#kukui: today we are talking about type combinations

[writing-through-the-snow]

Kukui tried his best, but there's only so much he can teach lmao.

He went back to school for a series and still doesn't know basic math

[moonlightxarcher]

Selene’s Log, Day Three (Part One)

Update, 7:34 am.

“Bzzzzzt, Roto Dex here!” Its voice is enthusiastic as ever, his camera angled to pick up Selene, Kukui, and Lillie as they walk along the beach. The sounds of the rushing sea and cawing Wingulls backs up the light crunch of shoes on sand as the trio takes in the early morning air. 

Selene’s lips are pursed in a thin line, but her ocean blue eyes light up at the beauty of nature, even if, she later admitted to the Dex, the hot temperatures left her feeling fatigued even faster than the blistering cold of Sinnoh she was used to. “You seem amused today,” she mutters, “We have yet to locate our target and you are already recording.”

“Well it’s not every day that ya see a Shiny Pokemon, and I wanna see it for myself!” Correct, their goal today was to not only observe the Pokemon along the beach, but try and track down an Alolan Rattata that had not a black coat, but a shimmering red one. Some locals had pointed it out to the bare-chested professor the other day, and he’d wanted to see if their luck would change with Selene there. Roto pulls up a photo of the elusive ‘mon one more time so the gang can get a good look at it

And it was then that the sky turns black. 

It was as if the beating sun had been swallowed whole, and even Roto’s glowing screen barely produced enough light to illuminate his human friends’ outlines. 

“An eclipse?” The shortest of the outlines- Lillie- pipes up, her tone edged with a combination of fright and intrigue. 

Kukui’s laugh comes from the tallest shadowy outline, “Haha! Ya just might be right, Lil.”

But just as suddenly as the eclipse happened, it passes, and the light of the beating sun returns to bath the group in its golden glow.

And despite that heat, Roto swears he caught footage of Selene shivering.

“I have seen eclipses before...” she mutters lowly, “But none have felt like... that.” Even the Dex could see it in her eyes- something about that eclipse was very, very off. 

“Well hey,” mused Kukui, seemingly sensing the tension. “Even if it was some kinda weird thing, Alolans are a lot tougher than they look! There’s this old story from way back, ya know. About Alola bein’ steeped in darkness and all that.”

Lillie piped up, her lips curling in a small grin, “Yeah! I’ve heard that one before. Everyone, people and Pokemon rallied together to blast away the darkness with their light. I think it had something to do with those Z-Crystals you’ll be collecting too, Selene!” she adds, nodding cheerily at the younger researcher. 

“I admit, it is not a story I have heard, but I very much appreciate being apart of such a custom steeped in history and myth. Reminds me a bit of Sinnoh.” She trails off a bit, and the Rotom makes a mental note to download more Sinnoh Myths to his database for later. After teasing her with those pictures of her smile last night, it might be nice to appease any residual anger with that gift. 

Kukui’s phone rings and he picks it up, muttering under his breath briefly before looking back to the girls and the Dex. “Can you gals take it from here? I’m needed elsewhere.”

“Of course, Kukui-san,” Selene nods respectfully, “Take care of your business.”

The Alola Professor chuckles. “Told ya, ya don’t need to be so formal with me. We’re colleagues, equals.” Not that it would ever get through Selene’s skull. He darts off and as he’s breaking into a run, he calls back, “Watch Lil for me! I’ll see you up at the Trainer School in a few hours!”

---

“Woaaah, that eclipzze thing was weird, but that story was pretty heartwarming if ya ask me.” The Dex mechanically chuckles. “When the Prof left, Lillie and Selene spent the rest of their time talking about old storiezz. Turns out Lillie’zz read quite a few bookzz in that little loft of herzz! It’s great seeing Selene open up, ya know? I may have only met her recently, but Kukui’s shared enough of their correspondence with me to know that she’zz not usually the type to socialize with real people. I know I get a pazz for bein’ a Pokemon, but still.”

“Anyway, they actually ran into this mean lookin’ Wingull later on that was bullying other Pokemon on the beach.” He flashes images on screen, photos of the gull landing decisive blows on a number of foes before switching to a clip of it getting smacked down by Selene and Strix. “Poor girl really met her match there!” The Dex plays a victory theme reminiscent of old 8-bit video games. 

“But ya see, that Wingull actually knew how to take a loss well and realized that she had a lot to learn, not just about fightin’ but about bein’ a better Pokemon too. So she decided to join uzz!” Roto flashes another image on screen of the Wingull tapping an offered Pokeball with her wing, followed by another image with more data about the Pokemon.

Name: Henet

Gender: Female

Nature: Hardy

Characteristic: Proud of its power

“Yeah, she named her Henet, apparently it’zz the name of a legendary Pelipper from a far off region, I think it fitzz!” The Dex brightens, flashing bright smiley faces on his screen. 

