Pokémon: Legends Enamorus

Chapter 27: Harper versus Hau

For the next few days, Brandon hid inside Professor Kutui's basement. Harper reassured him he wouldn't come across Jayden again, and even if he did the other kid did have jurisdiction to force Brandon to brush his toilet with a toothbrush. Still, Brandon wasn't too keen on leaving. Although he had lost battles before – in fact, he had lost more battles than he won – losing to Jayden felt worst. The guy was so smug and arrogant, that the kid probably thought he was untouchable. And everyone seemed to love him, even though most of his book was stolen from Brandon's works, nonetheless.

While Kutui's house didn't stand out from the outside, besides looking like it was cobbled together with random wood planks, the inside was a different story. The main floor of the house was quite cosy. There was a kitchen area, where people could make themselves a meal. There was a lounge area, where people could sit down and relax, or talk to each other. There was even a giant fish tank, where Goldeen was swimming about. The Goldeen was one of Kutui's Pokémon, a fish-like Pokémon with a white and pinkish red body. The Goldeen had a horn on its forehead, which it could use to attack if in danger. While the professor never used it for battle, he kept good care of the Pokémon, feeding it all sorts of treats.

Downstairs was different. The basement had a gym area, where the professor liked to weightlift. There were a few computers on which Kutui did his research, and one wall was full of bookshelves. Brandon had never seen so many books before outside of a bookstore. He was quite impressed by the professor's collection. Kutui permitted him to look through his books. So that was what Brandon had been doing for most of the day. He thought about posting what he had learnt from these books on Poképedia but decided against it. He was afraid Jayden would steal his ideas again.

"You sure you don't want to go explore?" the professor asked Brandon as the boy scanned through yet another tome. "You can learn as much as you can from reading books, but true knowledge comes from going out and exploring the world."

"Nah, I'll be fine," Brandon replied.

Although he had told Harper about losing the battle, he hadn't told the professor yet. He was somewhat embarrassed. Kutui had brought the two to Alola for an important mission. He did want the professor to find out he had lost yet another battle. Kutui would be having second thoughts about Brandon if he found out, the boy thought. For now, Brandon decided to keep his reasonings for staying inside to himself.

"Hey, I'll be going out for a bit," Kutui explained. "Lillie is in the loft area."

Brandon hadn't spoken to the girl yet. She was living in the professor's place, sleeping upstairs in the loft area that was above Kutui's room and the guest room. Honestly, Brandon was too scared to even talk to Lillie. He wasn't the best when it came to girls – he barely understood them. While it was easy to talk to Harper, since he had known her since they were very young, that was different since Brandon saw his friend more like a sister than anything else. Lillie was different. He was scared she wouldn't have the same interest that he did. Furthermore, what if she hated how he would get obsessed about something, and yap about it for hours? A lot of people found that annoying about Brandon. Harper was probably the only person who tolerated him.

Brandon decided he would be safe if he stayed in the basement. He allowed his Alolan Sandshrew to roam the room. Occasionally he would have to get up whenever the Sandshrew got too close to Kutui's bookshelves or computer. Besides that, Brandon sat there transfixed in his book.

While Brandon was hiding in the professor's basement, Harper was exploring the Island. She had heard there were plenty of caves and hideaways where Pokémon could hide. She had already caught a Pokémon – a Grubbin – and was determined to catch something else. She returned to Ike Town, hoping to find maybe another Pokémon to add to her team. According to the professor, occasionally there were Pichu near the village. A Pichu could evolve into a Pikachu, so Harper was eager to get one on her team.