon.
"We'll start the race from this ledge here. We'll begin by swooping down, then making a quick right turn, gliding beneath that rock bridge there. Then we'll go back up and around that mound of rock on the higher ground of the right side of the canyon. If we keep to the high ground, we can then circle back around to the entrance of the canyon, then speed down the middle under the bridge, before swooping back up and repeating that cycle twice more. On the third and final lap, we'll swoop down and back to the canyon entrance again, where the race finishes. Does... that sound good?" I ask, exhaling deeply after explaining all of that. Dad thinks in silence for a moment, as to ingrain the course in his memory. A sudden smile spreads across his face, and he nods.
"Sounds great," he chuckles somewhat menacingly, clapping and rubbing his hands together with excitement. "Have you had enough time to prepare yourself for inevitable, crushing defeat that you're about to suffer?" He asks with a laugh. I return a determined smirk, and release Ember back into the world from out of his Poké Ball.
"Inevitable is a bit of a strong word, isn't it?" I laugh.
"We can make a wager if you like," he challenges with unquestionable confidence.
"Okay, I'm not... that confident..." I mumble admittedly.
"See, everyone has a breaking point," Dad laughs. "Anyway! Ready to get this show on the road?" He asks, throwing the Poké Ball in his hand high into the air, which comes back down to release the legendary shiny Charizard.
"Yeah, let's do this!" I exclaim confidently. Lillie strolls up to me from behind and wraps her arms around me tightly.
"Please be careful," she whispers sweetly.
"I'll... try," I chuckle, turning to her and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. She smiles adorably, as usual, and throws her arms around me one more time.
"I'll be cheering for you."
"Stay safe, you two! And no cutting corners!" Mom chirps in with a soft laugh.
"We'll be fine. And hey, you hear that, Sun? No cutting corners," Dad chuckles, mounting Sabertooth and getting ready to fly. I rub Lillie's back comfortingly, before slowly breaking the embrace and mounting my own Charizard.
"Will you be okay here, Lil?" I ask, still a little concerned for her. She nods excitedly.
"I'll be okay! I promise!" She smiles. Still worried about her getting too cold, I unzip my jacket and proceed to toss it to her.
"Wait, Sun, you'll get-" she begins.
"I'll be fine. Please, put it on. You don't want me to worry, do you?" I grin. Lillie opens her mouth to say something, but words fail to come out and she just giggles cutely. Her adorable reaction makes me laugh too.
"Okay then. Thank youuuu," She coos with a flawless smile. Dad yawns dramatically, and leans back in his saddle.
"Can we go nooooww?" He whines, intentionally trying to mimic that of a small child.
"Fine, fine. Just caring about my girlfriend, that isn't too bad of a sin, is it?" I say jokingly.
"Okay, I get you two are lovebirds, but come on, I'm getting cold sat here!" Dad chuckles.
"Right, hehe, sorry Dad..."
"Ready?" Mom asks.
"Ready," me and Dad both confirm simultaneously.
"On your marks..." Lillie begins.
"Get set..." Mom adds.
"Go!" They both shout in unison.

Before the word 'go' was completely spoken, Dad and I dive vertically downwards off of the cliff face, both of us clinging onto the reins of our Charizard for dear life. The metres we are from the ground suddenly become near centimetres, and I order Charizard to pull up and twist right. With a colossal burst of speed, I rush under the natural stone bridge and swoop upwards, before pulling off a sweet twisting manoeuvre that pulls me and Ember around the mound of rock on the highest point of the canyon's right side. I quickly risk a glance behind me, to see Dad and Saber right behind. Twisting my body back around, I lean forwards in my saddle and prepare to drop down to the canyon's entrance, which Charizard does perfectly. I follow the planned course and proceed to speed beneath the wooden bridge within the canyon at a dizzying speed. I pull up on Charizard and effectively loop over the bridge, catching a glimpse of Dad who somehow manages to use the momentum from the movement to accelerate. I watch in awe as my father and his black Charizard swoop over my head, diving downwards and taking the lead towards the canyon entrance to begin the next lap. But I'm still confident - I push Charizard to move ahead with full speed, and we intercept our agile opponents as we begin the next lap.

"Come on Ember, we're almost there!" I shout supportively over the noise of the rushing wind as we glide around the rock mound in a sort of knife-edge manoeuvre. I smile to myself whilst reaching out my hand to touch the rock mound as we move around it, enjoying the adrenaline rush from this pretty close race. Dad and I are practically level to eachother, and we're coming towards the end of the final lap now. We soar down off of the higher ground for the third and final time now, but Charizard accidentally gets caught in a minor downward-spiral as we descend, which disorients me a little. I groan and shake my head slightly, before regaining my bearings as we continue to speed forwards.
"Right, where... what's ne- Bridge!" I yell, ducking and putting my weight into Charizard as he swoops fairly carelessly beneath the bridge that we almost collided with. "Come on Ember, please be more careful!" I sigh. Dad swoops up from the bridge a second later, and we both seize the moment to U-turn at the same instant. We're directly side-by-side now, and the finish line is just up ahead. It's all down to who can glide there the fastest. I lean forwards as far as I possibly can, and Dad does the same, a sly grin spread across his face. It's so close, but it's true that Saber is uniquely fast, and Dad manages to overtake, centimetre by centimetre. As we approach the canyon floor which seems to speed beneath us and both our Charizards put in every last ounce of their effort, Dad powers ahead and darts through the finish line at the canyon entrance. He wins the race by about 1 second. But I don't mind - that was the most fun I've had in a pretty long while, and Charizard-racing against my dad is something that I never expected to do.