“And then the gang met with Kukui at the Trainer School,” the Dex continues, playing a clip of the young ressearcher and her blonde companion meeting up with the Professor and being introduced to the principal of the school. “Kukui posed a bit of a pre-trial challenge to her, fighting studentzz in the school! If she could beat enough of them, she’d definitely be ready to take on the firzzt trial. Selene even met another partner on the way-” A clip plays of her befriending a  chill sludge monster that had been minding its own business in the grassy field near the school, munching on trash and other gross stuff. 

“Yeah, she beat a student with an Alolan Grimer and just had to find one for herzzelf!” And there’s another clip, this one of Selene royally trouncing the boy in question. The Dex then flashed up another snippet of team data.

Name: Slime

Gender: Male

Nature: Hardy

Characteristic: Highly persistent

“Seemed like this Grimer wanted to see the world too, since he was happy help Selene in her alternate form research and battle with her. I can totally appreciate that! Gosh, how much fun I used to have battling!” The Dex sighs and continues.

“Thing is, Selene... took her test a little too far. Kukui never really specified how many trainerzz she needed to fight, but he’d expected her to at least fight the best student in each grade level prezzent- one for each of the four yearzz’ worth of studentzz. But no, She fought all the studentzz.” The Dex rapidly flashes image after image of Selene taking out one kid after another, even battling and defeating a fair few teachers as well. “And that’s when the principal called her to her office...”

Roto’s camera trails a few feet behind Selene and Lillie as they walk, with the younger blonde muttering in a low voice, “Are you sure you did nothing wrong? I don’t think a principal would just call you to her office for no reason...”

“I am sure it is fine, Lillie-san. I completed Kukui’s test, no? That is probably all.” But as the duo rounds a corner, they find themselves face to face with a very irate woman, perhaps in her late 20s, with dark hair and glasses, and a Litten glaring daggers at the researcher. 

The sight alone even sparks a twinge of wide-eyed surprise in Selene.

“I have had a number of complaints about your battling style, young lady,” the principal growls, her eyes matching the Litten in fiery anger. “Battling students leagues below you in skill, ruthlessly taking out each opponent with your strongest techniques... I should put you in detention for this!” And the Litten pounces. “But that won’t be enough. I’ll defeat you where you stand!”

Selene ducks out of the way of an Ember the cat launches, her left hand darting to her belt to pluck off a Pokeball, summoning forth the Wingull she caught earlier. It looks like she was trying to take advantage of Types, and Henet unleashes a Water Gun to destroy the next Ember the Litten sends out. The cat and bird continue exchanging blows, a multitude of Embers and Water Guns missing and clashing just as often as Wing Attacks met Scratches. In time, stray flames begin to eat at the wood in the hallway, starting to burn doors and other objects hanging from the walls. For awhile there, it even looks like Selene is about to lose, with her Wingull’s Water Guns seemingly striking wildly as the blazing cat dodges out of the way. One particularly critical Scratch sends Henet hurtling into a wall-

Causing a rare burst of shock in Selene that left her gasping. Blue eyes like dark oceans tremble in their sockets as she runs to her partner, covering her with her body as she administers a Potion to heal with gull’s wounds. Had Ichne not broke out of her own Pokeball to defeat the Litten with a brutal Tackle, Selene would have taken an Ember directly to the back.

The principal returns her fainted cat and approaches Selene with a stern look... only to smile brightly and offer her a hand. “I’m deeply sorry for that,” she says, bowing respectfully. “But I had to see where your true loyalties lied. If you were so strong without a kind heart, I don’t know what I would have done about your Pokemon! But I can see now... even if are cold and ruthless in battle like the children say, you clearly love and care for your Pokemon above all else.” The principal smiles softly. “You even aimed your Wingull’s attacks to fight the fires instead of taking the chance to defeat Litten.” It would seem that was true, as the blaze set by previous stray Embers had been staunched completely.

She nods her head to the Yungoos, who was still glaring at her and guarding Selene protectively, “And if this one can feel so strongly about you that she breaks out of a Pokeball just to protect you, I know I can give you my blessing and the support of this school. Just please, keep that kind heart, no matter what.”

---

“Whew, that battle left me on the edge of my seat! Metaphorically speaking. I wazz sure that Litten was gonna burn me up! That principal’zz a pretty good trainer. Did we catch her name? Ah well. Hopefully Selene takes her wordzz to heart moving forward. Kukui says he’zz got someone to introduce uzz to in Hau’oli City, so see ya there!”

“Huh... I just realized we never did find that Shiny Rattata...” Oops.

[thefactsaboutfusionfood-blog]

Gotta eat it all! Poke, man!

I feel like we all have that one food that we could have every day and never get tired of. For me, it’s poke, there are so many combinations and types that I can get with my poke that I could never possibly get tired of it. In fact, typing about poke in this post is going to make me want poke so I’ll probably have to get some when I finish! Beyond being a deliciously simple and customizable meal, it has come to still incorporate the Hawaiian origins and flavors while also evolving to include other ingredients that go well from a variety of other cultures. This makes it a great fusion food.

