Ribombee nuzzled Lillie's face affectionately twice, then heard Lillie say, "We might not have much to do tomorrow."
?
Ribombee conveyed her confusion.
"Because," Lillie said, teasing the bee with her slender fingers, "there are fewer trial-takers now."
Only thirty-six trial-takers had advanced from Melemele Island to Poni Island. Three had been eliminated today, leaving thirty-three, so there was very little work.
The other islands were the same. After one round of advancement, some islands only had to handle a dozen or twenty people in their second round. It was easy.
Another reason was... Lillie yawned.
Ribombee's eyes filled with worry. She knew her Trainer had been constantly feeling sleepy and dozing off lately, and that so-called cloud Pokémon in her dreams was gradually becoming clearer.
It sounded genuinely frightening.
"Let's go to Poni Canyon another day."
Patting her cheeks, Lillie perked herself up. "It's been ages since we went to Poni Canyon."
After Professor Mohn disappeared, Lillie and her older brother Gladion had encountered danger once in Poni Canyon. That had been several years ago.
Now that Lillie was a member of Poni Island's Island Guard, she had to patrol the wilderness anyway and was very familiar with Poni Canyon and the Sun and Moon Altar.
Besides, she had a Totem Ribombee at her side.
Bee...
With no Totem Pokémon task assessments tomorrow, Ribombee effectively had the day off. Accompanying her Trainer to Poni Canyon would be no trouble.
What Ribombee wanted was for Lillie to let go of her fixation on her father's death. Professor Kukui was still researching it, so there was no need for Lillie to place an extra psychological burden on herself.
Especially when Lillie kept taking action for strange reasons.
"It's fine. Oh, right, did any trial-takers draw the test I designed today? Handling