A Mere Mule

Alola Region, Pokémon School.

"Morning, Doctor Kukui." Gladion arrived at the classroom early.

"Morning." Wrapped in a white lab coat and wearing a cap, Doctor Kukui let out a long yawn as he spoke to Gladion.

Hmm?

Watching Doctor Kukui sway step by step toward his office, confusion appeared in Gladion's eyes.

This wasn't Doctor Kukui's usual style. Shouldn't he be energetically shouting, "Alola"?

Just then.

Lillie, Kiawe, Mallow, Sophocles, Lana, and the others arrived at school as well, discussing what had happened today.

It seemed that...

Overnight, everyone had become sluggish and tired, whether it was their parents, their butlers, or the people they had encountered along the way.

"Listen up..."

Looking like he knew the inside story, chubby Sophocles beckoned everyone over.

"Do you know about the Manalo Festival?" Once everyone had gathered around, Sophocles lowered his voice.

"The Manalo Festival?" The kids exchanged glances.

Gladion said evenly, "Every twenty-one years, a total solar eclipse occurs in the Alola Region. That's why the Alola Region holds the Manalo Festival every twenty-one years."

"A total solar eclipse?!" everyone cried out.

Mallow asked curiously, "Manalo and Alola sound pretty similar."

"Alola actually means 'sharing together,' while Manalo means 'you and I live here together,'" Lillie explained. She seemed to have studied this recently.

"Put together, it means 'we live together and share together.'" A smile appeared on Lana's face.

"That feels so warm," Mallow sighed.

With everyone's approval, they all subconsciously looked toward their own Pokémon.

At that moment, Sophocles ran onto the podium, dragged over a small stool, and stood on it. He cleared his throat twice to draw everyone's attention before saying:

"Actually, most of the total solar eclipses during the Manalo Conference are fake!"

"Fake?!"

Everyone was stunned.

"How could total solar eclipses appear so regularly every