The boy gave a worried smile, unsure of how to process that information. It’s not like it was that surprising, Gladion looked like he was someon who smoked, what with the edgy facade and all. Hau actually hoped he had done it just for the look. It’s a lot easier to quit if you aren’t actually addicted to them.
“You don’t think he still does, though, right?” He said hopefully.
"Fuck if I know" Guzma shrugged
That didn’t really ease Hau’s worries. Now on top of learning that the Tapus weren’t all they were cracked up to be, there was this. He would have to talk to Gladion about it eventually. Not soon, though. He didn’t want to accuse him of anything he did in the past.
“Okay, well; nice talk, Guzma!”
Hau stood up and waved to the guy before returning to his bed, hoping that A and B hadn’t gotten into anything else.
"Get some sleep kid. Feel free to talk to me whenever. Night" Guzma waved back before laying down again. Admittingly, he felt a little guilty for crushing Hau's spirit the way he did, though tried to convince himself it wasn't his fault. Hau was seeking that information anyways. He'd have to learn eventually, right?
If anything, it was Gladion's fault for bringing it up. At least that's what the man told himself
Maybe Guzma had disclosed too much. Hau lay in his bed unable to sleep. Could have been partially because A and B were snoring, or at least on of them was. Very loudly. But for the most part it was because of his newfound knowledge. Maybe this shouldn't be such a big deal, but it was. He'd put so much faith in the Tapus and now he felt cheated.
So, he just listened to the nasal sounds of one or both grunts and stared into the darkness.
ooc: Where should we take it from here? :,D
Ooc: just got out of work. I did think of something while working on a phone (i work at a cell phone repair shop), but I wanna hear if you've thought of anything. I've been doing all the ideas so far
ooc: oh thats really cool!
Uhh well for this particular story arc my ideas were that Hau would end up getting too overwhelmed with what Guzma told him & after a while (like a couple days to a week or so) he tells Hala that he doesn't think the Tapu are deserving of their titles and says he doesn't want to be chosen as kahuna by one because he thinks it would be wrong
Hala gets upset because he thinks Hau is going to do the same thing his father did (like he doesn't want to be Kahuna and he's going to run away or something) and he yells at Hau for being stupid because hes scared/something along those lines
Hau is so shocked and hurt that Hala (a man who's never really expressed anger with Hau) yelled at him, that he actually does leave
he goes off somewhere comforting and sulks
gladion texts Hau that he's free to hang out that day (these events happened in the morning) and to see if Hau wanted to do something later
Hau doesn't respond to it for obvious reasons and gladions like 'what tf he usually responds within 10 minutes and its been 3 hours what happened'
so he calls a couple times and then waits a bit longer before deciding to just fuck it and head out since he has the time off anyway
story would likely pick up from there and of course that's more plot-y, we can also do something not relating to that at all as I have other ideas too :p
Or if you've got something you wanna share that's cool too ^o^ Whatever floats your boat!
Ooh! I like what you got going there
The idea I had was that Hau decides to do some research to try to come to his own conclusion rather than blindly believe what he's being told. This could be incorporated in with your story, maybe after the initial drama. I kinda pictured him spending time at the Malie Library reading up on the Tapu's.
I remember back in middle school learning a bit about the Greek gods, and a little bit of my Grammy talking about the Christian god. I remember how casual everyone was about their dual nature. It was mostly the dieties good qualities and what they represent, with a couple stories of the good and bad things they've done (though I think Grammy may have cherry picked a little). The bad stories, even when plays were performed, seemed very swept under the rug to me. Perhaps this is how the Tapu's are presented to Alola's youth.
A common pattern I also see when it comes to gods of many cultures is that they may be nice and play an important role, but piss them off and you'll be very sorry. It has made me wonder sometimes if their followers truly respect them or are just afraid of them.
