Some Things Never Change...

Chapter 1

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A thick cloud of smoke escaped Guzma's pale lips as he exhaled. He relaxed in his cozy violet chair and focused on the computer screen in front of him. Pipe in one hand, the other on the keyboard of his laptop sitting on the table in front of him. Guzma jolted and gasped at the sudden knock on the door, causing him to accidentally inhale too much. He took a second to cough before clearing his throat, "Whaddya' want?" Guzma growled out, adjusting his shirt a bit. One of the Skull Grunts popped in awkwardly. "Uh, hey boss. S-sorry for startling you, yo..." He apologized, nervously adjusting the locks of shocking blue hair under his beanie. "Yeah, yeah. Did y' come to tell me somethin' or what?" Guzma let out a subtle chuckle under his breath. "Yessir, uh, we're back with some Pokémon you wanted, should we bring 'em to you now?" The blue-haired grunt replied, nervousness lingering in his voice.

Guzma was an intimidating person. A gang leader, a smoker, and just a big person in general. Wide shoulders, some muscle, and a little tall. The slouch really gave him the heir of a tough guy. Guzma's voice was deep and gravelly, with an obvious and strong Brooklyn-like accent. He was generally grumpy and easily angered, but he really is a person on the inside.

The white haired man's eyes focused now on the Skull Grunt, partially hiding behind the door. "Sure, and bring any Z-crystals ya' found too." The grunt nodded and quickly left. Guzma sighed and took another puff of his old-style pipe vape. Guzma never dared to smoke cigarettes, but he often vaped and occasionally smoked weed. Not long after, a group of four grunts entered the room holding cages with one or two Pokémon inside. A female skull grunt with shoulder-length, red-violet hair and mocha skin handed one of the cages directly to Guzma, while the others put theirs on the floor.

"This is the Rockruff, right?" Guzma asked, closely examining the plastic cage that held a dog-like rock type Pokémon. "Yep, that's it, sir. Hard to get, but we did it." She replied. A satisfied smirk spread across Guzma's face. "Good job. Now leave, y'all are gonna get ya' reward later." He shooed.

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Meanwhile, Kukui was enjoying the sea breeze and spray as he relaxed on the boat to Akala Island to defend his Battle Royale title. Everything was going amazingly at the moment, he definitely had a star trainer on his hands. Kukui had been traveling for a day or two, enjoying what Alola had to offer. He'd left his trusty Rockruff at home for a few days, knowing it would be alright. Kukui was using a different Pokémon in place of it for the upcoming battles.

The sun set as Kukui plopped himself on a bed in one of the hotel rooms in a small motel in Akala. A heavy sigh emitted from him as he kicked off his shoes and removed his hat and shades. Tomorrow he'd head back to Melemele, back home. Kukui undid his hair from the bun after sitting up. He frowned as he remembered he was in a hotel room, and not with his soon-to-be wife. Recently, he and Professor Burnet had parted ways in a somewhat mutual agreement of "just not feeling the same". Kukui was still feeling the break up, since he wasn't quite over Burnet. He closed his eyes after slowly laying back, and eventually falling asleep.

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The next morning, the loud ringing of Kukui's cellphone woke him up with a start. He grabbed his phone and answered it, calming down once he heard Lillie's sweet voice. "Ah, hello professor! Did I wake you up...? I'm sorry." She apologized in her usual soft tone of voice. "Heh, don't worry! How is everything going over there? I'm gonna be back later today." Kukui greeted her with his usual likeable style. A short pause worried Kukui a bit. "Um... funny you should say that, um. I...I can't find Rockruff anywhere! Yesterday Hau invited me out for lunch, and when I came back I couldn't find Rockruff....Gladion and I spent the nearly the whole night looking for him!" Lillie poured out words like a water hose. As soon as he realized the situation, Kukui knew what happened to Rockruff. So, he'd have to take a trip to Ula' Ula' to meet up with an old friend.
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Guzma had already taken care of the rest of the Pokémon by now, and the frightened Rockruff was curled up in a cage of which Guzma was using as a footrest. Kukui should be here any minute. This was all a big convoluted plan, soon to be unraveled. First, gain Kukui's trust. "You stole his fuckin' dog, you expect him to trust you now?" Plumeria asked bluntly, interrupting Guzma's thought process. "Why do y' even want that guy's attention?" She added, her hands on her hips as she leaned forward towards Guzma. "Shut up, Plums. I know what I'm doin'." Guzma growled grumpily, to which Plumeria rolled her eyes in response. "Whatever you say, boss." And with that, she left the room.

Kukui strolled up to the gates of Po Town, where he was greeted by two male skull grunts. One with dark midnight blue hair, the other with a more turquoise shade of blue. "Yo, it's that professor dude!" Cyan whispered to the other. "Yeah man! We gotta scare him off, yo!" He replied. Midnight blue and Cyan turned to the man in front of them.

"Yo-"
"I need to see Guzma. Now." Kukui snapped at the two.

The grunts went wide-eyed, then looked at eachother, then back at Kukui angrily. "You didn't even let us start, yo!" "Fine, yo! If you wanna see the boss that badly, then go!" They both exclaimed in unison. They moved out of the way and let Kukui in with a groan. Kukui walked through the defaced street, not an ounce of fear in his stride. Once he reached the door of Kukui's room, he paused as his fingers brushed the brass doorknob. He stared at his ring-less ring finger before turning the handle and letting himself in.

Guzma greeted him with an almost friendly smile. "I knew ya' weren't gonna knock or anythin'. Yeah, just let ya'self in." He teased with a snicker.

For some reason, Kukui couldn't come up with a response.