"Hoah, how close was that?! Woo!" Dad exclaims excitedly, punching the air in celebration as our Charizards slow down and steadily gain a high altitude again. "I have to say Sun, that really was close. I'm impressed," he chuckles admittedly. I smile, and shrug.
"Heh, thanks. But I guess Sabertooth remains to be unbeatable," I reply with an exhausted sigh.
"Got that right, heheh. Good work by the way, you," Dad smiles, leaning forward and hugging Saber's neck whilst in flight, which in turn gets Saber to grunt and wriggle happily. We glide slowly through the skies, panting as we regain ourselves after that exhilarating competition. I look down at the Canyon, spotting Mom and Lillie at the same ledge that we began.
"Ah, that was great. Where to now, Sun? Ready to head back down to the women?"
I don't reply. Instead, my gaze and focus is concentrated on two figures dressed in black, both of them stood outside of a small cave area on a ledge not far from where Mom and Lillie are. "Sun?"
Dad stares at me, a concerned look on his face.
"Huh? Right..." I say slowly.
"What's the matter?"
"... It's nothing," I murmur, shaking my head. There's a pause, as Dad spots the two characters that I had targeted. I know full well who they are - the very same mysterious operatives who appear over Alola, yet evade me whenever I attempt to make contact with them. I don't know what to do - I don't want to worry dad about these guys too, but at the same time, I know that the cave that my targets are at is a dead end. A perfect opportunity to introduce myself formally.
"Who are they, Sun?" Dad asks firmly and imperatively. He knows just as well as I do that they're up to no good, and he knows it solely because of the look in my eyes.
"Look, I didn't want to worry you but... it's kinda a long story," I sigh.
"Just give it to me briefly, we can discuss it more later,"
"Alright..."
With that, I begin to hastily explain the sightings in Hau'oli city, Team Skull, and how these new, shadier guys flee every time they're spotted.

After a brief but informative explanation, Dad slowly turns his head and stares coldly at the ground far beneath us in thought.
"... Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go and introduce ourselves!" Dad grins. That says a lot about Dad's personality - no matter what the situation, he will always find a reason to smile. This makes me smile too, now confident in finally confronting these strangers who have become something of a myth over the Alola region within the past week or so. I nod.
"Y-yeah! Maybe we can finally get to the bottom of things..." I reply.

With my prey unknowingly cornered, we glide down to the platform together. The snow has thickened a little over the past hour as the surface has steadily been bombarded with delicate, gentle snowflakes, and the feet of our powerful Charizards make virtually no noise at all upon landing.
"Thanks, Ember. We won't be long, okay?" I whisper quietly, flashing a smile at one of my closest Pokémon before returning him to his ball, which I then place back into my backpack.
"Same here, Saber. I'll be right back," Dad whispers to his Pokémon, before doing the same.
I take a deep breath and exhale, watching my own breath fade away into the cold air around me. I look at the snow, and think about Lillie, as usual. She and Mom are safe, no doubt, but... damn, she doesn't know where I am, she doesn't know what I'm doing, and she's probably not aware of the people who are in Poni Canyon with us. I hope she isn't cold... I feel bad just for leaving her where she is. I should get back to her as soon as I can.
My thoughts are interrupted by Dad, who taps my shoulder gently.
"Come on, let's see what they're up to," he murmurs quietly. I nod, moving slowly to behind the rock wall to conceal myself. Dad gets behind the wall next to me as I take a look around the corner. I peer closely into the cavern, which only has a small interior, although this is a turn on the right which limits my visibility to whatever is going on in there. There is some light in there, which, given the angle of the light in relation to the people, creates two shadows which are projected onto the wall that I can see. They're definitely up to something. Then come the voices.
"Well where did they go? They just finished and left already?!" Exclaims an irritated voice.
"Maybe. Or maybe our intel was just wrong. It happens sometimes," sighs the other. This voice is slightly deeper and more casual than the other.
"Yo, I hate it when this happens," the first grunt complains. I immediately pick up on the classic Team Reskull slang, which concerns me.
"Focus. Let's just finish this, yeah? Then we can get our pay from the boss!"
Interesting. It seems that they're unaware of our presence, so we have the element of surprise. I turn to dad, and mouth the words: 'Let's move in'. He nods, and so we cautiously and quietly approach the cave. The light from the outdoors suddenly fades into darkness as we step inside. We just about catch a glimpse of two people stood next to a device of some kind, before it suddenly happens.
"Now!" Comes a sharp voice from behind, and in the blink of an eye, two more characters jump out from behind us. One grabs and secures Dad around his arms, and the other grabs me from behind and keeps me in place by wrapping his arm over my neck. Looks they knew that we were right behind them after all.