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

Chapter 59: Dark Trial

Aether House should have felt relieved when we returned from Po Town. Yungoos was back, Team Skull had lost its stolen prize, and Guzma had been forced to order the Pokémon returned. Instead, the moment we stepped through the door, the air felt wrong.

Hau stirred on the floor where Plumeria had left him earlier. He groaned softly, blinking as if he had to pull himself through a heavy dream before the room made sense again.

"Where am I?" he muttered.

"You are at Aether House," I said, kneeling beside him. "You are safe now."

Lillie crouched on his other side, worry tightening her voice. "Hau, are you okay?"

For the first time since I had known him, Hau did not reach for a smile. His face folded with guilt instead. "I am sorry. I cannot even force a smile right now. That Plumeria lady came after you left for the Ghost trial. I am supposed to be a Trainer, but when it mattered, I let them take Yungoos."

"We already got Yungoos back," I said. "Now our priority is making sure Nebby is safe."

Lillie nodded quickly and reached for her bag. The color left her face before she even opened it fully. Her hands shook as she searched again, then again, like the answer might change if she moved faster.

"Nebby," she whispered. "He is gone."

The room went completely, painfully silent.

No battle cry, no crash, no Team Skull laugh could have struck harder. We rushed outside because standing still felt impossible. The world beyond Aether House gave us the answer we feared. Faba stood at a distance with Nebby, and a teleportation portal opened behind him.

"It is Faba," I said, my voice turning cold. "He has taken Nebby."

Lillie tried to run forward, but the portal swallowed Faba and Nebby before she could reach them. The empty space left behind felt crueler than a locked door. A locked door could be broken. This had simply removed the path.

Lillie sank to the ground. "How could I let this happen?"

I knelt beside her, careful not to make comfort sound like the danger was smaller than it was. "This time, they did not take you. We will get Nebby back."

Snowy pressed against Lillie's leg, her ears low and her eyes fixed on the place where Nebby vanished, "He is small and frightened, but his trail has not ended."

Lillie hugged Snowy close. "Then we follow it."

The difference from the other dimension should have comforted me more than it did. Lillie was still beside us. She had not been carried away while I was in Po Town. Yet Nebby's absence cut open the same fear from another angle, because Faba had found the piece of the future we had tried hardest to protect.

Hau pushed himself upright, still unsteady. "I was here. I was right here, and I still did not see it happen."

Rosa's expression hardened. "Faba waited until everyone was exhausted and focused on Team Skull. That was not your weakness. That was his cowardice."

Hau looked like he wanted to believe her but could not yet. The stolen Yungoos had been recovered, but Team Skull's chaos had given someone else a chance to steal something more dangerous. That made the victory in Po Town feel suddenly unfinished.

Gladion arrived almost immediately, urgency dragging him across the yard faster than anger alone could have. He stopped when he saw Lillie on the ground, and the question on his face changed into dread before he spoke.

"Lillie," he demanded. "Did you take Cosmog from the Aether Foundation?"

Lillie could barely meet his eyes. "Nebby is gone."