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Mischievous Moon Child... The Professor Gives a Warning... The Storm Gathers

"MOON, CHILD, NO! BAD, MOON, CHILD! MOON, CHILD, NO! BAD, MOON, CHILD!"

The crowd gathered at the foot of the hill leading to the Ruins of Conflict chanted this refrain in a single group voice again and again, some through bullhorns and others with their hands cupped around their mouths, hoping that, against all odds, Melemele Island's immune system would find a way to expel the invader before irrevocable damage was done. In the back of the crowd, old women and children were weeping and comforting one another under wide black umbrellas that seemed to suggest premature surrender to death, despair, destruction, doom. In the front, wielding shovels and sticks and frying pans, were Melemele's strongest. Hau and his grandfather Hala were there, standing on a high scaffold that the news media had built and staffed with binocular-wielding reporters.

"We are live from the Melemele Ruins of Conflict," said a grave young news anchor into the eye of a rolling camera, "waiting to learn the fate of the island, and, indeed, all of Alola itself. We are unfortunately only now realizing the disastrous effects of allowing Moon Child, the once-popular young Pokémon trainer who disbanded Team Skull and recently became Alola's first Pokémon League Champion, to amass unchecked power. This eleven-year-old girl, who just moved to Melemele from Kanto, has become an unstoppable force of destruction and answers to literally no one, least of all her mother."

"Moon Child, enough!" screamed Moon Child's mother from beside the news anchor. She pulled at her face in helpless terror. "This is too much! If you disrupt Tapu Koko, the whole island will be plunged into chaos!"

Far off, visible thanks to her unusual red hat, Moon Child could be seen standing in the mouth of the Ruins of Conflict, where none but she dared tread.

"It's okay, mom!" Moon Child called back. "I've got my Pokémon with me!"

The crowd erupted in boos. Professor Kukui suddenly appeared in its middle, standing on the back of a Tauros as if surfing. He lifted a bull horn to his mouth.

"That's the problem, ya?" his electronically-amplified voice bellowed. "Your Pokémon are too strong, pal! It don't even matter what move they do! They're all the ultimate move! If any of your Pokémon so much as breathe on poor Tapu Koko, that thing gonna probably die, ya?"

"MOON, CHILD, NO! BAD, MOON, CHILD!" the crowd chanted.

"Don't worry guys, I'll be okay!" Moon Child yelled, and then ducked into the ruins. The crowd's chant dissolved into an amorphous scream. Overhead, storm clouds had begun to gather and flicker ominously.

"This looks bad," the news anchor went on, watching over the trees as Moon Child disappeared from view. "Moon Child has just entered the Ruins of Conflict, where she apparently intends to—to abduct Tapu Koko, the guardian deity of Melemele. The consequences of Tapu Koko's removal from the ecosystem cannot be overstated. Tidal waves are predicted to slam the shores and annihilate most living things within days, and evacuation has already begun. Fisherfolk who anticipated this terrible event have been fleeing in their boats to Akala Island for weeks. Others are being transported by road and rail to the island's highest points. Citizens of Alola, we have come to—quite possibly—our darkest hour."

Over the dismal sounds of the gathered onlookers suddenly came Moon Child's triumphant cry: "Salazzle, use Flamethrower!" And then there was a horrid, heart-wrenching screech that seemed to pierce the soul itself—the wail of a defeated guardian deity. A bolt of lightning immediately lanced from the sky and blew up Professor Kukui's lab, sending flaming boards cartwheeling into the surf and shrapnel ripping through the miles of surrounding tall grass.

"Oh no, ya!" the Professor yelled, falling from the back of his Tauros into the crowd.

"Run!" yelled the news anchor, casting aside his microphone and leaping from the scaffolding into the branches of a nearby palm tree.

"Moon Child, why?" Hau asked quietly as chaos erupted all around him. "Why, why?"

Lillie took his hand and tried to lead him away from the rampaging crowd and gathering storm. "We have to go, Hau!" she screamed. Wind and rain began to whip down from the sky in heavy sheets. "We have to evacuate! Moon Child has damned us! She's damned us all!"

Hau looked again toward the ruins, wondering if it would be the last opportunity he would ever have to do so, and then turned and ran for cover with Lillie.