To Haru, Professor Kukui had always left a rather good impression.
Sure, his appearance might come off a little too casual, but as both a Trainer and a regional Pokémon Professor, he was undoubtedly qualified.
You could even say he had devoted his entire life to the dream of building a Pokémon League in Alola.
After all, the Alola region didn't originally have a Pokémon League.
While the world of Pokémon was something of a utopia where regional discrimination was rare—no one mocked countries for losing two towers in a MOBA game right at the start, or made jokes about certain races logging in and getting a hundred free pulls—still, watching other regions host their flashy and lively League tournaments while Alola remained stagnant like a still pond…
To say that Alolan Trainers didn't feel a certain way about it would be a flat-out lie.
People might not say it aloud, but plenty of Alolan Trainers longed to see a Pokémon League of their own.
But founding a regional Pokémon League wasn't as easy as snapping your fingers. If you went about it recklessly, you'd end up like a Ponyta trying to cross a river—instantly overwhelmed and swept away.
Alola's political landscape was just too complicated. There were already enough power players to count on both hands, and then you had the Aether Foundation whose position remained a total mystery.
Trying to unite all these forces and get them moving in one direction? That wasn't any easier than getting a Garchomp to dance Dragon Dance.
And yet, despite those odds, Professor Kukui had stepped forward.
Back when he was still training under Hala, he had already made up his mind to accomplish this unprecedented feat.
After reaching a certain level of mastery, perhaps to prove himself—or maybe to better understand how Pokémon Leagues worked—he left for Kanto as a Trainer, challenging the local gyms in pursuit of becoming the Kanto Champion.
Unfortunately, he ultimately lost to the so-called Flying-type Elite Four member who actually specialized in Dragon-types—Lance the Dodrio—and returned to Alola.
But the defeat didn't discourage him. Once back, he picked up right where he left off, continuing to push forward with his dream of building the Alola League.
According to Haru's memories, Kukui eventually succeeded. In the end of the games, Alola officially welcomed its first regional Champion, and Kukui himself became one of the inaugural Elite Four.
And Haru's reason for meeting Kukui today? Part of it was for the sake of the Alola League.
As a Pokémon Trainer, Haru couldn't possibly claim he had no interest in gym battles or the Champion title. Becoming Champion was the ultimate goal for Trainers—Haru was no exception.
Which meant… he wanted to be the very first Champion in Alolan history.
Come on-being Champion somewhere else is whatever, but the first ever? That's the kind of thing that gets you into the history books. Just look at how Red's still a legend for being Kanto's first Champion.
But that wasn't enough. A regional Champion still had to earn legitimacy—credibility. There were just too many tournaments happening in the Pokémon world every year.
If you couldn't stand out among them, other Trainers from around the world would just brush off the Alola League as a second-rate event not worth their time.
And that, right now, was Kukui's biggest headache.
He could build the League, structure it, and get it running across Alola—that much he could manage.
But getting the rest of the world to recognize the first Alola League as a serious, high-caliber competition? That was harder than fighting a yellow-eyebrowed opponent without a charged-up club.
If a Champion were crowned, but the Trainers who participated weren't even strong enough to earn respect, then the League's credibility would plummet, and so would the confidence of local Alolan Trainers.
In fact, Team Skull was essentially the anti-League opposition party—running wild without any structure.
So... when Haru explained his intentions, Kukui reacted as if he'd just run into Lusamine in the middle of using Vine Whip.
"You're saying… you have a solution to my problem?"
Sitting beside the stone roundtable, Kukui adjusted his green-rimmed glasses, eyes gleaming with open anticipation.
"Of course. Isn't this problem pretty easy to solve?"
Haru accepted the teacup Lillie handed him, smiled, and nodded politely to the girl.
"If the tournament doesn't feel prestigious enough, then raise the stakes with better prizes."
"If the local Trainers don't have enough recognition, invite those with more fame and power."
"Sooner or later, you won't even need to advertise—Trainers from all over the world will be showing up to watch."
"On top of that, many elite Trainers will follow in the footsteps of those big names, hoping to take them down in battle and carve their own legacy."
"Trainers are born battle junkies. They can't resist this kind of opportunity."
That was Haru's plan. But unfortunately, it didn't quite satisfy Kukui.
"I've considered something along those lines," he said with a troubled look. "But it's no easy task to invite Champions or Elite Four."
"Ordinary rewards aren't enough to tempt people of their caliber."
"And if we just settle for second-rate Trainers, the outcome might be worse than holding it locally without any outsiders at all."
Since Kukui's goal was a region-level tournament, he had to target Elite Four or Champion-level Trainers—otherwise, bringing in 'outside support' wouldn't carry much weight.
"No worries. Just focus on building your League. Leave the recruiting to me."
As a time traveler, Haru had absolute confidence in his ability to stir things up.
If he could just travel a few more times, he'd definitely run into those Champions and Elite Four.
Maybe he'd even meet Red and Leon before they'd reached their peak—and give them a good, hard 'lesson' in battle.
After leaving Aether Paradise, Haru had already checked the timeline. He was roughly a year ahead of where he came from. That gave him plenty of time to get this done.
As for how he'd escape the Paldean Great Crater when the time came… well, that was a problem for later.
If one Mew wasn't enough to get him out of that cursed place, then he'd round up a few more Legendary Pokémon!
Worst case, he could figure out a way to nab Palkia while time-traveling—there'd always be a way.
His spiritual intuition was already whispering to him that his "release date" wasn't far off now—he just hadn't pinned down when.
Seeing how confident Haru was, Kukui finally hesitated.
"Who… exactly are you? And why are you helping me?"
"You've probably heard of me."
Haru took a sip of tea, then smiled at Kukui.
"My name is Haru. I'm the one who 'attacked' Aether Paradise not long ago."
"You—"
The wanted notice for Haru had gone up and vanished in record time. Kukui, busy planning budgets for his future gyms, had never actually seen Haru's face.
So when he heard Haru mention his "accomplishment," he immediately shot up from his chair.
"Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not a bad guy, and I didn't do anything wrong at Aether Paradise."
He turned his head slightly to glance at Lillie, who was still quietly watching him.
"Professor Kukui, this is Lillie—the daughter of Aether Foundation's President, Lusamine."
"The whole conflict I had with Aether Paradise was about rescuing her and her Pokémon."
Haru gave a brief summary of the situation between Lillie and Lusamine.
"There was something like that?!"
Even with his usually easy-going temper, Kukui couldn't hold back his anger after hearing the story.
As a Pokémon Professor, he could never accept such treatment of Pokémon—it was borderline abuse.
And as a father, he absolutely couldn't forgive Lusamine for how she treated her daughter.
"Yes, but things have shifted a little since then."
Haru took another sip of tea and added, "You asked why I want to help you, didn't you?"
"Well, that's part of the reason."
"I'd like you to look after Lillie for a while."
"I can't stay here forever. Which means I can't always protect her."
"If Lusamine still tries to take Cosmog from her, you might have to step in. At the very least, help keep her whereabouts secret."
Lusamine's current state was, frankly, weird. Haru couldn't make heads or tails of what was going on in her mind, so he decided to be cautious.
Professor Kukui, at least, was someone he could trust.
In the games, it had been Kukui who rescued Lillie after she collapsed on the beach—and later took her in as his assistant.
"Oh, and one more thing."
"Once the Alola League is up and running, I'd like to take part in its first-ever Champion tournament."
"Of course," Kukui replied without hesitation.