Connected

Hop groaned as he leant back in the plastic chair. He could feel a thick layer of sweat run down the back of his neck and dip behind his shirt, and his skin burned with an uncomfortable heat even under the shadow of the umbrella. He had hoped that the drinks they had ordered would be enough to curb the heat the day brought about, but after gulping it down hastily, it made little difference in his body temperature. Judging by Victor's flushed and sweaty face, he felt the same too.

"This is so unbearable," Hop grumbled as he took the neck of his shirt, and flapped it in order to try and cool his chest "I don't know how anyone can live here".

"Well, if they're born here, they probably adapt to the heat," Victor said as he wiped his brow "Galar only gets a month of sun so..."

Hop groaned again "I always complained it was so cold back home...I won't complain about Galar ever again when we get back".

Victor chuckled weakly "No. I won't take our weather for granted again".

Hop hummed, briefly distracted as a couple of young children ran by the walled off section, chatting loudly to each other and running on ahead. He remembered the times when he and Victor were young and energetic as well, always going out on an adventure of some kind, getting into various kinds of trouble too. But now, nineteen years old flaked out in deck chairs at a nearby café to try and combat the heat on their vacation, it was a struggle to find that kind of enthusiasm during the hot weather.

But Alola was beautiful and full of interesting sights, he had been eager to reach the island chain when he read up about it on the flight over. Connected deeply with the nature around it, he had hoped that the pair could go exploring like they did when they were little in their surrounding woods, he didn't want to lounge about like an old man.

Hop peeled himself to sit up and turned to Victor "We need to do something, we can't sit here all day".

Victor sat his head in his hand "What do you want to do? Something to cool us off I presume?"

"Well, there's a beach here right?" Hop fetched the brochure from his bag, opening it up he pointed to the map that outlined Hau'oli beach "The ocean must be pretty cool right? Let's go splash about for a little while".

"Okay. Maybe we can buy some drinks and stuff on the way there?"

"Sure. Oh, you know what? I bet the people here wear really thin clothes too. Maybe we can buy some to help keep us cool too".

Victor nodded "Okay, so, buy clothes, buy drinks, and head to the beach. Is that the plan?"

"Sounds like a plan to me mate," Hop grinned as he pocketed his brochure and stood up "Alright, let's get going".

After they paid for their drinks in the café, the two set off walking around Hau'oli city, getting somewhat lost in the large city. But eventually they found the mall, and from there they located a clothes shop.

As Hop suspected, perusing through the clothes on offer, he noted that they seemed to be made of a lighter material to combat the hot weather Alola was prone to. So, with a little help from one of the shop assistants, the pair picked out an outfit that they felt was reasonable and went to try the clothes on.

Hop stepped out first. He had picked out a tank top with a cartoon Pikachu on a surfboard against a deep blue background, and some sporty long shorts that were split into two different hues of blue. He looked over himself again, but couldn't help but frown at himself.

"I dunno," He mused as he looked over himself again "Does it feel a bit too...childish?"

"Not at all sir," The assistant reassured with a smile "I think it suits you very well!"