I imagine the books Hau may find would document not only the Tapu's lore, but also several stories from over the years. These are prolly the most active legendaries I have ever seen in Pokémon (most seem content to just sit in a cave), so I imagine there'd be a lot of documentation. The Tapu's are a bit of a double edged sword to me, as I don't see them as entirely good or evil. They've done some good and some bad
It's kind of ironic for me to be making this sort of commentary since I'm not even religious to begin with
ahh I loved Greek gods when I was little, also was very active in the Marvel fandom, specifically Thor, which got me really interested in Norse mythology so I have a lot of knowledge about Norse gods and such. I find that some gods aren't really even good, but they aren't particularly bad either? Just kinda assholes (Like Loki) so there's a whole spectrum. I'm assuming that a Tapu could fall under that category.
But yes! Sounds like some good plot X)
Alright! Time for you to start
Hau had acted on a whim, as usual, and ended up in a rather poor situation. He'd never been yelled at before, heck, he'd only been grounded once and that was for crossing the street without looking both ways by accident. He reminisced his childhood and realized that it had been a pretty ideal one. Sure, there was the whole parents thing..but he was so young during everything, it had never hurt him too much. The first time he'd experienced real hardship was on his journey with the champ, and then, the only hard part of it was when Aether and Team skull came into the picture, but that had never really been his battle to fight to begin with.
Maybe this is why he was so shaken up by this whole ordeal. Any time he'd ever had doubts, even with Team Skull and Aether, the Tapu had been there to comfort him. Not physically, but the thought of being protected no matter what had certainly made him more confident. There had always been some light at the end of the tunnel, and there still was, it was just shrouded in confusion and hurt for the time being.
Well, now that he had left (only temporarily, he hoped, until Hala and himself calmed down) he figured maybe he should actually research about the Tapus. Guzma may not be the most reliable source, though Hau didn't know why he would lie. What would Guzma gain from that, anyway?
Hopefully reading up on them would offer him some comfort, and then he could go back to Hala and apologize and say he loved Tapus and wanted nothing more than to be appointed Kahuna by Tapu Koko. If what Guzma had told him was true, however..well, surely there would be some explanation on the other side of the story; the Tapu's side.
He had gotten to the Malie library by Charizard. It was a bit of a lengthy ride, but hopefully it would be worth it. He stepped inside, found a table, and stacked plenty of books relating to the Tapus on it.
"Let's see.." He mumbled to himself, skimming through the index. His eyes kind of hurt from crying a lot, and he assumed they were red, but he was in a pretty secluded corner and nobody was really around anyway. Nobody would see him like this except maybe the librarian.
He found a chapter that seemed to suit what he was looking for and flipped to it, beginning to read the contents.
(I'm not sure what you want me to type...should I have Gladion text him or dump in the info he finds?)
( Either of those works! :) )
Suddenly Hau's phone dinged, prompting the librarian to shush him. Silence your phone, kid!
Good Morning. I've got some time off. Do you want to meet up?
It was from Gladion!
He snatched his phone out of his pocket and silenced it before looking at the message and shooting the librarian a sorry look. Gladion? Now of all times?
There was no way Gladion was seeing him like this. Hau didn't want that at all. He had too much on his mind and he didn't want to ruin whatever chances he had with Gladion by dumping a bunch of pointless problems on him first thing. Plus he was pretty sure he looked terrible. It's not like he could just go home and fix himself up.
Hau considered his options
a. say sorry I can't
to which Gladion had the possibility of asking why. Hau could lie and make something up, but he was pretty sure Gladion knew that he would stop anything he was doing to hang out with him unless he was sick or dead
or
b. not respond
to which Gladion would never know anything and he would never have to deal with his shame
So that seemed ideal. He guiltily put his phone face down on the table and continued reading. Now that his phone was silent, he wouldn't hear any other messages, which meant no guilt of not responding!
Gladion meanwhile laid in his bed, Silvally nearby playing with a chew toy (how cute!). He stared at his phone, watching as the word "Read" appeared next to his message. He stared at the screen. It didn't look like Hau was typing. Was he busy?
Gladion tried leaving the phone alone. Let's not obsess here. Surely Hau just busy at the moment and will get to him in a couple minutes. He's been there.
10 minutes later, nothing.
15 minutes later, nothing.
30 minutes later, still nothing.
