Journey Towards Greatness

Julian put on his mask and hood so that he doesn't get identified here, being an island region, Alola is a huge tourist attraction so many people come here for vacation and because of this, there are a lot of people in the airport.

Julian quickly exited the airport and headed towards the pokemon school as that is where Professor Oak's cousin Samson Oak is staying, Julian learned that Samson Oak is also a pokemon professor who specializes in regional variants of pokemons here in Alola and he is also the lead researcher on Totem pokemons.

Julian is quite interested in both the regional variants and totem pokemons that Samson is an expert at, but mostly he is looking into Totem pokemons because they are being targeted by this so-called organization that calls itself Cipher.

Professor Samson Oak is not the only professor here in Alola Islands, Professor Kukui also lives here and Julian is on quite friendly terms with Professor Kukui and considers him as a friend.

Melemele island is very big and it took Julian some time to reach the Pokemon School, when he got there he saw a massive empty playground which has multiple pokemon battlefields carved on it, and right beside this huge playground is the pokemon school.

The school is surrounded by tall coconut trees making it look pleasant to the eyes, Julian looked around and noticed that the school is closed, there are no students in the vicinity.

Julian wondered why there are no students present in the school even though it was quite early in the day, ignoring the empty field in front of him, Julian approached the school building and tried to find Samson, and even though the school looks massive and its structure looked very complicated, it was very easy for him to find the principal's office.

Julian knocked on the massive door in front of him and a voice came from inside asking him to come in, Julian pushed the door open and saw an old man with grey shoulder-length hair and dark skin, this person is none other than Samson Oak, the cousin of Professor Oak.

Julian was quite surprised by how similar Samson Oak and Professor Oak looked, they are almost like identical twins, the only difference is their hairstyle and skin color, Samson Oak is wearing a thin cotton shirt and cargo half pants while working on his desk.

Samson lifted his head and looked at Julian with a big smile on his face.

Samson "Welcome, welcome, hahaha, I have been waiting for your arrival".

Samson enthusiastically got off his seat and walked towards Julian with a massive smile on his face, Julian is not used to such an intense greeting but he still decided to put up a smile and shake Samson's hand.

Julian "It's good to meet you as well professor, I read your research and I am quite interested in these totem pokemons, I hope to learn more about them from you".

Samson "Hahaha, no need to be so formal, we are family, you are after all my grand nephew's fiancé".

Samson said while laughing out loud.

Julian "Here, this is from Professor Oak".

Julian said and handed the envelope he received from Professor Oak, Samson took the envelope and put it on his desk without a care in the world, compared to Professor Oak, Samson seems to be very free-spirited and doesn't take things seriously.

Samson "Thank you for troubling yourself with such a minor task but I appreciate it"

Julian "No need to worry, I don't mind".

Samson "If you don't mind, maybe you can help me around in the school....."

Samson said followed up by a long pause before laughing out loud again.

Samson "Hahaha, I am just kidding, unless you want to...."

Julian didn't know what to say, seeing how thick skin Samson is really ticked him off but he was being respectful here, he didn't want to deny nor agree with Samson so he just kept quiet.

Samson "Haha, got you again, no need to trouble yourself with me, I am just messing with you. Since you are new here in Alola, you should look around the island, we can talk when you come back and here are the keys to the guest house, it is located behind the school, you can stay there if you want or you can rent a room at a local hotel".

Samson said and handed over a key to Julian, Julian took the key and thanked him.

Julian "By the way, I wanted to ask about the school, it's still very early in the morning so why are there no students?"

Samson "They all are on a field trip to study pokemons and their habitat here in Alola, since there are not many students here, most of the classes are either held outside so the students can get a better understanding of pokemons up close"

Samson explained.

Julian nodded his head as he thought it was quite an effective way for children to learn about pokemon and with the habitat that Alola provides for its pokemons, these pokemons are more exposed to the human eyes.

The islands being surrounded by water allows people to fish for water-type pokemons, the sandy beach, the tropical forest, and the volcanic terrain, the icy tundra, allow the people of Alola to study all types of pokemons.

Julian is also interested in visiting all the four islands and checking out all the unique terrains here in Alola, he would also love to see the regional variants that live here in Alola.

Bidding farewell to Samson, Julian decided to look around the Melemele island. Melemele island is very big, it has high mountains, a long sandy beach, and a massive water body surrounding it, it also has rocky boulders surrounding the island under and over the water creating a very safe place for people to swim around, this is also the reason why Melemele island is the most famous destination among the four islands for tourists.

After giving it some thought, Julian decided to visit the beach as he has a very particular pokemon he is very interested in and he wants to catch a good one, and the beach is where he has the most confidence to find one.

Exiting the school, Julian took the same road he took to come here. Since Melemele's terrain is dominated by mountains in the middle, it has forced the people to build their houses around the island, there were, of course, some people that decided to build their houses on the high ground but most commercial buildings were close to the shore.

So even without any guide, one wouldn't get lost in Melemele island unless they wandered into the deep forest and lose their sense of direction and don't know how to track through a forest.

Julian took out his trusty off-road motorbike which he has not ridden for quite a while now and got a little nostalgic, he hopped on it and rode around the island to get a rough idea of all the routes here in Melemele island, he also took this time to see how people interact here in Alola.

And it didn't take him long to notice that people here greet each other by saying Alola, Julian found it weird as using their own region's name as a greeting word but he was in no position to judge, he just hopes that people here don't expect him to use Alola every time he meets people.