1. Ash's Story (Part 9: Alola)

Chapter 57: Stolen

Aether House should have felt safer after everything we had survived in the desert. It was not a perfect shelter, and the children inside had already seen too much of Team Skull's reach, but it was still a place where voices softened and people tried to protect one another. That made the sight waiting for us worse.

Hau lay on the floor.

For one second, nobody moved. Then we rushed forward at the same time, Lillie kneeling beside him while I checked whether he was awake. His breathing was steady, but his pride looked more injured than his body. The room had that broken feeling after a battle ended badly, when the dust still held the shape of the loss.

"Hau, what happened?" I asked. "Are you all right?"

He tried to sit up and winced. "Team Skull. I tried to stop them, but..."

"Back so soon, hmm?" a voice interrupted.

Plumeria stood near the far side of the room as if she had been waiting for the right moment to make the air colder. Her expression was controlled, but not calm. She looked annoyed at the world, at her own Grunts, and especially at us for continuing to interfere.

Nate stepped forward. "Did you do this to him?"

"So what if I did?" Plumeria said. "It takes these dumb Grunts way too long to deal with you kids. I guess it is my turn now."

"Your turn?" I asked, keeping my voice steady.

She narrowed her eyes. "I told you before. Next time you got in our way, I was not holding anything back."

Lillie helped Hau move back from the center of the room. The children stayed behind the doorway, frightened enough to be quiet, and that silence made Plumeria's challenge feel uglier. She was not only here to battle. She was here to prove that Team Skull could enter a safe place and decide who was allowed to feel safe.

Plumeria battled differently from the Grunts. They rushed, shouted, and hoped noise could become strength. She cut through the room with colder purpose, using Golbat to split our attention and Salazzle to punish any moment when Fomantis stood alone. She knew exactly how to make a shelter feel like a corner.

Snowy stood in front of Lillie with determined eyes, and Fomantis moved beside me, leaf arms raised despite the tension pressing down around us. Plumeria released Golbat and Salazzle, and the battle began without any more warning.

Golbat swept low, forcing Snowy to dodge under a shelf before answering with cold air that frosted the floor. Plumeria's Salazzle moved with poisonous grace, every step taunting Fomantis into chasing too quickly. Fomantis almost took the bait, then lowered her stance and waited.

Fomantis' leaves trembled under the pressure, but her eyes stayed fixed on Salazzle, "I will not chase a shadow just because it laughs."

"That is right," I said. "Wait for the opening."

Plumeria clicked her tongue. "Cute. You think patience wins against us?"

Salazzle lunged through a ribbon of poison, and Golbat attacked from above at the same time. Snowy threw Icy Wind upward, slowing Golbat's dive, while Fomantis slipped beneath Salazzle's claws and struck with a clean Grass-type slash. The hit did not finish anything, but it changed the rhythm.

Plumeria's eyes sharpened. "Salazzle, push through. Golbat, keep the little fox busy."

Snowy planted her paws and held her ground, tail fluffed against the pressure. Lillie did not over-command her. She trusted Snowy to read the space, and Snowy answered that trust by freezing the floor just enough to break Golbat's approach without trapping anyone else.