As much fun as playing fetch with Silvally was, Gladion couldn't stop checking that phone. It wasn't like Hau to ignore him like this. Was he busy training Skull grunts? Kahuna stuff maybe?
Or was he avoiding him on purpose?
Did Gladion do something wrong? Did Hau snap out of his delusion and realize he's not date material? Did he hate him?
No. Of course not. Gladion was just overthinking this. That's just his own insecurities talking, yeah? Hau's fine. Everything's fine. He's probably just caught up in something right now. Let's not obsess over this. Give him some time and space.
Meanwhile Hau has just been going over the Tapu's lore and reviewing what kind of powers they possess.
And shit they can be scary. Electricity is pretty standard in this world, but swinging tree trunks like clubs? A fog that can make you kill yourself? Lele's scales are like a medicine one can overdose on
Hau surprised himself with how little he actually knew about the Tapus. They were so dangerous..but they should be, right? To keep the world in order. They've got to be powerful..but when would a suicide fog ever be moral?
He found himself becoming discouraged that there were stories of both good and bad, and more than a few. How had he not known? Why had a whole other side been kept from him? Why didn't Hala teach him this part? His whole idea of them had been severely glorified from the get-go and he'd never known.
The more he read, the more clear it became that Tapus were not creatures that should be taken lightly. They were powerful, and fast-acting. Temperamental. Not exactly the qualities of great leaders.
He glanced at his phone, still feeling guilty. He wished he could respond to Gladion, but he was too far now to go back, and too scared to return to Hala. So, he continued to ignore Gladion. He wasn't really even sure how long he'd been there after a while. His assumption was a long time, as he'd gone through more than a couple books. He wasn't really sure what he planned to do when the library closed, but he was going to cross that bridge when he got there.
Tapu Koko was a god of War and Conflict
Tapu Lele represented Life
Tapu Bulu was a guardian of Abundance, Peace and Agriculture
And Tapu Fini represented Hope as well as Death
Koko was described as fickle, not always there to help those in need. Despite this inactivity, there of plenty of stories of Tapu Koko rescuing people and Pokémon, and preventing great tragedies. Koko had been witnessed and even photographed many times in moments of curiosity, playing and battling with other humans and Pokémon. There was one photo of them inspecting an old looking television! They often seek strong opponents, and enjoy having displays of battle performed for them. Tapu Koko was also known for having a hair trigger temper, and this explosive anger has had its consequences. They tend to forget what made them mad in the first place, so they're not known for holding grudges; though one can argue that that makes it harder to hold them accountable. It is said that the Ruins of Conflict was a place where life gets tested.
There was a story of Tapu Lele once ending a war by sprinkling their magic scales onto the tired Alolan warriors. Some sources say this healed them and brought them to good health, while others argue that the war ended because the over exposure killed them. There didn't seem to be much consensus. Lele was described as guilessly cruel, as they are known to scatter their scales for their own amusement. There is much debate on whether or not they are aware of the dangerous effects an overdose of scales can cause. Regardless, they have brought others to ruin and have not been observed expressing much guilt. They are known to get energy from flowers. Trainers report that when Lele does not have much energy stored in their shell, they tend to use stall tactics to keep from outright losing. Some trainers outright quit the battle out of annoyance. Some scientists are also researching how to use Lele's healing scales for medicine. The Ruins of Life are known to be a place where life is born.