If you’re not too familiar with poke and especially if you’d like to understand how it has evolved into the hit that it has become today, it’s important to know the brief history of it. Poke is originally a Hawaiian dish that uses raw fish that is traditionally served with salt, seaweed, and kukui, which is a local nut. It has since become popular in the mainland United States and has come to incorporate a wide variety of other ingredients. Now we see many fast and casual spots that offer poke to customers in salad or taco bar format. Poke has made itself a true American Fusion Food by mixing itself with ingredients from a variety of other cultures interacting within America. It takes influence from foremost its Hawaiian origins but it also incorporates many ingredients from Japan, China, Korea, Southeast Asia, and Mexico/Latin America.

Pokeworks and Aloha Poke Co. are two poke chains that have multiple locations in and around Chicago and they both do poke very well. However, the question on everyone’s mind, which one is better. Well, it’s complicated and also an opinion, but I have been to both Pokeworks and Aloha multiple times and can hopefully explain the different experiences that I had in order for you, dear reader, to determine which may be more enjoyable for you.

The surface differences between Pokeworks and Aloha Poke Co. are hard to distinguish. They are both casual, quick-service restaurants that is mostly intended to be taken to go. Really the only difference, other than the style and decor of course, is that Pokeworks has more of a salad/taco bar where the staff will sequentially ask you what you would like in your poke bowl or burrito and you pay once everything has come together. Aloha is all done at the register before your poke is made and they only serve poke bowls. You also don’t see the staff make your bowl at Aloha, which gives an air of mystery about the restaurant. No seriously, if you’re very picky about how much of an ingredient you may be getting than Pokeworks may be more to your liking, but in my experiences at Aloha the staff has always given me a very tasty and balanced bowl.

I’ll talk about the specifics and quirks of Pokeworks first. As you enter Pokeworks you’ll probably first notice the bar of the assorted proteins and toppings. If variety is appealing to you, Pokeworks has a wide variety of proteins you can choose from, of course they have the common ahi tuna or salmon, but you can also choose white tuna, shrimp, scallops, tofu, or even chicken. The poke assembler at the counter will ask you for your base and protein, which I almost always get a white rice base with ahi tuna. Something unique to Pokeworks is that they prepare your protein in a separate bowl. You choose the protein and a variety of mix-ins like pineapple or seaweed or sweet onions and one or more of the many sauces. The poke assembler will then mix all those ingredients together and will add it to the top of your base. Your toppings come next, I always like to get crab salad and green onions on my poke and then I add some onion crisps to add a little crunchy texture. My usual poke bowl at Pokeworks usually runs me about $12 for a regular bowl which is a few bucks more than Aloha Poke, but for the amount of customization options and ingredients you can add to your bowl I don’t think that price is unfair.

Now let’s talk about taste, the main plus of Pokeworks is the variety they offer and the customization options, so if you know what kind of fish and flavors you like, then you should be able to craft yourself a pretty tasty bowl. Being able to tailor exactly how much of each ingredient you want is a huge plus. I like to model my poke bowl as sort of a sushi in a bowl, as blasphemous that may be. I’ll get a bowl with ahi tuna and white rice, mixed with sweet Maui onion, seaweed, and mango with sriracha aioli and unagi as my sauces. I top my poke bowl with a generous portion of crab salad because I cannot get enough of that stuff, avocado if I’m feeling it, and orange masago and then to give it some crunch I’ll add some onion crisps. These ingredients make me a very happy eater and I have enjoyed almost every bowl I’ve had from Pokeworks, however I have sometimes noticed that the texture of their tuna can be stringy or tough on the rare chance, it has ruined the whole bowl for me when this has happened. Based on this, if Aloha Poke and Pokeworks were located right next to eachother I would choose Aloha because their tuna, the most important part of the poke bowl for me, has always been spot on.

Aloha doesn’t function too differently from Pokeworks. Like I previously said, you enter and walk up to the counter, but instead of going through one by one what you want in your poke bowl, you give your entire order to the cashier who then rings you up and then you  listen for your name to get that bowl of deliciousness. I usually get the medium sized bowl which ends up running me about $10 which I have no problem paying. What makes Aloha better for me is that they give you the option to add sesame and soy marinated tuna to your order whereas Pokeworks’ tuna is plain. The marinated tuna adds a whole new level of flavor to the bowl by giving that touch of umami that makes eating all the ingredients of a Poke bowl so wonderful, Aloha also cuts their tuna slightly smaller allowing for the other ingredients of the bowl to mix more effectively as well as giving a slightly better chewing texture.

So in summary, it is my opinion that Aloha is a more enjoyable Poke experience because of the quality of their tuna, the prime ingredient in any poke bowl. Pokework’s customization options and more personal experience though is definitely appealing, and they have an option to add crab salad as a topping, which Aloha does not, a serious deal for me. Yet I just can’t get over how tasty Aloha’s marinated tuna is. Both of these restaurants represent some of the best American fusion foods because they have stark Hawaiian origins but have come to incorporate many different ingredients and add-ins from many other different cultures, combining to make simple, relatively inexpensive, and extremely versatile and adaptable, quintessentially American, food.