#and it’s only when she earnestly battles tapu fini and decides to go against what she believes in (sorta) that she’s acknowledged as kahuna

[forestofmemories]

also thinking about the way hapu views pokemon battles at first in the anime. she’s the granddaughter of a former kahuna, so to her battles were something that helped her grow strong, something that is useful to be knowledgeable about when protecting other people or pokemon- something sacred, even. the duty of a kahuna. she constantly refuses satoshi’s requests of having a pokemon battle with him bc the way she sees it, he battles for fun, bc he likes it, not bc it’s something you *must* do (whether to protect something or someone or in a dire situation). it’s no wonder she’s appalled when she learns satoshi wants to battle tapu fini seeing as at that point in time poni island had no kahuna (which meant there was no grand trial to take), bc hello that’s a guardian deity, this kid seemingly has no respect for customs and what the tapus mean to alola and to us and just wants to battle for fun

but she slowly opens up to the alola gang, to the point that she confronts tapu fini, a pokemon so important and sacred to her, just for a chance of getting her new friends back, bc at this rate they might never comeback. she opens up to the point that she readily, happily accepts satoshi’s challenge the moment she becomes a kahuna. to the point that she looks forward to battling satoshi again bc it was *fun*

she already knew that pokemon battles help people grow (stronger), especially when it comes to the challengers taking on the grand trial, but she comes to the realization that they can also help you grow as a person. it’s something that can help you understand and learn something about both your own pokemon, and the person you’re battling. something that can be fun and enjoyable