Tapu Bulu was easily the most laid back. They were not known to start conflicts they deemed unnecessary, often ringing the bell on their tail to alert others of their presence. They had been observed with the ability to command plantlife, and to even strengthen and enlarge their wooden horns. This diety has the least amount of stories and photographs, as they are largely inactive. Some would go as far as to call them lazy. While conflicts are few and far between with Bulu, there had been incidents where their patience had been tested. A group of thieves once tried to break into the Ruins of Abundance, only to be chased out by Bulu swinging entire tree trunks like clubs. A handful of decades ago, a village and supermarket were built on this Tapu's sacred ground. Tapu Bulu flew into a rage, destroying most everything in the area. Hau might remember visiting the Tapu Village, as the ruined megamart served as the setting for one of his trials. The Ruins of Abundance are known to be a place where life grows
Tapu Fini has control over the element of water, and is said to be able to wash away any impurities or disease. They get their energy from the ocean currents. As a self defense mechanism, Tapu Fini surrounds themselves with a thick misty fog; rather than risk getting hurt themselves. It is ill advised to approach Tapu Fini recklessly, as breathing in this fog can cause great confusion; in some cases, death. The book goes in more detail on what this stuff can do to your brain. It is compared to the move Confuse Ray, which can cause those affected to sometimes hurt themselves. The fog sounded like a more extreme version of this. Having been approached by many selfish and dishonest individuals, Tapu Fini is not the most fond of humans. It is not uncommon for Poni Island to go years without a new kahuna. Those seeking use of Fini's water must prove themselves worthy by surviving their fog long enough to actually approach them. Those who succeed are rewarded with their water, washing away any impurities and disease in both mind and body. Those who fail had fallen into self destructive trances. Many bodies have been found at the Ruins of Hope. A look through the records suggests that's Tapu Fini favors good hearted individuals with strong minds and wills. Selfish humans with desires of exploitation were met with doom. It is unfortunate that it is the latter that make up a vast majority of Fini's interaction. Scholars speculate that this had fed into the Tapu's negative perceptions of humanity. Witnesses report Tapu Fini wear a listless expression at nearly all times; even in battle. Some scholars speculate this may be because using its moves may be tiring to them. The Ruins of Hope were known to be a place where life ends.
The Tapu have been involved in many situations. They are very old and very powerful beings. They have both saved lives and ended them. Extreme actions typically seem to occur under the circumstance of the Tapu either being personally offended and/or targeted, or when the islands they call home, and those they share it with, are threatened. The Tapu's have been part of many battles, defending Alola from many great threats. They are revered for being the island's defenders and guardians.
After about an hour or so of staring at his phone and fruitlessly trying to distract himself with his Pokémon, Gladion texted Hau.
How are you doing today?
He checked in, low key asking if he was alright. He did not want to come off as someone who's obsessing over Hau's absense, as he felt that would be creepy
Hau hadn't come to a consensus, but he felt a bit better about the Tapus now. They were good, as it was their jobs to defend, and whichever Tapu had ended up taking lives maybe should have been held accountable, but it wasn't like they'd attacked for no reason. Guzma was a good man, but was bitter at the world. He had begun the island challenge in the beginning, which meant that he hadn't always disliked Tapus, and, in turn, Tapus hadn't always disliked him.
Hau hadn't experienced the same things as Guzma, the Tapus hadn't done anything to him at all. Why should it be fair, then, that he give up on them so soon.
Now that he was more knowledgeable on the subject, he decided that maybe holding them on less of a pedestal was a good idea. He still wasn't really sure where he was on a spectrum of Firm believer to I hate them, but he knew it wasn't either extreme. What he did know was that they were in no way perfect, they just served their islands. It was their duty. Still, for his own sake, he was going to have to accept them.
He could now understand where Gladion was coming from, at least. The ruins of conflict was an awful place to take a date. He doubted Gladion would've been hurt, but one couldn't be certain.
Well, then what now? Was Hala still upset with him? What if Tapu Koko decided he wasn't good enough to become a Kahuna now? What if Hala disowned him for questioning the Tapus? What if he got banned from Alola???
Okay, that's extreme. But he did feel anxious now. What was he going to say to Hala?
He checked the time and holy Pokeballs he's been there for five hours?? How??
He turned to the books of lore beside him and made a lopsided smile. At least they were interesting.
Shit. He hoped Gladion wasn't annoyed that it had been so long, especially since he had read the text and then decided not to answer. He quickly grabbed his phone and checked his messages.
The first few hours Gladion did send texts checking in on Hau. He didn't blow up the phone, far from it. He didn't want to scare Hau off by being stalkerish. It's been 5 hours since Hau got to the library though, and Gladion had long accepted defeat, going on with his day; trying not to let his mind dwell over the possibility of Hau hating him. He was still a bit anxious, and would drop everything to check his phone at every sound it made in anticipation that it was him